“Water, thy name is life”. Truly said, in all the possible senses - real or surreal, it feels to me when I see water, creating different frames of human life. I live in the area of the city of Kolkata which, in almost every alternate year, during the rainy season, gets flooded. A heavy down pour accompanying the high tide in the Ganges and the locality is waterlogged disrupting daily life.
I see this for last 20 years of my life with the situation getting worse by the year. The one of the five elements, that make for almost 2/3rd of everything that exist, including the planet we live on, poses threat to the entire creation; our reckless way of living being the reason behind this menace. I’m a photographer and not a scientist. So I may not be able to elaborate the scientific causes why this situation occurs, but one thing is easy to understand even by a layman like me, that we have got ourselves into this mess. Inconsiderate way of living our lives these days is evidently the key player in this destructive game of civilization. But who cares? The so called elite class are busy making fortune, while the ones belonging to the uneducated, grassroots level are the least bothered about global warming or pollution; or about anything what is happening outside their own world, for that matter. The society living in the high rise buildings keep complaining and blaming the government, while the society living in the small houses drool in those dampened days. Surprisingly, the later are the ones who suffer the most. Yet, they are not bothered to explore the cause behind their suffering and try to make things better for themselves. They leave everything to the almighty and His wishes. Wading through waist deep, at times even chest or neck deep water, to commute to one’s destination is a common scenario in such situations. The small houses are all flooded leaving the inmates with no other options to be mounted the whole day on their beds, which they keep high all the time expecting the flood. They are so used to it. The drain water mixes everywhere. The tube wells are all under this filthy water, thus getting totally dangerous to drink. The small ones are actually playing in that filthy water taking high risks of being infected by life threatening, water borne diseases. Despite of all these, they won’t care to know why this is happening and what can be done to rectify the condition. A handful of sensible local people, who do care, at least for their own well being, get organized under some local bodies, mostly private ones, and try to clean the area’s sewerage system. But then, the frequency of such acts is negligible. What I feel, that the major role to fight this menace should be taken by the government of course. The local people should be educated enough to understand the gravity of the situation they are in to. Then only they will be careful and proactive in taking part in the war against pollution and climate change. They should also be given proper training to use the tools like drainage / sewerage system logically and scientifically so that they can prevent further damage. The so called educated people need to be counseled, maybe through media campaign, that their selfishness may fall heavy on themselves. Throwing away the plastic bags full of garbage from their top floor to the road, may keep their houses clean for the time, but can actually prove fatal to their own wellness, as they also use the same road. The Ganges and its connecting small branches need to be cleaned and maintained regularly so as to avoid flooding. There are so many things that can be done and actually make for positive outcomes if we start being a little sensible and considerate to our own lives and that of our fellow people. As a photographer, and a common man with limited resources, I tried to capture different moments which can bring out the sufferings of people and be used as evident of the adversities we face due to climate change caused by pollution. I photographed these frames hoping they may make some people think and take part in the war against pollution and climate change.
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