I have read forecasts that the year ahead could be even worse than the one that has just gone by. Prophets of such doom focus on financial matters these days, but I have something else in mind.
The idea hit me late in 2008 as I drove towards Chandigarh on the road from Delhi. A patch of highway raises an unmistakable stink. It is a sign of the times that such an important stretch of road is witness to environmental abuse of the worst kind.
Differences between regulators in various countries continue to be glaring. While the India of 2008 has continued to allow abominable water pollution, the United States has taken a completely different direction. This is surely a huge challenge for international corporations that have to operate in all kinds of markets.
Will official and public neglect of water contamination last in countries such as India? Do not bet on it, for your future profits will be at stake. It is not just a matter of effluent discharge, but may also be related to phases of your business that you cannot see from your office.
Social, human, and environmental cost accounting lurks around corners. Catch up with your water balance and clean-up act before your business comes to a dead halt.
Forgive me for starting 2009 on such a somber note, but it is time to make a resolution to keep your enterprise running in to the brave new future. Clean up your water act now, and leave no cog of your business life-cycle exposed.
Here are some interesting links that I have used to write this post. I have not been able to work the image uploading and hyper-link facilities at this site for the past few days. Please cut and paste the addresses below until I figure a way to make my web log function fully.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jan/01/tva-pond-had-problems-for-decades/
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.briefs310dec31,0,7848213.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-dow-dioxin-01-jan01,0,7193136.story
http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2006/03/atrazine.html
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/yourtown/oxford/4013814.Farm_company_fined_for_polluting_stream/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment