Share this
Mister Wong
Digg
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Googlize this
Blinklist
Facebook
Wikio
Print
E-mail
DAMASCUS -- A Japanese environmental organization had come to Damascus to measure the rate of lead in the air in the Dowelah area of the city. I was there, helping them. I will never forget their shock and dismay when they revealed their findings; the air had 86% more lead than unpolluted air, which has at most trace elements of lead in it. This heavy lead pollution in the air is the result of the constant traffic going in and out of Damascus, the jams and gridlocks that cause cars to spew poisonous fumes as they inch their way towards their destination. Lead can cause cancer and pulmonary inflammation, yet it is pumped into the air every day by these commuters.When asked, however, the commuters show less interest in the negative effect lead in the air might have on their health and more interest in the negative effect long, traffic-filled commutes have on their mental health and social relations.
Nabil, a teacher and journalism student, is a typical example of a commuter in Damascus. “I feel like I’m blockaded in the city, fighting the geography just to get home. I live in Garamana, which is full of never ending construction and traffic jams. The traffic is so bad that I need to have tons of alternate routes just to get where I need to go. And when I’m on the road, I’m surrounded by dumps and other unsightly scenes. Every morning, I wake up full of energy, but by the time I’ve gotten through all that traffic and pollution, I often feel the opposite of how I felt when I left.” Nabil told us that traffic changes the pattern of his days. “When I need to go to the university, I go early in the morning, since the traffic is easier then. Because, if I’m late going out, I see grief from the traffic jams and huge commotions over silly causes. All of this can make it hard to study or lecture when I get to school.”
According to Nabil, people have grown accustomed to all of this pollution and hassle. Even municipal projects meant to reduce the problem usually just make it worse, as they drag on for years. He gave us an example from his own commute, a bridge which was supposed to be renovated in order to make things easier for commuters. Due to the attempts to fix the problem, his fifteen minute travel in that region now takes an hour.
For Nabil, as is the case for many, this is more than an inconvenience. “I can’t bid for a job in Damascus,” he said. “There are dozens of possible delays, most of which aren’t even accidents, which would keep me from getting to work. For me, it is no longer strange to see dirty and crowded streets – the strange thing now is to see a clean street with clear paths for cars!”
Ammar, too, finds the traffic has a very negative effect on his attitude. “Every day I get up happily, but by the time I have arrived at my destination, all I feel is grief. And it’s something that can affect my relationships with other people, since it becomes so difficult to bear sometimes.” He has grown to hate the city; it is so crowded and the air is so thick with pollution that when he needs to study for exams, he goes home to his village where it’s quieter and easier to breathe. “We’ve turned into sardines packed in a box,” he said of Damascenes.
Mouaiad, another university student, described the same phenomenon. His bus ride to the university is so stressful for him that he needs a full hour afterward just to calm down and balance himself again. He used to try to read on the bus, but no more; the sight of the trash and pollution lining the roadways is too painful to ignore, and the constant delays leave him stressed over whether he will be late to his appointments or have to cancel them altogether.
Nidal tries to take a more ironic approach to the whole problem, joking about whether air pollution came from the buses or the bus-riders. He admitted that he used to lose sleep over his transportation problems. When his stress began to hurt his studies, however, he tried to set the stress aside. “Study is more important than such disturbances. I don’t’ care. I just try to forget about it all; even the missed appointments can worry me no more. I have developed a bunch of techniques to make sure I can get to my appointments. I can go home early, or try to trick the traffic by switching buses. Sometimes, I walk, and that can do better than expected.” Still, in spite of Nidal’s determinedly positive attitude, his outlook for the future is pessimistic. “I don’t think, with these crowds and all this pollution, that the solution is very close. On the contrary, citizens should just reconcile themselves to this pollution and problem.”
Some of the names of our contributors have been changed to protect their identity. The names of people interviewed have also been changed. The opinions expressed in our regional pieces reflect the beliefs of their writers, and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or opinions of the Tharwa Foundation and its members.
