If dehumanised construction, whether on land or riverine land with all its ecological and environmental insensitivity invades nature and poisons or depletes land, water and air, then crucifixion of humanity is a certainty and the resurrection of our race a lost possibility. The pride of having reached the moon is cancelled out by the humiliation of having gone so far towards making a mess of our own native planet. The industrial and technological revolution of modern times, unaccompanied as it is by proper approach towards environments contains such basic contradictions that instead of becoming an instrument of human health and happiness, it’s becoming a cause of major concern and focuses the attention on the desperate need of setting right the current unfortunate trends. It’s time for the institutions and society to respond with demand for remedial action, for immediate and timely action. Nothing we have is indestructible or inexhaustible – not the clean air we breathe, not the land we use, not the water we drink; they all have an end, increasingly a foreseeable end. A closer look to what the man has done to this blue-green planet of rare beauty reveals that the earth is scarred and torn in the effort to extract precious minerals; a thick pall of polluted air lying heavy over most cities; sea and rivers choking with sewage and rubbish; poisoned by chemicals and oils; and the dominant species goes on to prove his superiority by destroying the fertile land and breathable atmosphere. A dismal list of ignorant opportunism and thoughtless arrogance. If mankind is to survive pollution, there is the urgent need for the protection of our generation against the danger of pollution and the conservation of the limited natural resources of our planet for our future generation. The present threat to mankind’s survival can be removed only by a revolutionary change of heart in individual human beings, and this change of heart must generate the will power needed for putting new ideals into practice. The kind of religion that is needed must make each individual deeply aware of two important things; the truth that the life force of a single person is more important than all material wealth of the world and the equally important principle that both life and the dignity that is inherent in it can be supported only in ‘Harmony with Nature’.
The stimulation of greed is producing wholesale pollution, which is a threat to the health and life of people now alive. Our present greed also threatens to rob future generations by using up irreplaceable resources. Time for the government to redefine its policy on ecology and environmental pollution and also rational use and management of the environment to have a high priority in government policy. Through the spread of information and knowledge, a climate of opinion must be created in which no entity or municipality pollutes the environment of any area. Effective laws are necessary to force the hands of businesses and communities, and those laws must be enforced. The people in charge of the new media must be convinced that their readers and listeners want full information, honestly stated and that they are prepared to make the effort of concentration required to understand this information. Rhetoric and emotional outbursts are not enough because this is a subject of constant public concern. The concern represents a crisis of economic and social values. We cannot hide from our responsibility by saying that our individual contribution is too small to matter. It is our own neglect that is fatal – not someone else’s. Everyone must choose for themselves. Time is more than ripe for analysing the symptoms and formulating man’s strategy vis-à-vis the natural resources on which he has to rely. It is the time for each institution concerned with a sector of man’s activity to examine the experience of that sectors development, the environmental problems generated or suffered, the likely pattern of future growth and the policies to be followed if that is to be rational.
Remember, this is the only ‘HOME’ we have. If we wish to survive, we must learn to treat it more wisely. Dehumanised constructions on land and riverine land, wholesale pollution of the land, air and sea, exhaustion of the mineral resources under the earth, and elimination of the plant and animal life on the surface will result in the destruction of man’s only habitat. If man is to survive, he must radically change his attitude towards his environment and must make his peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage he has done.
