Life in Indo-Pak

[Akif]

A Cruel Choice in New Delhi Jobs vs. a Safer Environment
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/24/world/24INDI.html

You might have to register for NYtimes in order to read this....
Its basically about New Dehli, where the government wants to shut down several extremely polluting factories, in an attempt to make the air a bit cleaner. But the workers at these factories have taken to the streets trying to save their jobs, which they will lose if these factories are done away with.

Its not just about India. Similar situations exist in Pakistan as well. I cant seem to oppose either party in this situation. I mean, pollution is one of the primary problems that India and Pakistan have, so any attempt to clean it up should be welcomed. But u cant help side with the workers either, who perhaps cannot live without a single payday. And they need a constant source of income to sustain their families. So how do u decide such a predicament? What suggestions can we, as professionals/semi-professionals give to our governments in order to help them ensure a balance between the two courses of action. Whats more important? food or health?

[sabah]

Interesting ethical problem heh.

My do aane – I don’t remember details, but some time ago, US rejected a policy about pollution, and their reason was that they can’t afford negative growth or something like that right? Now just because US does this it doesn’t mean that we all should follow them, however it does tell a lil about other well-developed countries priorities. If ppl in developed countries loose job, they’ll probably be covered my some policy, welfare of some kind. Lekin our ppl don’t have this luxury – pollution is a global problem, still I don’t think that it’s ethically correct of me to demand of other ppl to starve or in worst case die, so that I can have fresh air.

This is another evil circle in our country and India, just like Child labor issue; you can’t stop it without providing them with some alternatives. Another solution could be to get them employed elsewhere and shut down those factories. Or demand that factory owner live up to the criteria set by the ministry. There should be made a plan to combat this problem, with a realistic time frame, in which they can reduce the pollution level gradually, without having to close factories. US would do it over 20 years I think, we could work on a similar policy.

[Mr Xtreme]

This is a serious issue, but IMO it can only be dealt with globally. As Sabah has pointed out, as long as countries are looking after their individual interests it's hard to look at the wider picture. Just these last few days there have been arguments amongst developed countries about this very subject and as usual, America, France etc failed to come to any agreement on individual responsibilty of nations to the environment.

It seems we can get a consensus to bomb a third world country back to the stone age, but nobody can agree on a sensible ozone policy.