EcoSikh and BCM Arya to Spread Air Quality Awareness among Ludhianvis

Ludhiana, May 24, 2019: Ludhiana’s most renowned institution, BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar and EcoSikh organised series of events to sensitise students and their parents about deteriorating air quality of Ludhiana and its impacts on the public health, especially children under the age of 15 years. The 3-day event is being organised from 23rd May to 25th May at the school premises under the theme ‘Breathing Punjab, Combating Air Pollution’ in collaboration with an international organisation 350.org to commemorate the World Environment Day. Around120 students participated in the event of poster making competition and today, these students were given prizes, and tomorrow is the interaction with parents at PTM and display of the art work these young artists.

An Air Quality Metering device was installed at the school premises which will provide a regular feed about the Particulate Matter (PM), AQI and safety tips to the parents through the school’s mobile application.

EcoSikh President, Supreet Kaur said, “The idea is to safeguard the health of our innocent young children who are exposed to the air pollution every day. Each year 600,000 children die due to bad air quality. The parents and the teachers all need to get equipped to cope up with the deteriorating quality of air in our city.”

The keynote speaker of the event, a famous poet and environment activist Jaswant Singh Zafar addressed, and said, “The current state of air is a manifestation of our functional social, cultural, educational and political system. Humankind is the only specie that has creating negative footprint on earth. Now is the time to clean our own filth, before we reach the point of no return.”

DMC based Pulmonologist, Akashdeep Singh shared critical information about the impacts of air pollution and the safety measures that institutions can take to protect their wards.

Principal Paramjit Kaur of BCM School shared, “The information about AQI will empower us to educate and safeguard our 7000 students and their parents from the ill effects of air pollution. Our school has led in conservation of nature and awareness to society. The institution has bagged many green school awards like Jal Satyagraha, Green Idol awards, Conservation of Biodiversity and hosts for International Coastal clean-up since 2012.”

The organising team included Environment Manager, Vipra Kale from BCM and team of volunteers from EcoSikh organisation.