Our lifestyle is the problem: Soha Ali Khan on pollution control

While the government is taking various steps for pollution control through national campaigns like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, actress Soha Ali Khan believes our lifestyle is the problem which prevents us from making changes in our daily lives.

"Whether it's industrialisation, modernisation or migration, the by-product is pollution. There is very little that we can do to stop it. Especially in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, so many people have moved there over the past few decades. I live in Bandra and there is so much vehicular pollution there. Our lifestyle is the problem," Soha, who was here on Tuesday for the NDTV and Philips' "Breathe Clean Conclave 2015", told IANS.

"When it comes to pollution, there are certain things that we can do but there are certain things that we can't. The reason behind it is lack of awareness. We don't know what we are doing. Also there is certain lack of civic sense. I don't think that the common man is aware about a lot of such things," she added.

The "Breathe Clean" campaign has been initiated to raise awareness about the quality of air we breathe and provide solutions for improving indoor air quality.

The conclave began with an opening keynote address by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and was attended by filmmaker-actor Kunal Kohli and leading medical practitioners, environmentalists, NGOs, concerned citizens and parent groups.

"I am really happy that NDTV has taken this initiative because I feel media houses can make people aware and also help tackle issues. At the outset, I must say we have a problem as any other city in the world and this is because of growing population, growing density and growing rate of urbanisation," Javadekar said.

Showing his concern over the issue, Kohli told IANS: "We need to recycle. That is something we are not doing. We need to have cleanliness in our environment because these are the things that lead to pollution. Also we should think about car pooling. There are a lot of methods through which we can control pollution.

However the "Hum Tum" director added that cleanliness is not just the government's job.

"You can't really blame the government for everything because the government has introduced schemes like the "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" and LPG subsidy. The government is doing its work but we as individuals need to be aware of and take our own steps. Keeping a city clean is not just government's job, it's our job also," he said.