Ironing service: A silent killer
These ironing service provider units consumes approximately three to four kilogram of charcoal every day to heat their irons for ironing. If this entire amount of coal is burnt, it would generate enough gases to kill thousands of people.
WHEN THE world is talking about environment pollution and its threat to the very existence of mankind, we in Delhi are sleeping to the threat of immense pollution created in our neighbourhood, which is going on unnoticed now for years together. I am talking about the environmental pollution carried out by the ‘ironing service’ providers who operate from every nook and corner of the city, from amidst thickly populated areas.
And they cause this pollution by burning charcoal to heat their irons; charcoal burning let me add quickly is a severe health hazard as it produces a mixture of carbon monoxide and other lethal gases, which if inhaled directly could result in instant death. But what to talk of checking their polluting activity, we do not seem to have even noticed them.
Yes they are all over Delhi, be it a posh colony, a DDA colony or a resettlement colony and at times two or more units of ironing service are seen located within yards of each other. Their numbers and locations can be estimated from the fact that no person in Delhi requiring their services ever has to move a few metres from his/her residence and Delhi we know is a most populous city.
Each one of these ironing service provider units consume approximately three to four kilogram of charcoal every day to heat their irons for ironing the clothes. If this entire amount of coal is put together and burnt in a confined space, it would generate enough gase to kill thousands of men, women and children in no time. Yet we are not deterred and allow the use of this deadly fuel openly in our neighbourhood.
If an ordinary person even passes by a ‘press wala', as the ironing service units are popularly called, a sensation of nausea and vomiting occurs immediately. Younger children who play nearby these iron servicing are all the more at risk. Since these press walas are located mostly in the open areas, slightly away from the residences, the pollution caused by them goes unnoticed; but it does not mean that there is no pollution. The huge amount of charcoal being burnt every day by them is actually eating away our fresh air and filling it with obnoxious gases unrestrained.
The worst affected from the pollution caused by ironing service are the ironing service provider themselves. In their case, the entire family has to live in these obnoxious gases day in and day out. Apart from smoke, small particles dispelled by the burning of charcoal (as well as by putting it off) fill the surroundings all the time and members of these families have to keep inhaling it. A cursory study made by the author showed that most men from this service community do not live any longer than fifty years of age.
Each one of these ironing service provider units consume approximately three to four kilogram of charcoal every day to heat their irons for ironing the clothes. If this entire amount of coal is put together and burnt in a confined space, it would generate enough gase to kill thousands of men, women and children in no time. Yet we are not deterred and allow the use of this deadly fuel openly in our neighbourhood.
If an ordinary person even passes by a ‘press wala', as the ironing service units are popularly called, a sensation of nausea and vomiting occurs immediately. Younger children who play nearby these iron servicing are all the more at risk. Since these press walas are located mostly in the open areas, slightly away from the residences, the pollution caused by them goes unnoticed; but it does not mean that there is no pollution. The huge amount of charcoal being burnt every day by them is actually eating away our fresh air and filling it with obnoxious gases unrestrained.
The worst affected from the pollution caused by ironing service are the ironing service provider themselves. In their case, the entire family has to live in these obnoxious gases day in and day out. Apart from smoke, small particles dispelled by the burning of charcoal (as well as by putting it off) fill the surroundings all the time and members of these families have to keep inhaling it. A cursory study made by the author showed that most men from this service community do not live any longer than fifty years of age.
The women and children in these families are weak and thin too, as they suffer from multiple health problems. It was also discovered that apart from inhaling poisonous gases these men and women are addicted to opium and tobacco products, to help them bear the drudgery of putting long hours at work amidst burning sunshine, lifting and putting down the heavy iron again and again and work ceaselessly without any break or holiday. And this kind of horrible living is passed on from generation to generation. The author learnt that an ironing service provider, which stands on a piece on encroached land if ever changes hands, involves a huge amount of goodwill money transaction.
Should we keep our eyes shut to this open assault on our environment? Is the question of bread and butter (read dal-roti) for these ironing service providers more important than the question of environment pollution caused by them? Do the government have no role to check the menace of this questionable activity in our neighbourhood? Can we, the citizens, be more cautious of the imminent threat to our local environment from these press walas and request the government to devise a better way to provide this service to us?
Should we keep our eyes shut to this open assault on our environment? Is the question of bread and butter (read dal-roti) for these ironing service providers more important than the question of environment pollution caused by them? Do the government have no role to check the menace of this questionable activity in our neighbourhood? Can we, the citizens, be more cautious of the imminent threat to our local environment from these press walas and request the government to devise a better way to provide this service to us?
Can the ironing service not be provided with subsidised electric power to enable them to use electric irons instead of the charcoal irons? These and other questions must be addressed immediately if we want to save the future of Delhiites. It also applied to all areas and all people around the country wherever charcoal irons are in use in providing ironing service to people. Will the government take an initiative?
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