TACKLING THE SOURCE OF PROBLEMS

OME elections, and newspaper front pages and social media timelines are full of new hospitals being launched or their foundation stones being laid, mostly in poll-bound states. Thousands of crores are being spent on these planned hospitals. On the face of it, it seems like a noble thing to do, much needed in society.

- ANURADHA GOYAL

However, what percentage of this are we spending on preventing the diseases? How much are we spending on eradicating the factors that cause these diseases, especially the ones that come due to chemical-infested food or lifestyle? We design cities and roads only for vehicles, close all walking spaces, and then insist people visit gyms to exercise. Just leave some open space for people to walk for their daily needs, and we may need less hospitals.

The same goes for many solutions for our basic needs, like water purifiers for clean potable water. Every few years, we have a new technology to handle the new kinds of pollutants in our water. Stop and think, where are these new pollutants coming from? Current generations may find it difficult to believe that just 2-3 decades ago, we could easily drink tap water on railway stations across the country without getting diseases or creating piles of plastic waste. The focus today is on delivering water in plastic bottles or containers.

We rarely read about efforts to clean our ground water or making sure the water coming from our tap is clean enough for human consumption. Water comes from distant rivers and lakes, and most kids think it comes from a tap, disconnecting us emotionally from our water sources. Why are we not demanding clean water from our authorities and public representatives? We so easily allow them to drive our energy towards which one of them is more corrupt than the other.