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How Anti-Pollution Drive (APD) Foundation Is Changing How India Looks At Environmental Issues

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Oscar Shepherd

It is true that environmental issues are not given much heed in several different parts of the world. The fast-paced lives and the constant needs of the businesses to gain the upper hand over each other has been depleting the earth of its natural resources. On top of that, it has started to push in a lot of the toxicity that is produced during manufacturing processes. Unfortunately, in our need to get ahead of ourselves and others we have stopped considering the way all of this impacts nature, and what it's after effects could be.

India has been one of the countries that have so far been winning the race when it comes to economic development, but the way it is conquering it all is a method to be evaluated. More and more of the country’s resources are being swallowed by its emerging businesses, gradually turning it hollow. So far very few environmental drives have stood up in opposition to the increasing the pollution levels, and one of them is called the Anti-Pollution Drive (APD) Foundation.

Started in 2014, this Mangaluru native NGO, owned by Abdullah A. Rehman, seeks to identify and prevent sources of pollution. APD not only eliminates the sources of pollution but it seeks to educate the people of its country regarding the air pollution that has been endangering the environment of the country. Working closely with the government and several private organizations it collects data on the environmental situation of the nation and seeks to make it available to the public eye.

They have had notable successes in their endeavors. Firstly, they conducted a wide scale test on the impact of air pollutants on the outdoor workers of Mangaluru. This test was exclusively focused on the rickshaw drivers of the city. They then carried out a detailed study under their Shudda Gaali (clean breeze) project. They partnered with St. George’s Homeopathy for this project and it was in fact overseen by technical experts from the city-based One Earth Enviro Labs. The study showed that Mangaluru air had high lead content (which is a well-known cancer-causing element), and other dangerous compounds similarly dangerous in nature.  This discovery led to the state government installing an independent Air Quality Monitor that cost Rs.12 million.

APD Foundation has made several successful attempts to raise further awareness through its one of a kind reference website www.recycleindia.org. They have also devised up to 10 toolkits that target the concept of a zero-waste lifestyle. In the past three years, APD Foundation has been able to successfully run and conclude up to 25 projects in its native city.

They have been awarded the Young Social Innovator award by the likes of the prestigious UN-Habitat & NSF. They also have been bestowed with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board ‘Excellence Award’ by Ministry of environment Ecology and Forest. Other than that, they have also been named the Top Environmental Projects in India by the Government of Karnataka.

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