#ParyavaranKumbh Solution lies in Indian Traditions

Varanasi : In order to sensitise the people about environment protection, a two-day Paryavaran Kumbha was held from December 1 to 2 in which 3150 people from 19 states participated. The scholars, environmentalists and educationists discussed various aspects related to the environment and shared their views on the future strategy formulation.

The Kumbha witnessed five sessions in two days. On the first day, the main discussion was on the environment and Indian lifestyle. Speaking at this session, RSS Sahsarkaryavah Shri Suresh Soni expressed concern over global warming and climate change all over the world. He said the variety of diseases is growing today and if the trends of causing pollution continue, the glaciers will melt fast and by the end of this century the sea level will rise to the stage that the human life on the earth would become tough. He stressed on the need to fulfil the needs and not the greed.

Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Dr Dinesh Sharma said the need for Paryavaran Kumbha was realised keeping in view the fast changes in the environment following ecological imbalance. He said the human lifestyle should be nature-friendly as is propagated and practised by the Hindu way of life. As we are distancing ourselves from our own rich traditions, the environmental concerns are getting grave. Dr Punit Mishra from Health and Community Development, New Delhi, addressed various forms of pollution. He said we all have an organic clock in our body and if we act against this clock we are sure to face various mental disorders. He expressed concern over the growing trend of unseasonal fruits and vegetables.

Governor of Bihar Shri Lalji Tandon said the problems are growing due to reduction in forest cover. He said the problem of pollution can be addressed only by following the Indian values of life. Dr Gajanana Dange counted the benefits of traditional farming, which maintains fertility power of the soil. Deputy Director General of Indian Council of Agriculture Research Dr Kullu Gautam expressed concern over the declining ground water level. He said the air pollution in metro cities is crossing all limits. Prof Shrish Kedari from IIT Mumbai drew the attention to the harms people cause to nature in their every day life. Prof Vivek Gupta of IIT Delhi educated people about the dangers of water pollution. He said water conservation is need of the hour and everyone should contribute to it. He said many rich nature-friendly traditions of taking bath, saving water, farming and also constructing houses have been in practice in Bharat, but today we have distanced ourselves from them in the name of development, which is nothing but destruction.

Shri Ashish Gautam, founder of Divya Prem Sewa Mission Haridwar, said the human body is made of five elements, but we have to return all these elements here only after death. He said tinkering with nature is creating most of the problems. The nature will reciprocate as we behave with her. Shri Dara Singh Chauhan, Forest Minister of Uttar Pradesh, apprised the gathering of the steps taken by Uttar Pradesh government for environment protection. He said we can resolve the forest cover related problems to a great extent if we start planting and nurturing tree on our birthdays.

Organising secretary of Vijnan Bharati Shri Jayant Sahasrabuddhe, who was convenor of the Paryavaran Kumbha, said the issues discussed for two days were directly concerned with the people. He said the first session discussed how the Indian lifestyle has been in the past and how it should be today. The second session discussed the harms caused by rampant consumerism. The third session discussed the changes emerging in farm sector and the fourth session discussed water and environment.