Conversations held under trees: Aligarh’s women voters on electricity, elections and climate change

 

Gayatri Devi (45), a buffalo herder in Aligarh looked on as I took a photo of her and her sister-in-law Rajamala (32) last February. They were taking a break from cutting grass that grows underneath the shade of trees, such as the mango tree in the photograph. Gayatri Devi says that such grass has become a rarity, as a result of the loss of trees and open spaces. Photo courtesy: Meher Ali

It is not as if the public does not care.

In 2017, Climate Trends, a communications company, conducted a survey in six cities in Uttar Pradesh to find out whether the public in the most populous state cared about climate change. 

The United Nations defines climate change as “long term shifts in temperature and weather patterns.” It identifies human activities, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, as the main cause of this change.

The survey found that more than 80% of people wanted the government to take action on climate change, with more than 70%, saying that they wanted the rising level of air pollution to be addressed by political parties campaigning in the 2022 assembly elections. 

Yet, neither the BJP nor the SP have done so, though the latter’s ally the Rashtriya Lok Dal as well as the Congress have in their respective manifestoes. Even so, if one looks at the speeches made by candidates of all major political parties or media coverage of this election, it is apparent that there are no proposals on the table to tackle heatwaves, floods, droughts and other disasters that have increased over the years, as a result of climate change. 

This is the reason why I chose to speak to voters in Aligarh on election day. 

Read the full story here.