Scientist warns against foul air, water wastage

KOLKATA: Eminent scientist Bikash Sinha expressed his concerns over the pollution levels in Kolkata and also drew attention to water wastage in the city while delivering a lecture on ‘Beauty and Aesthetics in Science’ at Victoria Memorial on Monday. He warned that Kolkatans will one day regret how water gets wasted by flowing continuously from street taps.

The former director of Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, who was also a Homi Bhabha Professor in the Department of Atomic Energy, was replying to a query on climate change.

“We are destroying this earth. We are just not bothered. We are going to destroy it by the time we leave it with all the pollution. I mean it is so difficult to breath in Kolkata. Half the kids are suffering from asthma. What are we doing?” wondered an exasperated Sinha.

For the past two weeks, Kolkata has been gasping for breath with the concentration of PM2.5 hovering way beyond the normal levels. A few days ago, a green panel comprising environmentalists, researchers and government officials had termed the situation a medical emergency and called for government intervention.

The Padma Bhushan recipient went on to say that Kolkata was very lucky with water but the situation may not remain the same forever. “Have you ever seen anywhere in the world the way you waste water in Kolkata? Water just keeps flowing from the taps. It hurts me. There will be a war on water soon between countries. Water is a very very precious commodity,” said Sinha.