At the face of it Poonam Sharma Looks like a typical MD confined to her place on a wheel chair. But give her a pen and the transformation is complete, her writings on issues relating to various socio-economic problems facing our country shows her in depth knowledge of such complex problems. Not only this, her concern for the environment and the loss to our forest wealth by way of recurring forest fires shows a very sensitive & caring human being with in her.

Some of her views expressed by her prolific writings have been displayed along with an English Translation of the same.

ISSUES facing the Country

We consider India to be a great nation. They say so because India has a rich cultural heritage of people belonging to various faiths having diverse cultural backgrounds. Various folklores of freedom fighters who fought for their homeland against the imperialist powers fill your soul with emotions. Out India is also rich in natural resources and has pretty waterfalls, green pastures, forests full of trees of various species, big rivers which are perennial source of water to millions of people. But today this great land is proving to various men made ills such as: -

Pollution

Once India used to be prettier than even heaven. But with changing times and constant economic developments that we have made, it has also been noted that man has spared no effort to pollute this pretty land. Even our holy rivers like Ganga, Yamuna etc have been polluted to a point that their transformation into dirty streams is now complete. It is heart rending to see human & animal car cases floating openly in these rivers. A part from this there are factories that produce toxic chemicals & gases, which not only pollute the environment but also have ill affects on our healthy living. To contribute to this problem we have been busy cutting trees & plundering our natural resources for our short sighted D& narrow gains. If all this goes on, we will have to bear the environmental fallouts of this callousness.

Population explosion

I would like to bring to your notice another grave problem our nation is facing, that is our fast growing population. The child birth rate in this country is a staggering figure of 51 births per minute, which contributes to around 1/3 of the births that take place worldwide. If such a high birthrate continuous, we will have to face a lot of difficulties in the time to come. Even our basic necessities of life that is food & shelter will come under severe stress due to this uncontrolled population explosion. This will further load to rise in unemployment & shortage of land for residential & other purposes. If this rising population can some how be controlled, we can provide for better education & other facilities for our future generations.

Terrorism

We are facing another never-ending problem in Jammu & Kashmir which has it's roots in the bigger menace of terrorism. Jammu & Kashmir is a place every Indian knows as heaven on earth & an important part of our country today the pretty face of Kashmir is a witness to the pale reality of terrorism. The entire valley today trembles at the alter of these terrorists. It has thus lost its peace & tranquility. Our own people are our to destroy this great nation. Using weapons & explosives to cause terror, taking innocent & clueless youth of Kashmir across the border for weapons training & then reinjecting them into the valley to cause trouble are the problems faced by the entire country and not just Kashmir. One of the reasons contributing to the continuous of this problem is the lack of interest shown by the government in resolving this problem. The other reason is the mutual suspicion that exists in the minds of Hindus & Muslims towards each other & lack of trust towards each other. No one in these two communities wants to step forward & build a relationship based on trust and principle of mutual co-existence. For lack of such initiatives the unity & integrity of our nation is at stake. This is the prime reason behind the happiness of Kashmir, which now downs on the faces of our enemies across the border. Kashmir on its part is now crying to be liberated from the clutches of this mad violence. It seems as if God is himself helpless and has been held hostage by his own worshipers. It is evident from the way an age-old mosque at Charare-Sharif was burnt to ashes by people who propagate violence in the name of the same god. It seems as such terrorist group now have the audacity even to challenge the all mighty & his creations.
It now up to us & our grit & determination that can go a long way to restore peace & harmony in the Kashmir Valley. We will need to check cross border infiltration effectively and look for such trouble mongers with utmost vigil, so as to defeat their nefarious designs of breaking our great nation. It we can do this & unite all Indians in the bond of humanism, Kashmir will be a paradise once again and it will benefit all Indians and not just Kashmir's

Himachal Pradesh is considered to be the land close to nature. It's beautiful flora & fauna adds to a perfect ambience that excites one and all. It seems as if hugh green trees have encompassed the whole of the mountain ranges. Being in the midst of this nature's splendour sets your holly soul on a high. Besides, the small villages & hamlets that on the entire landscape of this hilly state add to it's beauty and act as a feather in it's cap. In the winter months most parts of Himachal are covered with snow.

The whole of the mountain ranges including trees & other form of vegetations bear an impeccable white look. So much so that even the moonlight at night seems dull as compared to this white opulence.

I have said so much about the natural beauty of this hill state, but today, my real concern lies somewhere else. I wish to draw your attention to the rising summer temperature that is causing such an adverse affect on the ecology of this state and the colossal loss it will cause can't even be imagined. One of the reasons of such unprecedent climatic changes is the prevalence of an even increasing number of forest fires that engulf our forests year after year. I have been an eye witness to the destructive nature of fire that destroys the entire vegetation and it's quick spread, which at times becomes uncontrollable. Even the animal habitation of that particular area is severely affected. Our forests have had to face the brunt of such fires with losses running into millions of rupees. Nobody it seems is concerned about the occurrence of such fires including the administrative machinery of the state. Such a callous attitude shown by everyone around has led to grave climatic changes with the temperature level rising each year along with the prevalence of smoke clouds, which pollute the entire eco-system. So much so that the trees and other forms of vegetation meant to provide us clean air in the form of oxygen (to breathe), have turned into the suppliers of such gas laden smoke clouds. Such fires have not even spared some of the villages that came in the way. It is feared that if these fires are allowed to ravage our forests the way they do, we will soon loose our forest cover and it will lead to a severe ecological imbalance as we know that such forests with their diverse vegetation are so essential in sustaining all kinds of life forms be it plants or animals.

In fact we are all dependent on them. These forests have other kinds of uses as well. They provide us we precious medicinal plants which are used in various medicinal applications. Apart from this these forests also provide us with wood for constructing our homes as well.

This forces us to ponder that if nature and it's offerings are so precious for our existence, than why are we bent upon to destroy it all together. We have inherited this wealth form our fore fathers and must take upon ourselves the duty to pass this wealth to the next generations without causing much harm.

First of all we must opt for ways by which such forest fires can be prevented at the very onset and thus their destructive capabilities can be checked at the right time. The administration should also come forward and device ways to prevent the occurrence of such fires. People should also unite to prevent such fires by helping extinguish such fires and by taking precautions so that they may not unknowing by spark a fire by lighting a match stick their way through these forests.
If we can take such precautions, it will go a long way in taking this menace of forest fires and we will always be able to enjoy our splendorous natural wealth and it's scenic landscapes.