VP Venkaiah Naidu calls for people’s movement to protect environment

Chandigarh: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday rued that humans, in their quest for development, had harmed nature “beyond repair” and called for a people’s movement to protect it. He also urged the country’s lower courts to hold an eco-centric view and keep in mind interests of local populations and biodiversity while passing judgments. Naidu was addressing a gathering after inaugurating ‘The International Conference on Environmental Diversity and Environmental Jurisprudence’ at Chandigarh University in Mohali.

“In the quest for development, we have harmed nature beyond repair, destroyed forests, disrupted the ecological balance, polluted the environment, encroached upon water bodies and are now reaping the adverse consequences,” Naidu said.

“My words appear to be very harsh but they are real. What is required is the change of mindset. We have enough laws and enough regulations but what is required is the change of mindset. Unless this environmental protection becomes a people’s movement worldwide, the future is very bleak,” he noted.

“We are are seeing the consequences. We have played with nature and nature is playing with us,” he added. Calling on all stakeholders to strike a balance between development and maintaining ecological balance, Naidu also appealed to lawmakers to take cognisance of the importance of protecting biodiversity, mitigating climate change and formulating legislations that maintain a fine balance between “ecology and economy”.

“It is not only the duty of the government to deliberate, but of human being on Earth to save this planet,” he said. Naidu stressed that India has always been leading the world in climate action. He reiterated India’s commitment to fulfill the ambitious national targets set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the COP 26 Summit in Glasgow recently. “...Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared our national targets of raising our non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 and achieving the target of Net Zero by 2070,” he said. (PTI)