Sunkan's Article in The Hindu

Most Gracious ILites,
I am pleased to tell you that Sunkan's (Sundari's) article has appeared in todays Hindu, Bangalore Edition, Metroplus.

I am reproducing the article here for your views and comments.



Building a green tomorrow

<table bgcolor="#ffeeff" border="0" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Sound off! Trees should be made mandatory in apartment blocks as a means of preserving the environment, writes Sundari Kannan </td></tr></tbody></table>

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Greed is not good Sundari Kannan </center>
Builders cut down at least two trees before building an apartment block, which in turn clutters the skyline and all the building material is allowed to fall into neighbouring gardens choking every last vestige of green.
These people need to be told that lining their pockets is contributing to the ecological chaos in the city. The roads not very wide enough to handle the burgeoning population.
Where earlier it was one family in a house, now we have 50 families in the same plot of land. The infrastructure is just able to handle it.
Do we as responsible citizen appreciate apartments without any greenery? Does man enjoy living in a cement barricade?
We should wake up and insist upon trees, then maybe the builders would try and save trees for the money greenery would attract if not for altruistic reasons!
During the building process, there are untold woes with lorries full of sand blocking the narrow roads, which were not build to handle this kind of traffic.
Then the sand and stone are dumped on the road and the weight causes pipes to burst causing untold misery.
The builder's greed has turned our morning walks into a nightmare. With the trees gone, the birds who had made their homes in them have vanished too.
No more can we hear the chirping of birds as a wake up call nor can we hear the cooing of the koel heralding the arrival of monsoon. The squirrels who would daintily nibble at morsels have fled as have the sparrows.
These ecological imbalances are due to our greed. Bangalore was known for its salubrious climate.
Now the air is choked with dust.
There should be a ruling that every apartment block should have at least three trees. People should adopt these measures not for their personal benefit but look at a way to better the ecological balance of the city and the country.
Strict rules of maintaining the building norms according to the surroundings is very important. It would be good if we designate a separate area for apartments.
In the West, people are now being careful of the environment and making efforts to protect and preserve the environment. While we ape the West, in so many different ways, it would help if we were to adopt their methods of preserving the environment.
Maybe that is why I enjoy watching television as I can get to see greenery and efforts made to preserve it. In the real world all I see is neglect and huge piles of unattended garbage. I do not want Bangalore to become a concrete and glass jungle with no trees. When are we going to wake up?

 

Dear Sundari,
I have been accused of ringing the warning bells quite too often. I suppose now it is your turn to ring the warning bell. And you have done it really well.

We have now become insensitive to environmental issues and are focussing exclusively on money-making culture. To a socieity which is sleeping on the lap of luxuries earned at the cost of mother nature, there could not have been a more serious alarm than your article.

If our people do not wake up with this alarm, well, May God save us all!

It's an honour to have one's article appearing in The Hindu. Accept my congratulations and best wishes for many more to come.
regards,