07 December,2009 06:44 AM IST | | Amit Kumar
We don't need to confirm with scientists that Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. Those who are regular visitors of Himalayan cities can see it, feel it. I was surprised to find hotel rooms fitted with air conditioners and fans in Mussoorie, Shimla, Dharmshala, Darjeeling, Ranikhet, Nainitalu00a0... phew.
A decade ago, when I first decided to visit the hill, we would ask for a hotel that was air-conditioned. The staff at the hotel would be surprised and joke with us, saying that air conditioners were an alien term since there were only a few hotels that had fans. However over time, everything has changed. Some months ago, on an election campaign in Darjeeling, I was surprised when I saw that all the rooms had air conditioners. The hotel staff told us that over the years, the environment had declined and that one could not do without fans or air-conditioners during the summer. Not only that, but the amount of snowfall annually has also been declining over the years.u00a0
There have been many consequences to this. The dengue cases reported till 2006 in Shimla were nil, and after that, every year, around 100 cases are reported.
Over the years, I have seen my neighbours purchasing one car after another, and showing off their elite status in the neighbourhood. Traffic worsens, but no one plants a tree. The neighbours complain about the decline of greenery in the city, and how they much they have to wait at every signal, but never do they think of saplings as a solutionu00a0the least that they can do.
It becomes a headline in the newspaper that 'this summer, the maximum number of air conditioners were purchased by Delhiites'. Delhi is also proud that it has the maximum number of vehicles among Indian cities. And it should shame itself at the aftermath.
It is never too late. If we don't start now, our children will see the beauty of the nature in photographs only. More than it, they won't believe that the photograph is original and not an artist's imagination.
I appreciate Nepal's attempt to hold a cabinet meeting on Mount Everest to highlight the danger that global warming poses to glaciers. Narendra Modi went all the way to the Kutch Desert to get the message across. Enough of bureaucratic brouhaha; now it's time for real action.
