TRICHY: A state-level meet on 'Tamil Nadu state's environment policy and its impact on people's livelihood and environment' was held in Trichy on Friday. During the event, 17 recommendations were passed. The meeting was organised by Indian River Network in Tamil Nadu (INR-TN) in association with Forum for Collective Forms of Cooperation (FCFC),
Annadurai S, the state convener of Tamil Nadu River Conservation Council, said the policy was vague. "I am shocked and appalled by the lack of depth of the state environment policy that is vague in nature. It neither addresses the key issues nor provides solutions for existing problems faced by the state," he told TOI.
Annadurai said the panel which framed the environment policy gave no serious though to environment . "For instance, the most important ecosystems of Palani and Nilgiris hills are completely ignored and no expert representing the region was present on the panel," he said.
Referring to the 13-page environment policy of the state, Annadurai said he was surprised that the policymakers related environment issues with a development-based document. "Most of the panel members of the environment policy are from industrial background, and it is evident that the policy is just a farce that aims at facilitating industrial expansion of the state," he said.
FCFC, which has taken up climate change issues, has over 15 partners across India. It offers a platform for mutual dialogue, exchange of ideas and learning from experiences and insights among partner organisations.
The meeting concluded that the state policy is a 'cut-and-paste' of national environmental policy and it reflected its intention of bringing in international players such as the World Bank.
