The lesson to be learnt was that "if we do not follow the environmental rules in letter and in spirit, our existence in this world will become a question mark," said A. Raja, Union Minister for Environment and Forests, while inaugurating `Greentech 2005,' an International Conference on Environment, Ecology and Pollution, organised by the Arunai Engineering College (AEC) here on Thursday.

His observation was in response to the statement of the AEC chairman, E.V. Velu, in his presidential address that the Pichavaram village in Cuddalore district and Muthupettai village in Nagapattinam district escaped the fury of the tsunami because of the mangrove forests and the `alayathi' trees.

Environment policy

After he took over he was surprised that the country, which had separate industrial, health and forest policies, did not have a comprehensive policy on environment, though it was a signatory to many global environmental agreements.

"As per our Forest Policy, the forest cover in India which was 23 per cent now had to be increased to 33 per cent by 2012. The Central Government has decided to formulate a comprehensive Environment Policy, which would assimilate the appropriate inputs from the environment policies of other countries, but which would be suitable to Indian conditions. A draft policy was already available on the website."

P. Agamuthu, professor of Solid and Hazardous Waste Management, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, said that the conservation of the natural resources, especially the mangrove forests in the Andamans, saved a lot of lives from the tsunami in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Shiro Hatakeyama, Director, Atmospheric Chemical Reaction Section, Atmospheric Environment Division, National Institute of Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan, said that the need to control the negative impact of air pollution had acquired greater significance today in the context of global warming. The National Institute of Environmental Studies in Japan was collaborating with the Anna University in the study of atmospheric pollution.

Harvey J. Houng, Adviser, Bureau of Waste Management, Environmental Protection Administration, Government of the Republic of China, Taiwan, said that China had built pre-warning systems using the state-of-the-art technology to provide warning about natural disasters, thanks to its past experiences.

Tai Hak Chung, Professor, School of Civil, Urban and Geosystem Engineering and Director of Environmental Protection and Safety, Seoul University, said that urbanisation and industrialisation had led to the degradation of the environment in several countries.

Mr. Raja earlier released the abstract of the proceedings. A. Venkatraman, principal, AEC, welcomed the gathering. M. Arumugam, Director (R&D), AEC, explained the aims of the conference. R.S. Naagarazan, Director (Academic), AEC, proposed a vote of thanks.