“Pen is mightier than the sword”, a proverb that students from the school across Bengal put to practice, by starting a movement of writing to political party leaders demanding action for clean air. Hundreds of school children of Bengal in their letters and postcards sent to Prime minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee, and other political leaders requested stringent measures and policies to clean up Bengal’s polluted air. With Bengal Elections being carried out in phases, they are sending letters to the Chief Minister of Bengal and Prime Minister of India to bring attention to one of the most important issues which need immediate attention and often goes unnoticed – Air Pollution.
Through the letters, they are highlighting the plight of the state. Ajit Nath a middle school student of Douglas Memorial Higher Secondary School (DMHSS) says “Air Pollution in West Bengal is reaching a severe level. Cases of respiratory diseases and other problems have spiked up roughly two times since last year”. The central government’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) identifies 7 non – attainment cities in West Bengal that have failed to meet the air quality standards since the past 5 years but our research carried out on the state of air quality of Bengal in 2021 has been a testament to the fact that there are more cities which are required to be added on the list. In 2021 itself Bengal recorded as much death among children due to poor air quality as Delhi. “The air quality of Howrah, in particular, has been the worst averaging a daily score of around 250 as determined in the air quality index. The root cause of this problem is the harmful industrial and vehicular smoke that gets emitted in tremendous quantities every day” says Souptik Chakraborty of DMHSS. Disha Ghosh a high school student of Laxmipat Singhania Academy speculates that “In future, we might have to see a time where everyone is carrying an oxygen cylinder to carry on with their daily lives. The dystopia although spine-shivering if slowly becoming a reality. Aheli Das of Techno India claims “Although government schemes are in place it is nowhere near in solving the issue”.
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