If there is one thing that happens every 5th June is the fact that everybody wakes up to the fact that Environment Protection is our duty. Governments , Corporates , Educational institutions and civic bodies , citizens groups alike wake up to the stark reality that Earth needs our attention. This 5th June was no different , across Bengaluru and like rest of the country hundreds of functions were organized to commemorate the day.

Chief Minister H D Kumraswamy planted a sapling early in the morning to share his concern for the environment . The Government of India officials not to be left behind organized an event at the central offices complex in Koramangala to mark their concern.  Certainly the move must be appreciated thaat in midst of bureaucratic hectic schedules the leaders and officers alike took some time off to think about planting trees.

The railway officials at the KSR Bengaluru city railway station celebrated the day by dedicating a water bottle crushing machine on it’s premises. They fail to answer why they are unable to provide safe drinking water to its passengers , which forces them to buy water bottles.

The question that remains in minds is , whether this tokenism will suffice? Is it enough that on this one day we raise the issue, discuss and debate  whats good and where we need to work harder.

The steep decline in the green cover in  what was once the  pride of place for being the greenest state capital , Garden city Bengaluru today faces a crisis where over 77% of the land area is concrete covered . Only 23% of the land area of the city remains unpaved and can ensure that the rain-water can seep into the ground.  The crisis has reached levels which can shock citizens. Water tables are declinging rapidly and many areas which used to have court yard well filling to the brim till a couple of decades ago now depend on water tanker supplies. A syndicated mafia runs these water tankers forcing residents to buy water , as the ground water quality and quantity have depleted rapidly in the last decade.

This is not the only issue that makes people worry, the massive traffic jams that the city sees as a result of the rapid growth in size and resultant vehicle population is a bigger challenge. The depletion in the Air Quality Index (AQI) is a daily concern which hasput people on the brink of a massive halth hazard due to pollution from vehicle emmissions.

Despite the mandate for use of Compressed Natural Gas ( CNG) for public transport vehicles, a largee majority of taxis and auto rickshaws have yet to convert to the CNG kits. The biggest excuse being availbility of CNG is a difficult thing. The record of the government owned Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is still worseas it is yet to act in converting its fleet to be run with CNG.

So while dramatic tokenism became evident on 5th June like every year , the question that remains to be answered is when will Bengaluru reverse the trend of becoming an eco-disaster. Mere tokenism and photo-ops will not help.