Imagine if the air we breathe is completely polluted. Also, imagine how our body and in particular our lungs would react to such oxygen depletion with agonizing suffocation. Imagine the experience of breathlessness and finding no escape from such a toxic onslaught. The chaos such a situation would spread all around, with people coughing and toppling over like the hunted ducks. What would happen to all the species of animals and plants, both terrestrial and aquatic?
Even if such a horrifying scenario may sound as an exaggeration to you, the actual reality is inverse if we think of such violence and irreparable damage inflicted from the perspective of non-human species. The nightmarish circumstances described previously have already consumed the poor aquatic animals and their natural habitats due to the water contamination by only one species: humans. To make more space for dumping grounds, humans have spilled oil, thrown plastic, polythene and chemicals into the water bodies without even thinking twice about the effect it will have on other life forms.
As if this weren’t sufficient to cause dismay and indignation, the filling of wetlands has not only robbed birds, mostly migratory birds, their shelter and food but has also sealed the fate of aquatic animals as well. We have encroached on countless habitats, niches and communities of other species as if we had an exclusive right to live on this planet at the expense of extinguishing other forms of life at our own peril. However, in a karmic sense, all this devastation that we ourselves have authored has backfired. We have fallen into our own trap. With the pollution of water bodies, our food is becoming unhygienic, unsafe and even toxic for everyday consumption, our shelters are under threat of constant flooding, and as a result, our future has become uncertain and ultimately unsustainable. With this set of worries as the basis for larger questions, our cover story in this issue is about migratory birds as a unique example of how rich our biodiversity is and how it stands against multiple threats emanating from human mismanagement if not outright human abuse of resources and the environment.
In this issue you’ll find a story about Nadru, renkon or lotus stem, exploring how nutritious and beneficent the food is for the human body. At the same time, Nadru is the product of the lakes and wetlands that we have been reduced to half their original size. Consequently, this quintessential Kashmiri food item will never see the light of the day in coming half a century unless these water bodies are conserved and restored in the best possible way.
Furthermore, the idea of encroachment and the space of habitation shrinking is exceptionally transmitted through Ather Zia’s latest short story from the Gula of Kashmir series, where the murky water makes the fishes in the pond choke and suffocate, unfolding utter chaos in their spring. Needless to say, the sooner we understand the importance of water and water bodies in our lives, the better it will be for us and other species. However, the more we procrastinate the lesser time remains for the human made catastrophe we are inflicting upon ourselves, other species and the environment on our planet.
