In Dust We Live

One thing I hate about Mumbai--the DUST. I thought the rains would do something to settle it a bit. But the issue seems to have gone from bad to worse. OK I understand that the city is under construction--roads, flyovers, bridges, apartment buildings, malls, office complexes, etc etc. And that five years from now we might have a city to be proud of, something truly international. But then if you go to any of the cities outside India, even the ones in the so called developing nations, the dust problem is not so acute. Construction activities go on in most of these cities too. But I wonder how these guys manage to keep the dust levels down.

Here, by the time you have covered a few KMs by road you want to pluck out eyes and give it a thorough wash. Just thinking about the dust irritation is making my eyes twitch. And to add to the pain, the current humidity level doesn't help any. Run your kerchief after spending half n hour on the road and you will forget what the original color of the hanky was.

And you breathe in the same shit. I think it's worse than smoke pollution. Though I'll never be able to fully accept the vehicle fumes and the stink, I have worked out a sort of compromise over the years. No options in this case especially if you have lived here all your life. Plus a short trip to any of the other great Indian cities like Delhi or Bangalore or Hyderabad is enough to convince you that you are in the very best. You can't stand any of these wannabe cities for more than a week at a stretch.

And thankfully, there has been a visible reduction in the amount of shit on the roadside. The BMC has been doing a good job on that front. At least, I don't see too many idiots squatting by the roadside these days. I wish the BMC would enforce the anti- littering and spitting rules as well. Even if they charge 5 percent of the Rs 2000 they are authorized to fine I think it would make a big difference.

But the DUST is my biggest problem right now. I have been wondering what we can do to help. Searched the Net for solutions. It seems there are equipments available that will suck in the dust--sort of like a vacuum cleaner I think. Basically, most of the other nations we are trying to copy--Singapore, Shanghai--have air pollution control systems in place. Even in India we have dust and fume extraction systems and dust collectors and stuff like that available. Maybe corporates and housing societies can play a part here. It would be too much for individuals unless u r a TATA or a Birla or a Premji.