One and half page essay on corona virus in India
Answers
Speedy and agile efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic by India's national and state governments, NGOs, and, in some cases, the private sector seem to be yielding positive results. From augmented resources for health care to the manufacture of personal protective equipment needed to protect health workers to the social solidarity and the overwhelming support from all corners. This essay explores what's working in India at the moment and asks what could be next.
The Present Situation in India
The nationwide lockdown, now extended until May 3, is helping contain the spread of the virus.
700,000
The lockdown led to an exodus of migrant workers from cities where they worked to villages where they lived—some 700,000
But the lockdown has also meant the loss of millions of jobs belonging to daily laborers and informal sector workers—a large proportion of whom are migrant workers. The lockdown has also led to an exodus of many of those same migrant workers from the cities where they worked back to the villages where they lived—close to 700,000 of them (which is probably an underestimation) are stranded across the country. They began to walk thousands of miles to their homes, when the initial three-week lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on March 24.
The photo shows a huge stream of people walking down a long road with the city to their backs far away.
Migrant workers walk along a highway with their families as they return to their villages during a 21-day nationwide lockdown in Ghaziabad, outside New Delhi, India on March 29, 2020. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
The migrants were fleeing the cities as they had lost their jobs but now they have lost their dignity too, largely due to the jolts from the government. They are angry and uncertain of when they will get to go home, and many people face the threat of hunger and starvation. The government has announced an economic relief package to help those workers and also small businesses. But from all counts, the additional food, cash and other benefits being offered are insufficient to reduce the insecurities and uncertainties in people’s lives. Further announcements to address the plight of these families are expected in the near future.
‘They are angry and uncertain of when they will get to go home, and many people face the threat of hunger and starvation’
On the health front, although India’s COVID-19 trajectory is beginning to level off in many parts of the country. According to data provided by India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on April 17, 2020, the number of reported COVID-19 cases rose by 16 percent over the past two days to 13,835—a slower increase compared to the previous forty-eight hours, when the reported case count rose 28 percent to 11,933.
Though these numbers are low by any standards for a country of 1.3 billion people, we need to be cautious of relapses. Skeptics might argue that India is not testing sufficient numbers of people to find out the real extent of spread. There is an element of truth to this statement. But we should not forget that it would be very difficult—if not virtually impossible—in a democratic country like India to conceal serious cases should outbreaks occur even in remote rural areas given how proficient people are in the use of mobile phones for messaging across the country.
Answer:
The day starts with the morning milk supply which arrives in a trendy plastic cover. Fruits, vegetables, oil, cloth, shoes, pens, tools etc. are all wrapped by the polythene covers. If we look around, they are everywhere.
Due to its light weight, high strength, good flexibility, performance, low economic cost plastics have gained wide-spread acceptance.
Polythene bags are the agents of air pollution, cancer, and skin diseases. It is used like a slow poison in daily life. In the process of recycling poly bags, the producers use a large number of hazardous chemicals which are injurious to our health.
Calcutta Medical College Hospital says that taking tea in poly cup can be the cause of ulcer. Experts say, polythene bags and other plastic materials, if burnt below 7000 degree Celsius, create poisonous gas which can cause cancer and skin diseases. The polythene wrapped fish, vegetables and meat are infected by anaerobic bacteria which is responsible for skin disease and cancer.
Plastic bags choke drainage system and water supply channels. The blocked drainages lead to dangerous diseases like filariasis, dengue and malaria. Plastics pollute rivers, canals and lakes as also other water-resources.
The environmentalists feel that poly bags are a serious threat to the environment and also release toxic gases in to the atmosphere. It is a simple issue which can be solved easily, but if neglected can lead to serious consequences. So, we must follow precautions and initiate measures to save our environment as well as our life.