Smoke, the air pollutant
By: K S SPillai
No one can deny the part played by smoke in polluting the air. Delhi is always in the news, particularly during the winter season when the entire area will be misty due to the smoke from the farms of nearby Punjab.
The farmers there are accused of burning the stubbles of harvested crops, the resultant smoke spreading all around. Though experts have been suggesting alternative methods of getting rid of the stubbles profitably, the problem persists.
The political mud-slinging becomes very vocal when the governments of Punjab and Delhi are headed by political parties different from that of the central government. The atmosphere in Delhi becomes unbearable to the children and those suffering from bad health. When the air pollution becomes serious, schools and colleges are closed in Delhi, and people are advised not to venture outside.
The womenfolk, particularly those in rural areas, suffered a lot before gas and electric stoves, as the usual cooking fuel was coal and wood. The problem was acute during the monsoon months when the damp wood emitted more smoke. Houses had chimneys at the top of the kitchen to let out the smoke as kitchens used to be smoky due to coal or wood as the fuel for cooking.
Smoking was not looked down in all areas in the past. The macho heroes in cinemas were smokers of cigarettes or cigars. Even some female characters smoked. Some blew smoke in rings from their mouths or blew them to the face of the enemy to make him angry and start a physical fight.
The problem of smoking became so acute that the manufacturers of cigarettes, cigars, and beedies were legally required to print the warning ‘Smoking is injurious to health’ prominently on the packets, but that was no deterrent to those addicted to smoking. Many public and private places display the sign ‘smoking prohibited’. Some have separate rooms for smokers.
Many cinema houses and other public places prohibit smoking as the passive non-smoker is also affected by the smoke emitted by the smokers. During my school days, some of my friends used to smoke clandestinely and show their ability to emit smoke through their mouths and noses. Some even boasted they could emit smoke through their ears!
Few people considered smoking as a serious health problem in the past. During the winter months, bonfires were built to get some respite from the cold, and the family members sat around them to while away the time. While young, we used to sit under a cashew tree at night and build fires with dry twigs and leaves to warm ourselves and parch cashew nuts.
When buses began plying initially, they used coal as fuel, which emitted smoke. Similarly, all trains had coal-fired steam engines, and the firemen, covering their heads and faces with clothes, used to shovel coal into the firebox.
The passengers’ bodies and dresses became black with coal dust. I remember changing clothes when the long journeys ended and the train reached its destination. The passengers would spit out black phlegm for days after the journey.
In most places in North India, people use portable ‘chulhas’ to cook ‘rotlas’ kept outside in the evenings till the coal becomes red hot. Due to the large number of ‘chulhas’, the atmosphere becomes smoky.
‘Smokeless chulhas’ and solar cookers were once regarded as great inventions to save women toiling in kitchens from the ever-present smoke. Nothing is heard of them now since gas stoves are present even in village kitchens.
I remember several burning coal containers kept on the floor to minimize the impact of cold during the winter months in a new office building where I worked. It is usual to see people burning waste to drive away mosquitoes at night. Even now, plastic and other wastes are usually burnt instead of treating them scientifically in an environment-friendly way.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision”. His articles and short stories have appeared in numerous national and international publications)
