Fake Progress: First We Killed the Mother, Now We're Destroying Generations....by Gurpreet
Enemies of the Earth... Enemies of the Mother!
We proudly call her “Mother Earth,” yet we treat her like an enemy. Today, in the name of development, mankind is digging into her chest, poisoning her waters, and choking her skies. From sand mining to pesticide spraying, from industrial pollution to toxic effluents, every sector has a hand in slowly murdering the very planet that gives us life.
While it's easy to point fingers at farmers for using harmful chemicals, it’s critical to recognize that they’re only a small part of a much larger problem.
Corporations that manufacture these pesticides and industries that belch out poison into the air and water are equally—if not more—responsible. In our pursuit of profit and convenience, we have turned against our own mother.
Despite our religious texts revering the Earth, water, air, and sky as sacred, not a single major religious organization has taken real steps to protect them. Instead of reverence, what we see is reckless exploitation.
The Hidden Cost of Contamination
Due to increasing pollution and shrinking agricultural land, food demand is rising while soil fertility is plummeting. Diseases linked to environmental degradation are growing at an alarming rate. Once, the average human lifespan reached into the 90s; now, it hovers between 45 and 60.
For today’s younger generations, even that is starting to look optimistic. The root cause? Polluted soil.
Research from Chinese, American, and British scientists—published in the prestigious journal Science—reveals a shocking reality: nearly 16% of the world’s agricultural land is contaminated by heavy metals, effectively making it cancerous. This contamination is affecting the health of over 1.4 billion people worldwide.
Global studies now warn us that one in six acres of farmland is poisoned. That’s about 242 million hectares—soil so toxic that it’s a ticking time bomb. The worst-hit areas include South China, Northern and Central India, and parts of the Middle East.
Heavy Metals, Heavier Consequences
Heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel, and lead are particularly harmful. These elements, once in the soil, remain there for decades and are absorbed by crops. The food grown in this contaminated soil becomes toxic—and so do we.
These metals cause kidney diseases, stomach problems, developmental disorders, and cancers. Scientists analyzed around 800,000 soil samples globally using AI to identify the most dangerous regions, and the data is chilling.
What’s even more disturbing? The top layer of fertile soil, vital to human survival, takes over a thousand years to regenerate just a few centimeters. Meanwhile, we are destroying it at a rate equivalent to one football field every five seconds.
Punjab: A Dying Land
In Punjab, the soil is already deeply damaged. Rivers like the Buddha Nullah cry out for help, but governments—both ruling and opposition—play politics instead of acting. The claim that all pollution will be eradicated is nothing more than political theatre. Punjab, once fertile and flourishing, is now gasping for breath.
The tragic truth is that those who speak out are often silenced, mocked, or ignored. The few voices that cry for change are lost in a sea of indifference. Today, talking about saving Earth is enough to get you labelled as an "enemy of progress."
A Final Warning
Mankind is obsessed with false progress—skyscrapers, smart cities, endless consumption. But if we don’t stop, we’ll soon be smart enough to realize we’ve nowhere left to live. We’ll long for a time when the Earth was alive and nurturing.
It’s no longer just about saving rivers or cleaning up soil. It’s about saving ourselves—from ourselves.It’s time we all ask a difficult question:
Are we the generation that killed its own mother?
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Gurpreet, Senior Sub-Editor, Babushahi Network
gurpreetsinghjossan@gmail.com
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