“Environment protection in people's hands”

The Advisor to Ministry of Environment and Forests, G. V. Subrahmanyam, has said that people's participation in environment protection alone can bring the desired results more than any number of legislations brought by the Government.

“Protecting the environment is for our own future and not for anybody else. You can have any number of legislations…but the implementation is done by local people. Any campaign on climate change or environmental issues can be successful only when all of us come together,” he said, while speaking at the Thiagarajar College of Engineering (TCE) here on Friday.

He was in the city to participate in an ‘International Workshop on Climate Change and GIS' organised jointly by the TCE in association with Madurai Kamaraj University.

Dr. Subrahmanyam underlined that respecting the environment is nothing new to India because historically this land was known for conservation ethics which came to its people either through religion, culture or philosophy.

“Nature and humans are inseparable and historically, we Indians have been respecting nature. The same spirit must be shown now because we have to protect environment for our own future,” he appealed.

The Ministry's Advisor also mentioned about the pollution caused by small scale industries across the country and the need to sensitise them on pollution control strategies.

“Pollution, energy and climate change are all related issues. It is important for our people to understand the consequences of climate change since it will have an impact on surface temperature, seal level and vegetation,” he stressed.

Stating that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has been doing a lot in creating public awareness, Dr. Subrahmanyam said that it was also deploying Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing to implement natural resources management scheme. Himalayan glacier and wetlands besides several other areas were mapped already.

Karumuttu T. Kannan, Chairman and Correspondent, Thiagarajar College of Engineering, in his presidential address, has urged the Government of India to launch a nationwide campaign to tell people about the dangers to environment.

Daniel Ayuk Mbi Egbe, Senior Scientist, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria, spoke on the importance of tapping solar energy while A. Sundaram, Head and Chairperson of School of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Madurai Kamaraj University, said that renewable energy revolution is the need of the hour.

Link The Hindu