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Quest
Power of pollution
A few hundred years ago people lived a simple life. They travelled on foot or used animals for transportation. They used handmade things. There were no vehicles or factories to pollute the environment.
Fifty years ago, India's population was only half of what it is today. When human population was less and human needs were simple, man did not disturb nature. In those days, people did not destroy forests and cut many trees. As time went by, population increased. To meet the needs of the ever increasing population, more and more forests were cut to make place for farms, houses and roads. To make matchsticks alone, we cut thousands of trees every year.
When a forest is destroyed, many plants and animals die along with the forest. Forests protect soil, clean the air and help in storing rain water. Farmers spray chemicals, to kill insects which damage food crops and reduce the yield. When we eat food items such as wheat, rice, fruits and vegetables which have been sprayed with insecticides, these chemicals enter the body and harm us. Therefore, we should try to discover safer methods to kill insects that damage crops.
These days, we depend on factories for many things. Many of these factories pollute air, water and even the food we eat. Factories also pollute soil by dumping harmful solid waste on land. Some years ago, a poisonous gas accidentally leaked out into the air from a factory named Union Carbide, in Bhopal. This poisonous gas killed thousands of people in one night and made many more sick for a lifetime. This incident is remembered as the Bhopal gas tragedy.
Some factories release waste in the form of certain gas. These gases remain in the air. When these gases mix with rain water, they produce an acid.
We throw away water used for cleaning, food, fruit and vegetable wastes, dry leaves, weeds from plants, metal objects, broken pieces of glass, plastic, paper and plastic bags, pieces of cloth and others. These also cause pollution.
We should not forget that every form of life on the earth depends on the environment around it. Even a small change in the environment affects life. Plants flower only in a certain season. Plants bend towards light. Birds fly away to their places when weather conditions are not favourable. Science has made our lives comfortable. We should not be satisfied by the comfort of our homes because our life depends on the environment around us. We should take care of our environment and try to keep it clean in every possible way. We should look forward to making discoveries and invention that will make our life comfortable without threatening the environment and the entire civilisation.
Roshini, VIII
Coimbatore: Sindhi Vidyalaya Matric H.S. School
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