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We are today facing the consequences of our own doings. These words might bring a chill to our hearts but the facts support the statement. We have wantonly destroyed our ecosystems in our single-minded activities to achieve success, materially or monetarily! The fact is that our hunger for success without serious thought of how we are affecting nature has finally brought us closer to our nemesis.
We, humans, have destroyed our wetlands, forests and valuable ecosystems that were, in fact, acting as buffer zones that protected us from infections and diseases that have wreaked havoc on our lives. To this effect, I would like to draw attention to all the animal to human being transmitted viruses that have exposed us to pandemics that threaten to wipe us off the face of the planet. The Ebola virus, the hantavirus, the HIV virus, the SARS virus and now the Covid-19 or the Corona Virus have all been transmitted from animals to human beings. Initial reports suggest that the Corona Virus could have been transmitted from bats to human beings.
So then, the question that arises is how did this happen? The eating of the flesh of the so-called exotic animals, the greed for those special 'meats' and the eating of 'forbidden' flesh might have exacerbated the whole issue! Ultimately the whole issue boils down to our wanton destruction of wildlife in to satiate our hunger for exotic meats.
The eating of the Chimpanzee meat in some African countries, in many cases poorly cooked meat, helped the HIV virus to be transmitted from those primates on to human beings. This spread on to the entire human population in a manner that was a matter for forensic scientists to study. The desire for the 'exotic' foods at the Wuhan wet market in China could have lead to the transmission of the Covid-19 virus to human beings. While this is yet to be conclusively proved, preliminary research points out to two possibilities, the bat to human transmission of the virus from a bat to a scientist in a lab in Wuhan or a possible transmission from a wet market to human consumers. But then the same can be said about consuming fish that has been grown in unhygienic conditions in India too. The African Catfish, hardy in nature, able to survive in sewage-contaminated water has become the poor man's high protein source in India.
What this means is that today the risk of animal to human transmission has become a strong possibility, in many cases, it is an indication that we need to do a re-think of the food that we consume. Our craze for exotic animal foods including insects has exposed us to the possibility of being infected by viruses that though not really new, might, in fact, exploit compromised immune systems that have been affected by a modern lifestyle. We live in sterile environments void of contact with the natural world. We drink water that has been chemically treated, we live in a world that is 'sanitised' we eat packaged food that is chemically processed, and most important of all, we live in a world that is divorced from nature.
We human beings think we can live in silos separate from contact with nature. We destroy our wetlands (like for example the Basai Wetlands in Gurgaon) we convert green fields into parched and sterile lands to build flats, we destroy natural barriers like the Aravali mountains (Barriers that prevent the desertification of Delhi NCR) and to heap insult to our puny successes, we gloat about our successes over nature. What we have done is to compromise those natural barriers that gave us a sanctuary from deadly viruses that exist in Nature.
We are victims of our own pride! We believe that through our technological prowess we have gained success over nature. The harsh reality is that Nature is greater than we are, and we need to learn that technological success devoid of respect for nature is akin to foolishness driven by false pride. The Corona Virus Pandemic has taught us a valuable lesson indeed! Scientific and Technological advancement bereft of respect for nature is self-defeating and hollow in nature.
We have today been challenged by a virus, tiny in size, but potent in intent. All our technological prowess, our scientific advancement has ground to a halt, blocked by the progress of a tiny virus that threatens our very existence. It all reminds me of the biblical story of the puny Goliath defeating a giant. In the present case, it is all about a role reversal where we are the giant being defeated by a puny 'Goliath'!
Today we are facing the consequences of our actions of destroying nature. Nature sent us numerous warnings to beware of our actions, but because of our pride, (driven by our success in technology) we have ignored the signals. We build sky-scrapers over lands that once supported a rich ecosystem, we have drained out our wetlands, stopped the course of rivers, streams and floodwater channels, we have encroached on lands that were once rich forests, we have challenged nature, the rightful owner of the planet and we believe we can go Scot-free!
When I visited the Basai Wetland recently, I was distressed by the environmental degradation that is taking place there. First, they introduced the deadly African catfish. The African catfish destroyed the native species of fish that existed in the wetland. Now they have started draining out the remaining water from the wetland in to build flats. The water birds and other species of birds will soon have nowhere to go. The consequences of these actions will be evident in times to come. However, who cares as long as money is to be made! It is this rather narrow commercial mindedness devoid of the long term implications that us exposing us to great risks to live and wellbeing in times to come. Government organisations turn a blind eye towards what is in effect a deliberate and wilful rape of nature, wanton destruction of valuable ecosystems that support nature.
The introduction of the African Catfish in the ponds of the Basai Wetland in Gurgaon first decimated the local fish species. They were introduced because of their hardy nature and the fact that they grow in numbers very quickly. It was out of a sheer commercial sense that these fish were introduced. Now, what has happened is that some of the water of the Basai wetland is so polluted and contaminated by sewage that even thinking of consuming these Catfish poses a serious health hazard. The African Catfish or Mangoor in Hindi is however highly sought after by those who can't afford the more expensive fish varieties. It won't be long before we learn of a Wuhan Wet Market kind of an incident taking place in Gurgaon as a result of the transmission of some deadly virus from these Catfish on to human beings. If you look at the picture below, I am sure that you will be shocked by what you see! African Catfish thrive in sewage, and yet people cultivate them in such unhygienic conditions in order to make money by selling them to unsuspecting victims who probably are not even aware of the possibility of these fish being contaminated by harmful pathogens! The authorities turn a blind eye towards the cultivation of the banned African Catfish, palms are greased and we are waiting for a home-grown epidemic to strike us!
The introduction of the African Catfish in the ponds of the Basai Wetland in Gurgaon first decimated the local fish species. They were introduced because of their hardy nature and the fact that they grow in numbers very quickly. It was out of a sheer commercial sense that these fish were introduced. Now, what has happened is that some of the water of the Basai wetland is so polluted and contaminated by sewage that even thinking of consuming these Catfish poses a serious health hazard. The African Catfish or Mangoor in Hindi is however highly sought after by those who can't afford the more expensive fish varieties. It won't be long before we learn of a Wuhan Wet Market kind of an incident taking place in Gurgaon as a result of the transmission of some deadly virus from these Catfish on to human beings. If you look at the picture below, I am sure that you will be shocked by what you see! African Catfish thrive in sewage, and yet people cultivate them in such unhygienic conditions in order to make money by selling them to unsuspecting victims who probably are not even aware of the possibility of these fish being contaminated by harmful pathogens! The authorities turn a blind eye towards the cultivation of the banned African Catfish, palms are greased and we are waiting for a home-grown epidemic to strike us!
Nature is taking its revenge for our treatment of it in today's times. We have destroyed our natural buffer zones. We have destroyed our breathing spaces. We have destroyed our natural groundwater recharging zones, we are breathing deadly pollution because we have destroyed nature's natural lungs, forests that filtered polluted air to give us clean air. We have polluted our freshwater resources and drink sterilised water, thus destroying our innate ability to resist the onslaught of viruses and the effects of pollution and yet we call foul when we are forced to be in lockdown even as nature exults in its newfound freedom! Is the Corona Virus Pandemic a wake up call for us today to get our act together? I guess some people will continue being as they were, indifferent and insensitive towards the impact their greed is having on nature while the others will complain but do nothing conclusive. But then, is it not a human tendency to crib and complain about things?
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