Air pollution is detrimental to public health
Ever since globalisation set its foot in, one needs to take a critical look at activities that have taken place in the name of development. People have been able to access a lot of facilities in the name of modern technology. But the impact of this unabated development has been largely negative on the environment. Official statistics say one among eight deaths happens due to air pollution. Pure air is becoming dearer with every passing day.
A global survey indicates the average life of Indians is getting reduced by 1.7 years owing to pollutants in the air. Lung cancer, heart attack, difficulty in breathing, stroke, and diabetes are caused due to air pollution. Industrial effluents, unabated construction, dust emanating from sub standard roads, the carbon emanating from the vehicles, smoke that arises when garbage is burnt, all this has turned into a major threat to the prevailing quality of air in the country. Supreme Court has been issuing warnings to state and Central governments regarding this issue time and again.
Environmental experts and scientists, along with activists of social service organisations have been voicing their concerns in no uncertain terms regarding this. But the administrators who sit in AC chambers hardly care about this. Government issues license to businesses like mining which cause great harm to ecology. Influential politicians have license to those businesses that render irretrievable damage to atmosphere. Though this damages everyone, those who are sitting in corridors of power are totally deaf to this cause. Not just this, those sitting in corridors of power protect the wrong doers who are politicians and bureaucrats.
The level of this pollution may be less in Karnataka compared to other states, but Bangalore is all g those cities which suffers massively owing to air pollution. Compared to Delhi, Bangalore is home to more gardens and number of industries are very less too. But this city is home to over 80 lakh vehicles that can destroy the atmosphere. If this has to be checked, there has to be a cap on number of private vehicles that can be owned by people. In a city like Bangalore, a family of four members usually own four cars too with one car per member. This can lead to serious destruction to environment. Hence the government has to improve public transportation and reduce the usage and need of private vehicles. The wood fire stove used by people living in villages contributes significantly to air pollution.
North India has high instances of this. Hence the government has to provide every household with bio gas powered stoves or solar cooking units. If the waste part of crops is allowed to decompose in the soil, it would serve as a good fertiliser. Use of diesel generators have to be restricted. Pollution Control Board has a large role to play in this regard. But at the moment this agency is almost non existent. More than anything else, this issue has to become a prominent topic in election manifesto.
Without addressing these issues, spending thousands of crores on public health would be a total waste of resources. Not just the government, even NGOs and citizens groups have to be proactive in checking this menace. Mining is the most pertinent and majorly contributing factor to this menace. The result of unabated mining is not just plundering of resources, but also massive destruction of ecology. When mining took place in Bellary around the time when BJP government was in power, it rendered the whole area useless. Both legal and illegal form of mining thrived in this area. Since the most influential occupying high offices were involved in mining, it was difficult to catch and penalise them. Mining stopped only after relentless crusade by Justice Santosh Hegde and environmental crusader S R Hiremath.
Mining continues in many parts of the country beyond Karnataka as well. Influential politicians are behind this. Central government has entered into agreement on consuming the forest resources that was protected and safeguarded since many years in states like Odisha, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and other resource rich states. So the tribals who were settled in those areas since ages have been uprooted. Those who oppose this are being shot to death. If the government is really concerned about ecology, it should stop displacing the tribals. Lip service isn't enough to check air pollution. Effective steps have to be initiated to ensure this is done in letter and spirit. Checking air pollution leads to improved public health. A healthy citizen makes for a strong country. Modi government does not have a clear environment policy. At least in the coming elections environment has to be made the election manifesto.
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Indigo fiasco: B'luru airport suffers disruptions; over 102 services cancelled, KIAL issues advisory
Bengaluru: IndiGo’s service disruption at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport continued for the fourth consecutive day, leading to the cancellation of over 102 flights on Friday. Many passengers were stranded for more than 12 hours.
According to reports, 52 arrivals and 50 departures were cancelled.
Passengers expressed widespread anger over IndiGo’s lack of proper communication and shared videos and updates on social media highlighting the chaotic situation.
Some users alleged that the airline intentionally cancelled flights to indirectly pressure the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) into rolling back the newly introduced ‘weekly rest’ clause under the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.
A user wrote, “An airline that had two years to meet global standards managed to blackmail the government and force a rollback. What about passenger safety and pilot health? The problem is we will keep flying IndiGo because there is no option.”
An airline company that had two years to meet global standards has managed to blackmail the government and forced it to toll back.
What about passenger safety? Pilot health? Problem is we will keep flying indigo because there is no option pic.twitter.com/cpbwf4SM5D
— Snehesh Alex Philip (@sneheshphilip) December 5, 2025
Another commented, “So the blackmail by @IndiGo6E worked. What about the problems faced by passengers? No accountability?”
So the blackmail by @IndiGo6E worked. What about the problems faced by the passengers. No accountability?? pic.twitter.com/9DNxmH8b0I
— CA Brindavan Giri (@BrindavanG) December 5, 2025
The widespread cancellation came owing to pilot and crew crunch after the DGCA introduced crew shortages triggered by the rollout of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.
A social media user, Nitin Malpani shared a video about this and said, "What are you IndiGo staff doing? We have been at Bangalore airport since 8 pm last night till now. Are you playing with children, elderly and sick people just to change the work schedule of the staff?"
A video of exhausted passengers singing bhajans while waiting at the airport has also gone viral.
Meanwhile, at a time when Indigo cancelled flights to major cities, ticket prices of other airlines sharply surged.
As per reports, the New Delhi–Chennai one-way fare touched nearly ₹66,000, while fares on the Mumbai and Kolkata routes also crossed ₹38,000.
A passenger reported that an Air India ticket from Bengaluru to New Delhi for Saturday evening had risen to nearly ₹34,000, leaving many with no choice but to pay increased prices.
Bengaluru airport issues advisory
In a statement issued on Friday, Bengaluru airport authorities said that IndiGo flights to Mumbai and Delhi had been cancelled and advised passengers to check their flight status directly with the airline before arriving at the airport.
They added that their teams were working with IndiGo and other stakeholders to decrease inconvenience and assist passengers affected by the disruption.
ಇಂಡಿಗೋ ಮೂಲಕ ಕೆಂಪೇಗೌಡ ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ವಿಮಾನ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಿಂದ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಪ್ರಯಾಣಿಕರು ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಈ ಸೂಚನೆಯನ್ನು ಪರಿಶೀಲಿಸಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಸಹಕಾರಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು.#ಪ್ರಯಾಣಸಲಹೆ #ಇಂಡಿಗೋ #ಕೆಂಪೇಗೌಡಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯವಿಮಾನನಿಲ್ದಾಣಬೆಂಗಳೂರು #ಬೆಂಗಳೂರುವಿಮಾನನಿಲ್ದಾಣ #ವಿಮಾನ pic.twitter.com/SLV6Nl69B9
— ಕೆಂಪೇಗೌಡ ಅಂತಾರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ವಿಮಾನ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು (@blrairport_kn) December 5, 2025
Need a sanitary pad for my daughter !
A video of a distressed father pleading for a sanitary pad for his daughter amid the chaos has gone viral across social media platforms, sparking outrage on social media.
In the video, the man can be heard saying, “My daughter needs a pad. Blood is coming out.” He is also seen repeatedly requesting a female staffer for a sanitary pad, but she allegedly refuses.
The video has gone viral, with strong reactions from netizens.
"Need sanitary pad for my daughter," a visibly angry man could be heard venting at the Indigo crew amid hundreds of flight cancellations leaving passengers, in dire need of basic amenities, stranded for hours. pic.twitter.com/TRlMA27DVS
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) December 5, 2025
One user wrote, “What kind of airports do we have where even basic emergency services are unavailable?”
What kind of airports we have where we didn't even have basic emergency services.
— Himanshu (@himanshukr2841) December 5, 2025
Another commented, “Welcome to the world’s fourth-largest economy, where one airline brings the aviation ministry to its knees, and ministers get away with zero accountability.”
Welcome to the worlds fourth economy where one airlines brings the aviation ministry to it’s knees @PMOIndia And the ministers get away with zero accountability
— Pintoo Ganguly (@pintooganguly) December 5, 2025
What caused the IndiGo fiasco?
The disruption at India’s largest carrier, which has a control of over 60% of the domestic market comes after crew shortages, which were triggered by the rollout of DGCA’s new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.
According to a NDTV report, the airline has said that it expects to completely restore its normal services within three to four days.
However, following chaos at major airports, DGCA rolled back the newly implemented FDTL norms on Friday.
