Living in Delhi these days is a toxic experience. The water is 'filthy. The air is foul. Everybody knows all that but nobody does
much. A few weeks ago, I had a chance to
address a group of medical scientists at a local
medical college, one which serves a relatively
poorer area of the city. Speaker after speaker
talked of Delhi's worsening pollution and the
attendant risks, like the fire that gobbled up
the plastics wastes market in Jwalapuri.
There was much talk of cancer and how
we might witness an idemic if people did
not wake up in time. When my turn came, I
appealed to the audience that talking was not
enough. They must make efforts to create
public opinion on these issues. And nobody
can do it better than doctors. Yet for some
reason they are not doing this job at all.
It is almost impossible to find any study
on the health impacts .of air pollution in
Delhi. Unless the medical profession comes
up with such studies, the public will just not
wake up to the threat. And given the fact that
many Indians live in poor economic and
nutritional conditions, it is very important
that we try to optimally prevent cancers than
create conditions that lead to an epidemic,
and then demand expensive curative facilities.
The country cannot afford that.
I told them that our understanding of the
growing environmental toxification remains
very poor. Way back in the days of Rajiv
Gandhi, I had been asked by the Prime
Minister's Office to chair a committee to
decide on a site for a fer-tiliser plant near the
Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan's
Sawai Madhopur district. The matter had
been hanging fire for a long time. And the Pm
was keen that a committee should take a final
look at the issue and decide.
We were told that the key question was the
impact of the fertiliser plant on the national
park which was nearly 20 kin away from the
proposed site. But when we went there, we
found that there was a tremendous water
shortage in the area. The entire effluent from
the factory would go into a dry nullah and all
the effluents would get carried to the equally
dry, sandy bed of the Banas river. A few kilo metres below was the water supply point for the Sawai Madhopur town. A number of
borewells had been dug into the river bed, and
was supplying water to the town once every
two days. From a manual of the United
Nations Environment Programme I learnt
that the nitrogenous compounds in the effluents could torm introsamines in the environment, which are potent carcinogens. 1, therefore, had a query for my colleagues, especially
as one of them was the director of the
Industrial Toxicological Research Centre:
given the high temperatures of Sawai
Madhopur, would the formation of
nitrosamines get accelerated or retarded?
Nobody had an answer. Finally, we took the
cautious way out and said "no" to setting up the plant.
More than 10 years ago, the Bhopal disaster caught u's napping. For days nobody knew which gas had hit the people, not to speak of
what treatment was required. The Jwalapuri
fire also caused confusion over the gases that
may have been produced during the fire.
Many poor patients had rushed to the very
hospital where 1, was speaking that day.
I said that I was speaking not just as an
environmental activist but also as an environmental victim. While they were talking of a
'possible' cancer epidemic, I have actually
been afflicted 71it-fi-=-extremely rare cancer
called the central nervous system and ocular
lymphoma, of which there are not even 200
medically recorded cases worldwide.
There is considerable confusion over why
all types of lymphomas - a cancer of the
immune system cells - are increasing.
Studies in various parts of the world have
linked lymphomas to exposure to certain herbicides like 2,4-D and organo hosphate esticides, whose use has increased dramatica y
over the last 40 years. Other studies have
linked lymphomas to organic solvents used
widely in industry and which_cYn_Te_aj -toa
general exposure of the population through
commercial products and contamination of
drinking water sources. This exposure too has
been growing over time. We know that people
in Delhi are exposed to very high levels Of DDT
and lead but the general public is aware of little else. Our toxicologists and doctors must not only play a scientific but also an activist
role as well to warn us about the threats we
face. Who else is going to make us sit up and
act? I know of one other environmentalist in
Delhi who has been afflicted with a lymphoma
in recent years. Does not the medical and scientific profession owe us all a responsibility?
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.