Punjabi antenna
By
Randeep Wadehra
Has internet become an important
factor in Punjab polls? Going by Zee Khabran it would appear so. On 08
January its bulletin showed how various Punjab Congress bigwigs are reaching
out to voters via the internet. But apart from beaming shots of Bhattal, Amarinder
etc it did not tell us how internet has made a difference in the current poll
campaigns. It could have thrown some light on the number of internet users in
Punjab who visited the website/Facebook pages of different politicos. By the
way, what is the extent of penetration of connected computers in Punjab’s rural
and semi-urban areas?
When a channel takes up an issue
that is not really hot – talking from poll politics point of view – you sit up
and take notice. And wonder. Wonder whether this is a case of thinking out of
the box, boredom with all those hot air balloons floating on Punjab’s political
firmament, or genuine concern for an issue that affects us all. On 7 January, Masle
took a look at environmental problems facing Punjab. There were three prominent
and familiar environmentalists and one prominent and familiar university don
facing the anchor. Although they were well versed with the problem and
genuinely exercised over its spread and intensity they, understandably, had
nothing new to say – the general theme being that the government should have
taken steps to identify and alleviate the menace; the contesting political
parties should give prominence to environment in their poll campaigns… But,
perhaps, the problem lies as much with the attitude of political parties as
with the voters at large who seldom take their representatives to task over
environmental issues. Meanwhile, the menace grows. Apart from such symptoms
like underweight babies, premature ageing etc pollution has taken debilitating
and lethal dimensions with cases of cancer, skeletal fluorosis, arthritis etc
spreading among youngsters in different parts of the state. The number of
places with availability of clean, potable water is shrinking at alarming rate.
Not that efforts are not being made to fight the pollution of air, earth and
water, but these are clearly not enough. So, it is natural to expect
environment to become a hot political issue with polls approaching fast. However,
despite the appeals made by eco-warriors like Balbir Singh Seechewal and others
environment remains more or less an afterthought or, at best, a footnote in the
various political parties’ manifestos. Another panelist on the show, Umendra
Dutt has been campaigning for a Green Agenda for sustainable Punjab. He had
been repeatedly appealing to the state government to come out with a vision
statement on the issue; but, in vain. Nevertheless, it is good to see Masle
take up an important issue for discussion.
Incidentally, DD Punjabi runs the
longest running show on environment, which has acquired the traits of a
campaign of sorts – even if quite a few of its episodes are repeated. On 09
January, 2012, at 10.10 am it telecast a documentary on water pollution and
conservation – with specific reference to the situation in Punjab. It was
pointed out how the traditional sources of water like ponds and lakes have
dried up in the rural areas; how the march of civilization has led to depletion
of underground water sources and pollution of surface waters like rivers and
canals. The documentary’s message was clear: resurrect the traditional methods
of water conservation like chhappars (ponds that retain rain water in
villages) and stop the mass-scale pollution of rivers, or else a time will come
when this vital life source would vanish, leading to unimaginable tragedy. As
an interviewee said on the show: technology can manufacture every type of
consumables but there is no way it can manufacture air and water; so, time to
heed the writing on the wall, no?
Published in The Tribune on January
21, 2012
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