It was an eerily dark new moon night and the dogs barking afar just made the night a lot more spoofy. And in this harrowingly hair-raising atmosphere, my asthmatic grandfather kept incessantly coughing, gasping, choking, struggling for breath, incessantly fighting for clean air for his lungs. The fog, the frost had always worsened his condition. But now added to his woes was the smoke - the smoke that my cigar-smoking neighbor exhaled, the smoke that the cars in the neighborhood released, the smoke that the chulhas (brick stoves) from the nearby slum areas gave off, the smoke that the factory barely a kilometre away emitted into the air - that strangled him from within.

The state of air pollution in the recent times has been worsened by the uninterrupted burning of coal, gasoline, petroleum, and injudicious use of other fossil fuels. These fuels consequently acidify the rain and vent smog, greenhouse gases, and heavy metals into the air. The greenhouse effect then affects the Ozone Layer that shields us from the harmful Ultraviolet radiation of the Sun and this increases our risk of being diagnosed with skin cancer. Acid rain, on the other hand, is a significant threat to both human and aquatic lives. But since, fossil fuels have become an inseparable part of our daily lives given their regular and required use in transportation, heating, manufacturing, electricity generation and so on, it's next impossible to call it quits. 

With the speedy modernization of our society and rapid advancement of technology, newer and better brands of automobiles have come to compete in the market. But these vehicles use fuel which is sometimes not completely combusted in the engine and thus, consequently, release VOCs (Volatile Organic Chemicals) into the air; these VOCs are a common source of air pollution. Polluted air not only causes respiratory diseases but prolonged exposure to pollutants can cause lung cancer. And in addition to this, according to a study published in the Journal of Human Reproduction, exposure to air pollution is associated with slightly increased chances of menstrual irregularity.

In the meantime, we immediately rushed my grandfather to the hospital in an ambulance and on the way to the hospital, all I saw was a huge, open dumpyard which was meant for waste disposal but had now turned into a site of serious and perilous pollution. These open dumpyards contain biodegradable substances that emit VOCs and methane gas, a highly flammable and ozone-threatening gas, into the atmosphere. While the ambulance passed across this disposal site, all my old, sick, short-winded grandfather did was - panting and puffing - so poorly striving to catch his own breath exclusively because of the polluted environment.

As soon as we reached the hospital, an oxygen cylinder was given to him and he was taken to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) for critical treatment by expert doctors. My grandfather was put on life support the next day and he kept ailing but wrestling for life for 23 long days until he finally gave up. My grandfather passed away and I still feel guilt-ridden - maybe we could've saved him and thousands like him had we cared a little more about our environment, had we taken a step back every time we were about to pollute the air. 

Nothing on this earth is worth losing one's life for, pollution being the worst and last thing among them all. 

Hence, we must take the following set of measures to cut down the rate of air pollution :

1. Trees are the best controllers of air pollution and hence, afforestation must be practised on a large scale to contain air pollution while also maintaining the ecological balance.

2. It must be made mandatory for pollution-generating industries to surround themselves with a thick "green belt".

3. Automobile engines must be redesigned in a way such that their emissions do not add to or multiply the existing levels of air pollution.

4. In developing countries like India, traditional use of fuel wood and coal must be checked and smoke-free furnaces must be installed in households.

5. Steps must be taken for immediate check on forest fires (like the Amazon Forest, Brazil).

6. Garbage must be processed separately and dumpyards must be covered so as to reduce air pollution.

7. Smoking in public places must be banned.

Let's leave behind "fresh, clean, safe air" for our future generation to breathe.