Jhariya residents took part in a three kilometer run against air pollution and for the right to clean breath
More than 1,000 residents of Jharia Municipality, the Carboniferous center of Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, took part in a nearly three-kilometre run to protest against air pollution and have cleaner breath.
This effort assumes significance as Jharkhand has become the eighth most polluted state of India as per the annual report of Air Quality Index (AQLI) published in June 2022.
Jharia leads the list of polluted cities in India out of 313 cities surveyed in a 2019 report by Greenpeace India (Airpocalypse-IV), Dhanbad was the second most polluted city. The report found that the level of PM (particulate matter) 10 in Jharia was 295 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre). The Greenpeace report estimates that even if air pollution levels are reduced by 30 percent by 2024, Jharia’s air will still contain 207 µg/m3 PM 10.
In the same report, Dhanbad is the second most polluted city after Jharia with PM-10 level of 264 µg/m3.
In the career that began in Infante Park and ended in Katras, students and members of political and social organizations participated more. Its objective was to create awareness about air pollution. Participants wore shirts with the slogan “My sense is my right.” They were carrying placards with slogans like “Clean air is right”, “Clean air is my right”.
Last year students of Mahila Mahavidyalaya, ISL Jharia, Balika Vidya Mandir, Yashomati Vidya Niketan, Shishu Mandir and Marwari Vidyalaya also participated in the programme.
Chief councilor of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation Chandrashekhar Aggarwal, who was in the race, called him the voice of the people.
“This is the voice of the people. The way Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) is carrying out mining in violation of environmental norms, many common people are suffering the consequences”, Agarwal said.
Akhlaq Ahmed, logopedist and special educationist from Jharia, who organized the run, said that their immediate objective was to organize a tripartite meeting of Dhanbad district administration, BCCL instructions and local residents.
