Why do you say Leonardo Da Vinci,
Albert Einstein and Vincent Van Gogh are your other names?
Because my dad calls me ‘Leonardo’ or ‘Albert’, and my grandmother
calls me ‘Van Gogh’ ! But my mom just calls me Sushanth!
How did you come to know about noise pollution?
Because we can hear the sound of the autorickshaws inside the school and they are a
disturbance to studies.
Do all autos in the city make noise?
The majority of them do. And it is done deliberately.
Why do say that? How did you come to know?
When I went with my father to the garage I asked our mechanic why the autos make so much
noise. He told me that its because the auto drivers, as soon as they purchase the autos,
they remove the baffle plates.
What are baffle plates? ( Frankly, we were not aware!)
Well. The baffle plates are devices inside the silencers which muffle the flow of air to
reduce the sound.( He explains to us by drawing)
And why would auto drivers remove them?
Because when they remove them, they can drive at faster speeds.
So how did you file the petition against noise pollution?
I wrote a letter to Justice Saldhana explaining the problem. I knew he was coming to the
school for the tree planting project of 222 trees. I handed over the letter to him that
day.
Could you briefly describe the contents of this letter?
Yes.
Respected Justice Saldhana, we are pleased to have you in our school for planting the 222
saplings. The problem we appeal to you is that, the noise pollution in the city is
reaching ‘alarming standards’ due to the removal of the baffle plates in the
autorickshaws and the speed of the smoke released from the silencers cause noise
pollution. We would be grateful if you could look into the matter.
And what did Justice Saldhana say when he received the letter?
He said, Thank you, Sushanth. We’ll see what we can do about noise pollution.
(Justice Saldhana later went on to forward the letter to the Acting Chief Justice Ashok
Bhan for orders.)
What made you give this petition?
Because this environment is our home and it is our duty to look after it.
Has anybody been a great support to you in this effort?
Yes. The school, and especially Principal Ebenezer.
Here we are encouraged to Think differently, care for the Environment and make the
difference!
Do you have any other plans in the near future?
Yes. I am preparing a similar petition regarding water pollution in the Ulsoor Lake,
especially plastic bags. I plan to give it to Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, when he visits
our school in the first week of October.
Will you become a lawyer or an environmentalist when you grow up?
No. I want to become a mathematician and inventor. So I can create something of use to
people and the Environment. |
