No Magic Trick This
A few days ago the Sea Link disappeared. It was gone with a dozen other buildings on the skyline. It was like P.C Sorcar and David Copperfield came together for this. But there was no wizardry or trickery behind this. The AQI was down. Like NCR, even the city of dreams has been dealing with deteriorating air quality since the past few weeks. People are coughing everywhere you go, including in the train compartments.
A Green Escape
I was not immune to the pollution either. And as my upper respiratory tract struggled to perform at its optimum level, I sought refuge within the green environs of the National Park. The Sanjay Gandhi National Park woods are the lungs of the city. They purify the air and shelter a wide variety of flora and fauna. Within this reserve forest live around 30 leopards which occasionally attack residents– the tribals who have lived within the park for decades in the padas or the hamlets. Along with the big cat, there are various mammals including Spotted Deer, (freely roaming around the roadside), Sambhar, Barking deer, rabbits, porcupines, langurs, rhesus monkeys and even Hyenas (as per the SGNP website. The decidous forest also hosts various birds and reptiles, and the interplay of the food chains is very visible.
It is a good getaway within the city. As a child I would visit the park every other weekend with my father. Back then you were allowed to enter into the streams that flowed with vigour in the monsoons. We would take soap and towels and make a picnic out of the visit. You could also go up all the way to Kanheri and spend an entire day in the caves. There were not many guards back then and life was much peaceful.
But the recent visit was a pleasant surprise on multiple accounts. One, the connectivity within the park has improved quite a bit – with multiple bus services running from the gate to Kanheri caves. Second, the upkeep and facilities have improved manifold. And third, citizen outreach has improved considerably with more citizen engagement programs being held within the park. It was surreal to sit under the towering Buddha statues engraved in the rock and to imagine that over 2000 years ago, a flourishing community thrived deep in this forest, glimpses and records of which are still fresh. Gazing upon the smog covered city, the Pagoda couldn’t be seen either, it was nice to breathe freely. In short, going to the park provided a much needed physical and mental break.
Antidode to Air That Kills
Studies have shown that green spaces are essential to tackle air pollution. While switching to public transport, reduction of fossil fuel, sustainable construction practices are other means too, having a healthy green cover helps. This is the reason why certain neighbourhoods always feel so pleasant. For example, take the IIT Bombay campus, TISS & TIFR Campuses, the Byculla Zoo, Aarey Milk Colony, Uttan-Gorai-Manori-Marve-Madh stretch. The drop in temperature, the pure air and the overall freshness are contributed by these green spaces.
In urban areas, one may argue that lack of space hinders afforestation. But even then BMC has adopted Miyawaki method of planting trees and has began converting urban pockets into green thickets. Perfected by Japanese Botanist – Akira Miyawaki, this involves planting saplings at high density with focus on indigenous varieties of plants. While efforts of BMC are laudable, the impact on the overall air pollutions remains to be seen.
But there is scope for civil society, resident welfare associations, commercial and business property complexes and educational institutions to come together and adopt massive tree plantation in many of the open spaces. Focussing on the indigenous varieties and ditching the ornamental ones will actually create a lot more green areas as compared to now.
Dealing with air pollution is not easy. It may required, as the policy-makers lovingly put — a multi-pronged approach. And planting a few trees won’t necessarily change the situation overnight. But in a few years, that will make a difference. Here’s hoping to breathe better in a cleaner, greener city.