Gone are the days when we used to go out for morning walks to keep our fitness and health in check. The picture has drastically changed as one has to think twice before going out, especially if it is just to inhale some fresh air, because that’s what’s lacking nowadays. For some time now, there has been a sharp and consistent decline in the air quality.

Air pollution is one of the many reasons that have forced us to remain indoors. Inhaling bad quality air can affect our health severely resulting in acute and chronic respiratory ailments like asthma, pulmonary ailment, lung cancer and many other diseases that may be fatal sometimes.

Although it affects everyone more or less equally, there is a high chance that children, elders, and people with ongoing respiratory problems are the ones who might develop severe problems due to bad air quality.

A report by a reputed news agency in 2019 stated that “breathing in Delhi is equivalent to smoking 33 cigarettes a day!”

A huge number of automobiles, factories, and industries releasing toxic matters into the environment without treating suspended particles, and a colossal number of construction works lead to air pollution as well.

Although the government has taken some effective steps to counter the threat of air pollution, it is not enough and people should realise their own responsibilities too in tackling this grave issue.

Although it is the responsibility of every single person on this planet to keep environment safe but in the quest of saving the environment teachers and educational institutes can play a pivotal role. Let’s decode some of the ways by which they can contribute to this noble cause.

There are a plethora of ways by which the teachers, colleges, and universities can make an impact in slowing down or reducing air pollution.

Let’s see some of the most significant ways by which this can be done in the most impactful manner. Propagating the usage of public transport Since it is a well-known fact that there are a huge number of vehicles running in metro cities every day and these vehicles emit harmful gases like carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which damages the environment and pollutes the air.

So if the number of vehicles will be less, lesser will be the pollution.

Hence, keeping this in mind the teachers and universities should spread the message of using public transport instead of private vehicles to keep a check on the emission of toxic gases by the vehicles.

They can ask their students to use public transport to commute to schools and colleges, further students and do the same with their parents and should ask them to use public transport instead of private transport to commute to their workplace. Save plants, save planet It’s needless to say how much importance plants play in our lives.

We all have learnt in our childhood that plants give us the life saving gas called oxygen; they also purify the air by taking in carbon dioxide and releasing out oxygen in return.

So, colleges and universities should encourage their students to plant more and more trees and even colleges can run campaigns on this by organising events in various NGOs, schools, and colleges in rural areas and on social media to showing the importance of plants and trees in keeping our environment neat and clean.

By creating awareness Colleges, universities and other educational institutions should create awareness amongst students about the consequences of having to inhale polluted air and why it needs to be curbed urgently. It is high time people start taking care of the environment themselves and should not depend solely on government bodies.

By not doing so people may have to face dire consequences in the form of severe respiratory ailments, which in some cases can be fatal too.

These are some of the robust ways by which the teachers, colleges and universities can influence their students and society (through their students and campaigns) to curb the air pollution in order to not miss the morning walk with their loved ones.

The writer is director, Airific Systems, a Tech start-up.