The entire human civilization is sinking into the abyss of dense darkness: is the sound of this fall heard?

Santosh Sen

At one end of the globe, cloud-bursting torrential rains, landslides, floods, sea level rising at an unusual rate; And at the same time on the other side, lack of rain, drought, intense fires, fast melting of ice, water pollution and air pollution are crossing all limits. A lack of rain or untimely heavy rain has increased the cost of farming and skyrocketed food prices, while increasing the plight of farmers. Along with this, people are facing ever increasing distress, brought about by new diseases and challenges of livelihood. Due to environmental disasters, the march of refugees and the dead is getting longer all over the world – all kinds of extreme natural disasters are happening again and again. Scientists have repeatedly warned that unless action is taken now, extreme weather like this will return every year, and efforts to take action will be futile. There is no way to ignore these changes as future phenomena. All in all, when the existence of the human species is in jeopardy, does the middle class, stuck in the bog of consumerist lifestyle, and the rest of the society plagued with thousands of economic and political problems, think at all about today’s burning problems like the environment? Are we in a total limbo? Though the left-wing political parties have brought the environmental issue into their manifesto and discussion circles, they have not yet started to organize the common people to promote this demand for environmental protection and repair. Don’t they accept that a national movement is required to combat the environmental depreciation taking place all around? Don’t they think that the environmental movement is actually an important political movement against domestic and foreign multinational corporate organizations?

Record Breaking Unprecedented Flood and Inundation:

A large area of northern India, including Himachal Pradesh, is virtually under water due to torrential rains, flash floods and landslides in July for several consecutive days and again since August 10^th. Roads in Shimla, Nainital, Kullu- Manali have been flooded, several bridges have collapsed, communication systems are completely disrupted. Even the cars parked on the roads were swept away like mere straw. Many people, including tourists, had to be evacuated. All in all, the situation is quite dire. The hill towns are virtually deserted. Vast areas of Uttarakhand, the Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu- Kashmir and Delhi near the Yamuna are under water. Everywhere the picture is almost the same: roads and farmlands under water, only the heads of cars submerged in frozen water are visible. Himachal and the Punjab have received 100 and 70 per cent more rainfall respectively, this season, which is an all-time record, the Meteorological Department said. The Chief Minister of Himachal says – “Due to rains in these two periods of July and August, the financial loss is more than 10 thousand crore rupees. It will take at least a year to restore the destroyed infrastructure including roads, tourist spots, hydropower projects”. All educational institutions in these regions remained closed till August 19. This season’s calamity claimed 340 lives in Himachal and 74 in Uttarakhand. A section of the Badrinath National Highway has been washed away. The Kalka-Shimla train line hangs in the air, posing a strange, calamitous sight. Not only are the mountain rivers overflowing, the Bhakra Nangal Dam is bursting with excess water, forcing the authorities to open the floodgates, making the flood situation to worsen. Perhaps there is no end of the devastation. And so Kulu again … Several houses caved in like a pack of cards in rain-triggered landslides that hit the mountain district Kullu in the early morning on 24 th. The horrifying incident has been caught on camera while the extent of the damage is yet to be ascertained but, as of now, there has been no report of life loss since the buildings were reportedly evacuated a few days ago. The devastating landslide took place in a market area of Anni which is a town in the Kullu district (Hindustan Times: 24.8.23). It is as if mother nature has promised to ravage the vast region of the Himalayas. Why is this happening again and again?

In the past few years, riverbeds have been drained, forest areas have been cleared, four-lane roads on hills have been constructed and heavy construction has been going on at a rapid pace. As a result, rainwater seeps into locally formed faults and weakens a large section of the land. In the name of unplanned development, urbanization and tourism, the ecological balance of the Himalayan region has been destroyed completely. By blocking the natural course of the river, damming it everywhere, tunneling through the mountains, the constant balancing of the hydroelectric project has sent the world into a tizzy. Earlier, the news of huge cracks and subsidence in Joshimath had scared the people of the country. It’s true that hydropower projects do not generate greenhouse gasses, but production of so much electricity is required for whose interest and at the expense of what, needs to be reviewed. It should be questioned that, is this speed of electricity generation aimed at meeting the daily needs of local people, or is it a central plan to increase the rate of profit of a few favorable corporate houses by abusing abundant natural resources and cheap local labour? It needs to be understood today, that heavy construction work continues on the highest peaks of the Himalayas, with the touch of a magician’s wand, showing a thumbs down to the environmental laws. The terrible situation on the western side of the Himalayas shows directly many other aspects. On the other side of this mountain range lies the beloved of all Bengalis namely,Darjeeling and Gangtok, located on the eastern edge. What is their condition? Professor of Geomorphology, University of Calcutta says – “The western parts of the Himalayas, which are young and still forming, have hard rock, but the eastern Himalayas are much more fragile. Many places are built on mud. The hill station stands on the edge of a mountain. Anytime floods can sink the city into an abyss”. Let’s not wait for that terrible day which will spell doom for that beautiful part of our country.

Is Eco tourism Eco-friendly?

Natural springs of the Himalayas, gurgling rivers, towering mountains, chirping of birds, movement of wild animals – nature lovers used to walk through the inexhaustible pull of nature to see and feel it vividly. These travelers did not need glitzy roads or star-studded hotels. But the unfortunate thing about the Himalayas is this: travel has changed into a tourism industry driven by the urge to increase corporate profits. Tourists want luxurious hotels, 24-hour hot water, uninterrupted mobile network, local and foreign delicacies at the remote corners of our hills and mountains. A butter-smooth four-lane road to Chardham (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri) was carved out of the solitude of the hills for the comfort of the common Indian, along which groups of neo-tourist parties kept piling up. The responsibility of sustaining the Himalayas was blown away. The adverse effects which are supposed to occur due to the destruction of the ecological balance, in real practice, are taking place.

Importance of Himalayas in maintaining the balance of nature:

Stretching from Jammu-Kashmir to Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, the Himalayas for one of the most biodiverse mountain ranges with thousands of animal and plant species. The Himalayas protect us from monstrous storms, give birth to innumerable rivers. The Himalayas bring in monsoons and India becomes a riverine agrarian country. Surrounded by the high Himalayas in the north and the sea on three sides, the climate of India was a beautiful combination of six seasons. But the Himalayas, the guardians of the country, are now being swallowed by the profit and greed of multinational companies. Political leaders- babu- contractors: this trio (triphala alliance) is ready to make the work of the big houses easier. Every development plan is done under the thumb of the corporate by this triphala alliance. Scientists, glaciologists, environmentalists, and the innate wisdom and experience of indigenous people are unmatched there. Even understanding the special features of the Himalayas, the chariot of development is set free without any research on how much construction can be done, to what extent, without harming the natural environment. It is now crystal clear that if we cannot protect the Himalayas, not only our country, but also Nepal, Tibet, China, Pakistan, i.e. the entire Southeast Asia will be face disastrous consequences. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to stop the frenzy of border wars and immediately take scientific steps to protect the natural Himalayan ecology.

VIDEO | Several buildings collapsed in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu due to rain-triggered landslides in the district. More details are awaited.

(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/hxDbYgzoQJ

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 24, 2023

What is going on in the rest parts of the country:

Thick black clouds passed through Himachal Pradesh to Uttarakhand and brought heavy rain to Delhi and Mumbai. The overflowing water of the Yamuna, turned into a sewer, crossed the threshold of the Red Fort and touched the walls of the Taj Mahal again after 45 years. Now turn your eyes towards Assam. Due to the heavy rains, the water of all the rivers including the Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level. The livelihood of hundreds and thousands of people has been affected due to heavy floods. Many people have been forced to leave their homes and take shelter in relief camps. This has been going on in Assam for years. The situation in North Bengal, including Dooars and Jalpaiguri, is also quite dire. Rivers have been overflowing with heavy rains since June with roads submerged along with farmlands. submerged in. Our neighbour Pakistan has not yet recovered from last year’s floods, costing billions of dollars in financial losses. This time too, several provinces of Pakistan were affected by floods. Around 100 people lost their lives. The tragic pictures of flood and displacement are rampant. At least 33 people have been killed in South Korea after heavy rains caused landslides and a massive reservoir overflowed, flooding large parts of the country. August started off even more badly. According to PTI sources – Beijing’s Hebei province has been devastated by heavy rains and floods, breaking a 140-year record. Along the Chinese border, the torrential rains are moving through Taiwan to Hong Kong. Every day new areas are being inundated.
The question is, are these sudden natural disasters?

In fact, what scientists, meteorologists, environmentalists have said time and again is that nature has given us all this in return for our callous treatment of mother earth. Many lives lost, loss of resources, loss of agriculture and disruption of the livelihood of millions of people and the long march of displaced people who have lost their homes are all the consequences, unheard of earlier. Despite knowing everything in advance, why are politicians, policy makers and society leaders sleeping unconcerned? Or are they hypervigilant and active and are in a different mindset? We will come to that question later.

The image at the other end of the globe is just the opposite and catastrophic:

In the ‘full monsoon season’, people in East and South India, South Bengal and large parts of Europe and America are gasping as their plight is another form of adversity. Weather scientists have identified 13 districts of Bengal that have been without rain and drought for several months and 270 districts in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, where there is no rain for a long time. The 146 large and medium-sized reservoirs in these regions have only 29 percent of their storage capacity. Till July 25, the rainfall deficit in these regions was 61-71 percent. Due to the lack of rain, there is less production of vegetables. Although rice seedlings can be made with irrigation water using deep tube well, the work of paddy plowing is lagging. Farmers and agricultural scientists fear that rice production will be destroyed. Beyond the month of Aashaarthere is no water in the middle of Shravan even in the ditches, while the canals are usually dry. Jute yield is already low due to lack of rain. What is left of the season?

The Northern Hemisphere, on the other hand, has literally turned into a ball of fire. The scale of the thermometer is setting new records, breaking all previous ones. In Europe, America, and the continent of Asia, the temperature is increasing by leaps and bounds. From California to Cambodia, Iran to Istanbul, China to Spain, Germany-Poland to Texas-Las Vegas: record high temperatures are being set every day. Environmentalists and scientists expressed fear that the ‘new normal trend’ of weather becoming more extreme will continue. That is exactly what is happening. A look at the July 18^th temperature chart adds to the heat (pun intended): Sicily in Italy and Phoenix in the US topped 49 degrees. Meanwhile, temperatures are in the upper 40s across most of Spain and in parts of Japan’s capital, Tokyo. China has overtaken everyone in this race of rising temperatures. The temperature in northwest China was 52.2 degrees Celsius, the highest for any previous July. From Ireland to Australia, the picture is the same everywhere. Switzerland in the lap of the Alps or Kyrgyzstan near Tibet saw temperatures touching new highs. Much of North and South America, parts of Africa’s Sahara Desert, vast areas of Asia and Europe, and even several regions adjacent to the South Pole saw temperatures rise up to four degrees above normal. Millions of residents are forced to line up at hospitals with heat stroke, dehydration, heat rash and other ailments during the intense heat (Source: Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA).

If this trend continues for a few days, the survival of the human species will be a big question mark. In all, July 2023 has been the hottest month on record in 144 years. “I came to Italy to get some relief from the sweltering Texas heat,” said Coleman PV, “I thought I’d come here to escape the heat. Wow! It’s even hotter here.” Friends, even if you have lots of dollars and Euros in your pocket, there is no escape from this terrible wrath of nature. Acropolis, the world-famous tourist center of Athens, the capital of Greece, has been closed for several days due to intense heat. A day is coming when millions of ‘environmental refugees’ will spread from one region to another region, from one province to another province, from one country to another country, not as tourists, but to escape from the severity of climatic conditions. Meanwhile, the people in the winter climes are rushing to buy coolers and air conditioners, a scenario that hitherto did not exist.

Due to intense heat waves, wildfires have spread from California to Canada to the island of La Palma. In Canada, more than 1000 wildfires have burnt down thousands of hectares of forest. Citizens are leaving the country to escape from immense fire, dense and toxic smoke. In just one week, 5,000 hectares of forest on the island of La Palma was wiped out. The historic city of Lahaina in the US state of Hawaii is burning brightly. The fire spread quickly in the forest, which had become dry due to the lack of rain in the past few months. More than 100 people were burnt alive in this city, which was 80 percent reduced to ashes. Thousands of tourists have been evacuated from this city which receives 2 million tourists a year. President Joe Biden called the fires a national disaster and promised relief and aid. After Greece, southern Portugal is being scorched by heat waves and wildfires. Recently California in the US has witnessed the devastating power of the trio: intense forest fire, devastating tornado and incessant rainfall along with floods due to hurricane ‘Hilary’. More than 100 loss of life has been reported.The tongue of fire is devouring one forest to another with plants, vines, soil, wildlife, beneficial micro-organisms, with nothing being spared. The intense black smoke poisons the air and affects the lungs of many. People suffering from various lung diseases including asthma are crowding the hospitals. Do we deserve such a world!

After the warming period, comes the boiling period:

Scientists are somewhat convinced of the effects of climate change, overuse of fossil fuels, global warming and El Niño as the cause of the record-breaking heat. Scientists say — As El Niño deepens in the Pacific Ocean, sea water temperatures near Florida have reached 32.8 degrees Celsius. When the temperature difference between land and sea water decreases, such unusual weather changes become normal. This in turn becomes a breeding ground for monstrous marine cyclones. Kim Cobb of Brown University says — “El Nino is just beginning; we don’t know what’s in store”. So, the evening of anxiety is turning into a deep night of depression? The Secretary of the United Nations Guterres said – “As a result of the rapid increase in temperature, the world has passed the warming age and reached a boiling age”. That is, the soil will begin to boil. Why is this happening? Cities wrapped in concrete have become heat chambers. More heat absorbed during the day is not able to be radiated back at night. The combined contribution of the massive increase in the number of private cars and the excessive use of fossil fuels has led to soaring temperatures, rising global average temperatures, increasing air and water pollution. In the near future, a large part of the world will suffer from severe water shortages, the onset of which has been observed for the past few years. Human kind boasting of advanced brains and pride of technology are heading towards a dire future of dying for lack of drinking water and clean air. Due to the push of development and urbanization, high-rise buildings are being created by erasing the otherwise quaint towns and cities. Water reservoirs, ponds, rivers, canals are disappearing from the map. We do not know where the steamroller of global development will stop, as we are heading towards the brink of a precipice of annihilation.

Dangers and crisis of heavy chemical and water dependent corporate farming:

Farmers have become accustomed to corporate hybrid farming, wasting millions of gallons of groundwater with excessive amounts of toxic chemicals in the form of fertilizer and pesticides under the guise of misleading advertising about high yields. By destroying the native seed diversity, the knowledge acquired through heredity and the traditional modes of agriculture, multinational companies have strengthened the market of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural technology through the unconditional support of the state system. In brief, the agricultural system of the country, which depends on riverine agriculture, has been changed for the sake of the corporate giants, following the path shown by them. As a large part of the chemicals used in agriculture enters deep into the sea and other water bodies, disrupting the marine ecosystem, as well as poisoning the food chain, many people are suffering from new diseases and even chronic cancer. On the other side, Millions of gallons of water are pumped out of the ground by multinational corporations for their high-profit bottled water and cold drinks business, and the natural water cycle is disrupted by shrinking forests and growing ‘concrete jungles’. As a result, the groundwater recharge process is also hampered. However, these beverage traders were supposed to return 84,000 cubic meters of water to the ground a year. But if they think about repairing nature, their profit rate will be strained. So a good deed is forgotten.

Investment-low-cost production- market-profit: if this cycle of capital is broken somewhere, capital will disappear according to its own rules. So, they continue to raise the mountain of unchallenged profits by negating all environmental laws at the behest of the government. Due to these reasons, nature’s own unique rhythm has gone out of tune. To get rid of this vicious cycle, a group of agronomists and farmers are walking the path of alternative farming as an example. It is clear from various quarters that instead of chemical farming by multinational companies, adopting alternative farming through holistic planning will prevent pollution of water, air and daily food which will prevent a major environmental disaster. The supply of non-poisonous fresh foods, vegetables and fruits, small fish and the source of other animal proteins can still be found on farmlands. If this is encouraged and along with that clean water and oxygen is available, it will reduce the spread of disease. Job opportunities will also increase in rural society.

So, the middle class, even the rural population, is being pushed towards a consumerist way of life designed solely for the sake of the market. Political parties of all colours, knowingly or unknowingly, accept all this silently. Or is it better for them to remain silent after understanding everything? How do we feel having become victims and participants of this culture? However, school and college students all round the globe have been taking to the streets for several years to demand the restoration of the destroyed nature. India also carries an important tradition of environmental movement. The tribal population accustomed to a graceful lifestyle have long cherished the ecology of the hills and forests and its balance. This is exactly where the corporate servants and their cronies are trying to strike.

Finance Capital is the main culprit:

Meteorologist Akshay Deuras says with great concern —”I think the world will turn into a ball of fire unless all countries act together to control global warming very quickly.” Are the state leaders ready to take necessary action? Let’s have a look at what is going on in reality throughout the globe. The data shows that —with the direct support of statesmen and policy makers, the forest area of the size of a football field is being looted, every minute, under the pretext of various projects and unplanned urbanization. Without renovating the ponds, canal banks, rivers and other wetlands in different areas, by dumping them in the darkness of the night, by clearing the green forests and vegetation, blocking the natural course of the river, and even occupying the rivers with office places, multi-storey residential buildings, hotels and restaurants. With the concerted efforts of policy makers, corporates, contractors, leaders and ministers, the looting of nature is going on in the pretext of the all- encompassing demand for development. Some countries like India, Brazil, Europe, America, to name a few, the destruction of nature is going on at a very fast pace in the hands of dictatorial forces.

Why are the environmental laws and regulations changed:

The new forest rights amendment bill was passed in the parliament without giving any opportunity for discussion and debate by using the parliamentary majority. By removing the legal restrictions, taking away all the rights of the tribal people over the forests and actually evicting them, concessions were given to some of the big corporate houses like Adani and Ambani to loot the mountains, forests and mineral ore deposits. The central government is proceeding with a specific plan to change the shell of the existing environmental laws in the interest of creating new investment space and increasing their profit rate in the rush to turn their inflated financial capital into real capital.

The plot to abrogate Article 370 in Kashmir for the purpose of extracting heavy metals like lithium by razing mountains, destroying the natural environment for political gain is clearly visible to the public today. On the other hand, in order to loot the various advanced and expensive ores of copper and platinum like metals stored under the forests and mountains of Manipur, which is rich in natural produce and biodiversity, a blue print has been created to force the tribals to move out. This hateful unrest is sowing deep seeds of madness. Ever since the present government came to power, it has been making various fund-raising efforts to bring nature under direct loot. Therefore, despite being the bearer of Brahminical culture and the main sponsor of RSS dictum of Hindi -Hindu -Hindustan ideology, it did not even hesitate to appoint a representative of the tribal community to the post of president in a desperate attempt to capitalize on the sentiments of the tribal population. Honourable President Draupadi Murmu got lucky with their perfect chess move. Our humble question to the administrative head of the country is– when the most shameful and cruel violence against women in Manipur and the minimal rights of the forest dwellers on the hills were being taken away through the amendment of the Forest Rights Act, why did you not protest? Where was your humanity then?

With the aim of making the region known as the ‘Seven Sisters’ rich in natural resources, the railway line from Myanmar through Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Bangladesh is going on at a fast pace. The unscientific construction of these projects destroys the scenic nature to facilitate the transportation of mineral resources, flouting all environmental laws. There are more examples of destruction. 9.64 lakh trees will be cut to accelerate development in Nicobar Island, which is very rich in biodiversity with the incomparable blue sea and thousands of species of flora and fauna. Millions of trees have not been permitted to survive despite giving their all, in human service for so long. An infrastructure and tourism related project will be developed under the supervision of Niti Aayog of the Central Government by simply clearing the densely interwoven pristine forest spread over an area of 130 square km. The project will have an international standard cargo terminal, greenfield international airport, township, gas and solar power plants. This has been stated by the Union Ministry of Environment in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha (The Hindu: 4.8.23). Notably, the proposed airport will be built under the aegis of the Indian Navy, which will be used for both civil and military purposes. A large part of the land for the project will be used for tourism business. More interestingly — the ‘National Green Tribunal’ refused to give clearance to such an environmentally disastrous project for good reasons. But by some magic, environmental approval for the implementation of the project was received from a newly formed ‘expert committee’. The Union Environment Minister has made it clear while passing the ‘Biological Amendment Bill’ in the Rajya Sabha that such plans are being hatched for the sake of business notwithstanding the destruction of the balance of biodiversity and nature. Bhupender Yadav made it clear about the purpose of the bill without any hesitation – “Ease of doing business and promotion of the AYUSH industry.” (The Hindu: 4.8.23). That is, this bill is to simplify the business of Ayush industry including Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani. Where was the old law preventing business? A notice sent to Patanjali owner Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy by the Biodiversity Board of Uttarakhand in 2006 said that Divya Pharmacy violated the law by exploiting the country’s bio-resources without informing the board in advance. And when the company challenged it in the High Court, it lost. Naturally Ramdev Baba will be angry if they don’t eat all the loot unjustly. On the other hand, representatives of an ayurvedic industry in Gujarat petitioned the government in 2016 to grant special concessions to their industries for the use of bio-resources. But the Ministry of Environment could not accept this special request due to the existing laws. Traditional natural resources of the country: medicinal plants, various species of animals found in wetlands or forests are not easily and directly used by one and all.There will be the anger of the swindling traders who are proud to highlight the tradition. So, the central government had to play the role of a saviour to fatten the belly of these businessmen. To give them ‘ease of business’ by removing the legal hassles, means to ensure their support for the party fund. The give-take relationship is actually this! If you compare this bill with the Forest Rights (Conservation) Amendment Bill, you will get a clear indication of whose interests the central government’s environmental policy is keen on. The environmental criminals have been given a legal license to loot all the natural resources of the country by reducing the legal barriers to the extent that they are, completely waiving the financial penalties in case of irregularities.

However, since the 1980s, with the direct support of the government administration and the support of bank capital, using the opportunity of the liberal economy, the leaders of finance capital spread across the international sphere have risen to absorb all natural resources, including water, forest, land, mountains, rivers, and the greed and lust of local and foreign multinational shark companies. Even in our country, they did not have to gain special momentum in their empire expansion. Of course, the current government is giving permission to loot the environment by changing the shell of the environmental law that has survived until now. As a result, the society, nature, environment, farming, people’s livelihood, the future of the young people, everything is challenged, but no one cares at all. There are other weapons, other masks, other methods to win the vote. But that is not worth an interest.

A new sunrise at the end of the darkness?

The democratic, progressive and left-wing organizations should appear in one of the roles along with the forces of science- environment and social movements in the work of making people aware about the apocalyptic future that humanity is moving towards. But our experience in the election phase was not pleasant at all. The mutual conflict of political parties, aggressive behaviour, terrorism, murder and killing have become a necessity, but they are not able to determine the direction of the integrated plan to protect the environment and public health. The role of the central and state governments

regarding setting and implementing environmental policies can be questioned in the campaigning for Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Similarly, these issues demand special importance in panchayat or municipal elections. Because, rural waste management, water conservation and supply of essential water, focusing on solving agricultural problems, protecting and increasing green forests, is the primary responsibility of the local governments like Gram Sabhas, Panchayats and Municipalities. So, the negligence of the political parties on the environmental issue is not only surprising, but it is also quite alarming in the era that we are living in. If proper action is not taken now, it will be difficult to repair the environment in the future.

The important problems of the common people, including the workers, peasants, are the uncontrolled increase in prices, the burnout of the unemployed youth, the decrease in wages, the increasing number of working hours to earn the same amount, the increasing number of homeless, hungry or starving poor people, the crisis of agriculture and the farmers. Caste division, discrimination and sectarianism are being spread in a well-planned way to make people’s economic and democratic rights irrelevant. If we think a little deeper, we will see —these problems are built on the same basis with which the question of environmental degradation is designed. Needless to say, the evils of environmental disaster fall most on the poor, marginalized people of the society, including small farmers, sharecroppers, farm labourers, construction workers, regardless of caste-race-religion. And the environmental movement today is actually a larger political struggle against the aggressive role of the big corporate houses and the state power. Whether we can end the darkness and see the face of a new sunrise depends on the thinking, awareness and activism of all democratic progressive people and political parties. Whether we receive the desirable solution still remains the question.

About the author:

Science teacher, science and environment activist, member of the editorial board of the journal ‘Pariprashna’ and essay writter.