Uttarakhand to set up climate change dept

The Pioneer , Thursday, December 03, 2009
Correspondent : PNS | Dehradun
Sharing Uttarakhand’s proactive initiatives on Environment, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said that a separate Climate Change department would be set up in the State soon. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the Environment Summit at Dehradun on Wednesday. The Summit is being organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Uttarakhand Council of Science & Technology and Uttarakhand Environment Protection & Pollution Control Board.

Elaborating on Uttarakhand’s culture of conservation, Nishank said that the State has 12,000 Van Panchayats, which nurture the forests of the State. He also emphasised on the need for setting up green industry in the State. Uttarakhand with its immense hydel resources has the potential to become the leader in Green Energy, added the Chief Minister.

Nishank said the Government is preparing an Action Plan on climate change and, if needed, establishment of a separate department for Climate Change may also be taken into consideration. The State is also planning for establishment of an Environmental Research Centre. In order to encourage the students towards environmental conservation in general and plantation of saplings program in particular, necessary matter will be included in their syllabi and the students planting a certain number of plants be awarded additional marks in their examination. Industries based on local assets and resources would be encouraged. He also emphasised on encouraging pollution-free industries and said that the people should also be taken care of, in addition to environmental conservation. There should be a perfect co-ordination between the people of Uttarakhand and water, forest and land of the state. If the people are forbidden to utilise the natural resources, they must also be provided with some proper options. The Indian traditions are completely scientific and in order to make them acceptable these have been linked with religion. India has been the leader of world — the “Vishva Guru”, and today also India needs to lead from the front in finding a solution to problems, like, climate change, he added.

Suggesting measures for environment conservation State Forest Minister Bishan said that planting more trees, managing the growing population, waste management in cities and saving the forests from fires were some important areas that need to be looked at.

Later, Nishank also released the book ‘Science & Technology in Uttarakhand’, which is a collection of research articles on Uttarakhand, in 15 different disciplines, edited by Rajendra Dobhal, Director UCOST and Prof BS Kotlia.

Addressing the participants, Chief Secretary Indu Kumar Pande said that while industrial development was necessary for economic growth and employment generation, mitigation of the impact of the industry on environment was equally important. The same could be achieved by spreading awareness and using clean technologies.

Newly-appointed Chief Secretary Nrip Singh Napalchayal and FRDC said that Uttarakhand has 32,000 sq km of land under green cover. The annual value of the ecological services rendered by the state’s forests services is estimated at Rs 107 billion per year, he added.

Setting the context for the summit, S Raghupathy, Head, CII — Godrej Green Business Center said that India’s Ecological Footprint (its demand on nature) exceeded Global Bio Capacity (nature’s ability to meet this demand) by 50 per cent. As this is unsustainable we need to relook at and reduce the ecological footprint for our survival, he added. He also presented CII’s recommendations for a ‘Greener Uttarakhand’.

Earlier while delivering the opening remarks, Rakesh Oberai, Chairman CII Uttarakhand State Council shared some of the key environment related initiatives of CII in the State including the CII Annual Green Award, Mission on Sustainable Growth and the Green Building Mission.

Delivering the vote of thanks, Rajendra Dobhal, Director UCOST, stressed upon the need for collaboration between various Government departments and industry in dealing with complex issues related to environment.

The two-day summit, being organised on the occasion of the National Pollution Prevention Day (2 December) and National Conservation Day (3 December) will deliberate on environment issues in the context of Uttarakhand. Key discussion themes for the Summit are: Making Uttarakhand a Carbon Neutral State, Good Laboratory Practices, Zero Effluent Discharge, Conservation through Green Buildings, Making Uttarakhand a herbal and an organic state and Conserving Water: Restoring Ganga.

 
SOURCE : http://www.dailypioneer.com/219956/Uttarakhand-to-set-up-climate-change-dept.html
 


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