ENVIRONMENT MOVEMENTS IN INDIA AT A CROSS ROADS
With India
witnessing a huge upsurge of anger and protests against development projects,
the environment movement in the country today finds itself at a crossroads,
noted environmentalist and director-general of the Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE) Sunita Narain has said.
Delivering the
inaugural address at the 49{+t}{+h}State conference of the Kerala Sastra
Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) on Friday11th
May,2012, she said the last few years were marked by incredible protests as
communities mobilised themselves to fight thermal projects, dams, incinerators,
ports, and mines. Terming the upsurge against development as ‘Million Pollution
Mutinies,' she said it showed that people had understood the connection between
the environment and their survival.Ms. Narain said the track record of managing
the environment had become worse at the global level, despite a growing concern
for the environment. Ms. Narain said climate change, at its very root, was
linked to the growth model adopted all over the world. “We are doing something
fundamentally wrong that will destroy the environment and the planet itself
through catastrophic changes.” She said Indian cities such as New Delhi were
designed only for cars, with little concern for pedestrians and cyclists. “This
will only lead to more pollution.People should be encouraged to use public
transport and bicycles or walk to work,” she said.
Ms. Narain said
India's obsession to provide piped water for cities had led to a losing battle
to keep its rivers and canals clean as the sewage problem remained neglected.
Ms. Narain said the present growth model meant that cities would drown in
garbage and excreta. She called upon Indian scientists to reinvent the flush toilet
and make it more affordable and convenient.The function witnessed the release
of the seventh edition of Excreta Matters, CSE's report on the state of the
environment in India. Former Forest Minister Benoy Viswom received the first
copy of the report.
Prof. John
Kurakar
No comments:
Post a Comment