Dear Chris,
Yesterday was the hottest day in Delhi in 51 years – 43.5 degrees centigrade on April 29, 2009.
There is more of this to come ...
The Executive Secretary of UNFCC has said that the Himalayan Glaciers will dry up by 2035.
This will mean that the Holy Ganges River will also dry up as a year round river and will depend on the monsoon rains only
The question is in Hindi, "Jab Ganga sookh jaigi tub kia?" – In English it translates to “What happens after the Ganges River dries up?”
What does this mean to us as farmers in Punjab, Haryana, U.P, Jharkhand, Uttranchal, Bihar, West Bengal etc?
What does it mean to the residents of Delhi?
We know that the Ganga does not flow through Delhi but it certainly flows through our hearts and through the taps of Delhi!
If this river dries up, can you imagine what this will mean for many of us who have a preference for our ashes being immersed in the Ganga River?
The sad part of it is that we politically battle over caste and forget about the issues that threaten our very existence or developmental issues?
Are we informing the people that this is a disaster waiting to happen?
Is it not right for the people to know of this threat?
2035 is only 26 years away and the Glaciers are not going to suddenly dry up on New Years Day 2035!
It will happen much before then and we need to wake up and inform the people and create an awareness and start doing something about it.
The solution is not entirely in our hands as this is going to happen due to Global Warming which in turn is a result of the excess CO2 in the atmosphere.
We have still not learnt to build walls in the sky and hence are dependent on what people in China, USA or Europe or elsewhere do.
We must do something ourselves and take this threat with the seriousness it deserves.
The first step is for us to recognize this threat and be aware of it.
Best wishes and regards,
Kamal
Kamal Meattle
Chief Executive Officer
Paharpur Business Centre & Software Technology Incubator Park
Nehru Place Greens, New Delhi 110019, India