Shimla, September 25

Calling for collective efforts to protect natural resources and save the human race, Chief Justice of the high court Kurian Joseph today said fundamental duties were the foundation of human dignity and national character.

Presiding over a colloquium on Article 51 (A) (g) of the Constitution, organised jointly by the Himachal Pradesh Legal Authority, SEWA, the Public Relations Society of India and the Language, Art and Cultural Department here, he stressed the need for protecting the forest cover, conserving water resources, reforesting waste land and steps for controlling pollution in cities, villages and industrial areas.

He said awareness campaigns and planned strategy were required to achieve the objective. It was the seventh colloquium in a series.

He said, “We must protect our natural resources and it is our duty to conserve the environment. Compassion for living things is an important part of our duty.”

The main speaker, Director-General, Centre for Science and Environment, Sunita Narain, said every citizen must fight to protect the environment. Preserving the depleting water sources, protecting the shrinking green cover and preventing air and water pollution were the key areas of concern. The man-induced climate change, if not reversed, would spell doom for the world at large and the unfortunate part was that everybody seemed helpless in taking corrective measures as it virtually meant decelerating the process of development.

The danger signals were already visible in the irregular and erratic monsoon and increasing extreme weather events, which could not be ignored. A sustainable model of development would have to be evolved and at the same time stern measures would have to taken to arrest pollution and deforestation.

Earlier, Justice RB Mishra, a Judge of the high court who is also the Executive Chairman, State Legal Authority, dwelt on the aims and objectives of the State Legal Authority.

Justice Sanjay Karol, also from the state high court, and Prem Sharma, Director, Language, Art and Culture, also spoke on the occasion. An interactive session on fundamental duty was also organised in which students from various schools of Shimla and other participated in large numbers.