CAG

As India observed Salt Awareness Week from 11^th to 17^th March, leading doctors and public health experts raised alarm regarding excess salt intake and its impact on the rising prevalence of hypertension in the country.

This World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD), consumer organisations from around the world,
come together to tackle plastic pollution, both for the sake of our environment and our health.

This happened a few years ago. I had had a fever all day and had barely eaten. I had to go out for some reason even though I was feeling quite weak and ill. I was attempting to cross the road and was halfway across, when I saw a bike approaching me at some speed. I couldn’t immediately react - I first moved forward, then back - not sure what to do to get out of their way. The bike hit me with such force that I was thrown some 2 metres off, my body hitting the road with a thud. I was screaming in pain. My shoes and jeans were torn, I was bleeding from the leg and I couldn’t walk properly. People came running to help me and I heard somebody say that the three bikers (they had been triple-riding) had received serious head injuries.

I wish our roads were safer for pedestrians - that we had safer crossing spaces and proper pavements to walk on. That just hitting a pedestrian could cause so much damage to bike riders was also a lesson I learnt that day.

In August 2020, just after the lock down was lifted I was travelling on my bike at around 6’o clock in the morning. A water tanker lorry had just passed ahead of me, leaking water. Oblivious to the water present on the road I was travelling at 40 kmph.  A car ahead of me braked hard  to avoid hitting a vehicle that stopped abruptly ahead of him. I then applied the brakes on my scooter, lost control, skidded and fell. I was lucky not to have any vehicle behind me or else this could have triggered a chain reaction, possibly hitting me or my bike from behind.  It is normal across Chennai to witness water tankers spilling water on the road as they pass by.

Water tankers are a common sight across Chennai. The law needs to ensure that no water leaks out of these vehicles as they travel. Another lesson I have learnt is to be especially careful on wet roads and allow enough room between me and the vehicle in front of me.  

Let us exercise our rights as consumers to move towards sustainable lifestyles. #noplasticpollution is do-able if we work together.

#WorldConsumerRightsDay #sustainability #plasticpollution #CAGChennai

Being old school can be a good thing! Maintain your possessions well and repair them instead of replacing them.

#SustainableConsumer #NoPlasticPollution #WorldConsumerRightsDay

What helps you see better can blind oncoming traffic.

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