GMAT Essays (AWA)

The topic is " Responsibility for preserving the natural environment ultimately belongs to eachindividual person, not to government."

The issue is both interesting and controversial. The author suggests that the responsibility for preserving the natural environment ultimately belongs to each individual person and not to the government. I agree with the author’s point of view that it is ultimately the responsibility of each individual to contribute in preserving the natural environment rather than just shifting the onus on government. The main reason for my supporting the issue is that the individuals have to be disciplined while using the natural resources and they should have a positive attitude towards preserving the environment understanding fully well that government can only assist the civil society to attain this objective by framing correct policies and effective implementation of the same policies.

The primary reason for assigning the ultimate responsibility to individuals is that it is the attitude of the individuals as a whole that decides how natural environment is being used. Educated people who are aware of the benefits of sanitation and hygiene will never loiter around things or dispose garbage or sewage in rivers or lakes. These people will in turn teach their children the same and thus habits of the society are formed in favour of sanitation which helps in preventing pollution of the rivers and lakes. Similarly, if people imbibe in themselves the importance of trees and greenery , they will never resort to cutting trees and destroying vegetation. Here, I would like to emphasize that the government can frame policies for preventing damage to trees or lakes or rivers and can implement the same but preserving these natural resources can only happen if the individual citizen takes the responsibility of taking care of them.

In case of large industrial units, or industrial areas the government can only set norms for controlling pollution levels, preventing the dumping of waste industrial chemicals etc. But ultimately , it is the responsibility of the industrial community to adhere to these standards and rather work towards betterment of the same by establishing good practices.

One counter argument can be that unless there is fear of some central authority people can misuse the natural resources. I fully agree with the argument but this does not mean that individuals can shun off their responsibility to preserve the natural environment.

Summing up, I would say that although there will be a never ending debate in favour of and against the point that who should be responsible ; it is ultimately the individual who is responsible for preserving the natural environment and govt should assist the individuals and society by framing effective policies and implementing them. It depends a lot on the attitude of the individuals towards the environment as to how they treat it.