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Swarna our little lady - By Aaron Ambrose D’Souza

Kemmannu, Sep 11, 2017: Ah Swarna our little river. She looks like she’s going through her rebellious phase. She might have lost some weight recently due to the sand mining but she seems to be on a forced junk food diet of plastics. This girl has seen better days like really better days. Well compared to places like the Ganges and the beaches of Mumbai we are comparatively a lot better. But we used to drink the water directly from the river and swim there and now we’re searching for swimming pools to get our feet wet.

We being humans had to act when we saw a serene source of water which apparently doubles as a garbage disposal unit. Like seriously the river isn’t a garbage dump. If we keep going like this she is going to stop flowing properly and that isn’t going to do us any good. The only reason the girl is still clean is because she’s so close to the sea but even the sea isn’t free from our assault and in case you haven’t noticed she has lost a part of what made her special with many species of fish missing even with the help of the sea. In our defence we didn’t really have much choice in where to dump our waste it’s not like we had any alternatives or do we…

(Kemmannu.com file pictures from river Swarna)

(Kemmannu.com file pictures from river Swarna)

We’re at the early stages of pollution if you can call it that, with only occasional floating debris like thermocol and plastics with some broken glass bottles thrown in to the mix. There is organic waste too but it is mostly manageable as long as we don’t pack them up in plastics when we throw them. Plus in case you forgot we live in an agricultural society which can use that waste pretty well. Glass can be returned to the manufacturer or returned to the supplier after use or be grinded into a pseudo sand which can be used in certain construction materials. Plastics on the other hand are pretty hard to handle but there are some place which do take plastics.

Try finding the one most accessible to you other than that reuse what you can and don’t buy more than needed at least carry your own bag for shopping. Recently a few groups have started up campaigning for saving the river but it isn’t just their responsibility but of all of ours so if you see anyone dumping trash into the river please tell them to stop politely and if you are dumping thrash in the river tell yourself to stop rudely. Swarna isn’t the amazon but she is family, one that hasn’t changed ever since she started flowing through this land. Let us keep her that way because she can’t save herself from us only we can.

Aaron Ambrose D’Souza.

Also Read:

Your grandparents saw it? Well you can’t. Click  Here

How plants save the world on a daily basis. Click  Here

Flora and Fauna of Kemmannu (Thonse) by Aaron Click  Here