Thank God I am in Bhutan

For the past more than one week or so, the residents of Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital city, have been waking up to a spotless, sparkling atmosphere awash with the warmth of the morning sun under a crystal clear blue sky. On the other hand, cities in our neighborhood have been cloaked in stifling smog and pollution, causing poor visibility and risk to health.

Delhi in the morning smog

Photo: https://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2015/04/02/car-exhaust-now-officially-blamed-beijings-pollution

Beijing shrouded under heavy smog

Photo: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/31/world/delhi-in-smog-after-diwali-celebrations/

Thimphu this morning at 7.48 AM - sparkling and crystal clear

Look again at my image of Tashichho Dzong - sparkling in the morning sun - with clear blue skies and pristine atmosphere that surround it. Thereafter, think:

     ~ Is our country worth fighting for?

     ~ Is our environment worth protecting?

If yes, then think before you cause destruction to our natural world.

Stop building roads we do not need.

Stop justifying building of hydro-power plants that are prone to repeated “geological surprises” - one that is causing the country to spiral out of control into an irretrievable debt trap, and environmental devastation that we can ill afford.

Consider deeply and you will discover that we have done poor little to fulfill our Constitutional responsibility towards safeguarding our environment.

Accept that if it hadn’t been for our successive monarchs’ vigilant stewardship of our natural world, combined with the extremely difficult geological make of our landscape, left to the Bhutanese people, we would have long destroyed our environment.

We need to go beyond the talk - and start to translate our talk into action. If we don't, we will lose what we have and get what we deserve - disasters such as Beijing and Delhi.