Pune.... Then and Now !!

I remember being stationed in Pune about 30 years ago as a young Army Officer. Back in those days, Pune was known as the “Pensioner’s Paradise”. There was greenery everywhere and beautiful climate all year round. In Army terms, it was a “non-fan” station – which meant that people stationed in Pune did not need fans. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Pune today. There are multiple reasons for it, but let us talk about one in particular.

In 2003, there were approximately 7.5 lac vehicles on the streets of Pune City. Today, there are 25 lac vehicles. Assuming a daily average fuel consumption of just one litre per vehicle, the total daily  CO2 emission is a staggering 6250 tonnes !

We all use electricity in our homes and we get water supplied to us – either by the PMC, or by Water Tankers. We also consume food that has been transported by trucks and packaged in plastics. When we walk, we leave footprints behind. Using that same terminology, we all have a Carbon Footprint that measures how much CO2 we cause as a result of our lifestyle. CO2 is widely recognized as one of the pollutants responsible anthropogenic climate change – or – Climate Change that is a result of human activity. We all are increasing our Carbon Footprint without even realizing it, and it is all adding to atmospheric CO2 that is causing havoc with local and global ecosystems.

However, we can take active measures to reduce our Carbon Footprint.

• Rainwater Harvesting: If you can reduce your usage by one tanker a day, that reduces the annual emissions by nearly 2 tonnes.
• Energy Saving Devices like CFL Lights: Replacing a single 40 watt conventional bulb with an 8 watt CFL can reduce annual emissions by 70kg
• Converting wet kitchen garbage to compost not only reduces CO2 emissions, but also Methane emissions. Methane emissions cause twenty times more heating than CO2

Unless we change our attitude towards to mother nature, we may face a harsh climate in the future, and our children will pay the price .....