By Tara Manchin Hangzo
The other day I was walking along the unpaved path on airport road when suddenly out of the blue, a car driven by a young man and his friends came barging towards me at full speed followed by a cloud of flying dust. For a moment I though a tornado was swirling behind the car. My mind was very much on tornado as the previous night I was reading about the strong winds and storms my friends in US has posted about in her Facebook status.
Alas! We have no tornados but dusty roads in the dry winter months in Manipur. Many people are down with cough and cold when winter approaches. But many of us living in Manipur are not aware that we are allergic to dust and this can lead to serious complication to our health. The first winter I faced after many years of living outside I had dusty phlegm and throat infection, irritation of the eyes, nose and throat. Congestion, coughing, phlegm, chest tightness, and shortness of breath that lasted the whole of winter and I thought I was seriously ill. Now my system has acclimated to dust somewhat but not completely.
The Tiddim stretch of road leading to airport road is particularly heavy with dust particles as many houses and shops were brought down by the mighty JCB that took almost a year to complete. Now we have half paved and half unpaved road on a very busy highway. With almost a four lane busy road the dust pollution seem to have increased tenfold. Has anyone done dust pollution survey ever in our state?
Few days back, we had the first wakching rain of the year and as I rush to collect the day`™s washing drying on the roof all I could smell as the rain patters on the dusty road was `Dust` Can one smell dust really? Yes it assaults your noise with such high intensity that it has its own aroma. Soon we can have bottled dust perfumed as a brand of Manipur.
Earlier I was surprised to see many auto drivers and two wheeler drivers wearing mask and merrily driving away at such high speed but not anymore. I truly understand their need to protect their lungs and their health. It`™s a proven fact that dust pollution can caused respiratory disorders like Asthma, Bronchitis, Allergies, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases, lung fibroid, Tuberculosis (TB), Whooping cough, Sinusitis, Lung Cystic Fibrosis, Lung Abscess etc.
Do the people of this state attribute their state of health to the dust /air pollution we are facing on a regular basis? People over here think it`™s normal to inhale dust. I doubt if people take it as a serious matter or complain about it. It`™s time we send a petition to the department concerned to campaign for a less dusty Imphal. I am ready to support it.
In all the articles related to Manipur many writers have pointed out that our state is dusty and full of dust everywhere and in the raining season muddy roads abound. Kudos to our expert drivers for maneuvering such slippery roads in Manipur. The latest I read was an article titled `The Best Kept Secrets of Manipur` by Saladru Ojha. He wrote an interesting travelogue about the important tourist spots of Manipur where he did mentioned about the dustiness that prevails everywhere. Wherever he went, dust followed. If you own a white shirt and don`™t travel by AC fitted cars be assured it will soon change colour.
I remember walking on the deserted road the day our Prime Minister was to visit us and gallons of water being sprinkled on the unpaved roads leading to the airport. It was a pleasure walking that day as dust didn`™t bother me. So the government did notice the `Dust `and how it bothers the citizen of Manipur but choose to do nothing about it (let me put it that way).
You must be wondering, why I am going on and on talking about dust and air pollution. The reason is because I am seriously afraid of the consequences of dust /air pollution on our health.
Air pollutants that are inhaled are known to have serious impact on human health affecting the lungs and the respiratory system; they are also taken up by the blood and pumped through the body. These pollutants are also deposited on soil, plants, and in the water, further contributing to human exposure and its effect on our health. Will the people of the state attributes lung cancer, heart attacks TB etc on dust/ air pollution? No they blame it on diabetes (every second person in Manipur suffer from diabetes) Substance abuse and on HIV but never on dust pollution. Strange isn`™t it? Someone should do a research.
I am so concerned because people are not bothered about the issue; it`™s of no importance to them when there are more pressing issues like crimes against women, AFSPA, joblessness and inadequate food supply. Our people are too busy working for their daily sustenance that they cannot think of other important things.
Are People not bothered about dust in their house and on the roads? I am sure they are. Just as we aren`™t, concern about the lack of trees in and around our neighborhoods. Let`™s just pause and think – does the dustiness of our environment not bother you at all? I was appalled at the lack of tree while visiting old Churachandpur. Instead of trees I see weeds (long grasses and burnt down stump along the road).
Why that is when you travel outside the state there are paved roads with trees lining it, beautiful garden, parks, green belt full of trees and flowers and no dust and people look so clean. While the opposite hold true for our state.
We are trying to promote our state as the next tourist destination in India. If I, as local person notice dustiness then won`™t our outsiders notice it too? Foreign tourists and back packers like to rough it out while travelling and will surely use the auto rickshaw transport. I swear that the parking areas for the auto rickshaw in Imphal are the dustiest part of the city. ( dust and noise, total chaos! )
The first time our Manipuri traveler travels`™ to Delhi in summer, the minute she /he step out of the airplane she is assaulted by a whip of hot burning heat. They say it is like `Meiphuyaiba` so similarly the minute our tourists step into the town all they will faced will be swirling dust and dust in their eyes, hair, clothes and everywhere. Won`™t it be shameful and unhealthy?
My dream for the Government of Manipur is to open a separate department to tackle the dust in our state. Soon we can have business enterprises working on how to make your home dust proof and conduct seminars on 10 ways to eliminate dust in your home and in the environment etc.
Manipuri by nature are enterprising and innovative surely we can come up with a novel idea on how to dust proof our state and make it the best city to live in. The government needs to improve the infrastructure, which is a big word. Please translate it into by action black topping our existing roads. So when big donor visits our state we can boast and say we have utilised the funds by improving our roads and making it world class standard.
People love naming their cities and towns so Imphal can have a new name `Dusty land` instead of Sana Leibak, land of gold. I guess all the gold has melted and turned into dust. My apologies to all the citizen of this state, we inhale dust and eat dust on a regular basis. We folks are literally biting the Dust.
Read more / Original news source: http://kanglaonline.com/2015/01/thy-new-name-shall-be-dusty-imphal/