Regulate Development To Save Environment, Says NGT Member At SOA In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: With the earth’s temperature slated to rise by 1.5 degree Celsius by 2025 amidst environmental degradation and increasing pollution, all efforts need to be made to protect the environment by desisting from activities which have led to the present situation, said Justice B Amit Sthalekar, Judicial Member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Kolkata, on Saturday.

“If the earth’s temperature goes up with no effort to contain it, it will trigger the melting of glaciers around the world causing the sea level to rise and inundate coastal areas including cities like Mtumbai and Kolkata,” said Justice Sthalekar.

He was speaking at the Odisha Environment Congress-2022 organised at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) in association with NGT and Odisha State Legal Services Authority.

Pointing out that development was taking place at the cost of environment, he said NGT had directed action against construction of resorts on the sea shore in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). “Such construction was taking place on the beach though the CRZ rules don’t allow any activity within 500 metre of the High Tide Line. It causes the beach to narrow down and makes the sea deep in that area which leads to the destruction of the beach itself,” he said.

Expressing concern over rampant use of plastic and polythene, Justice Sthalekar said the use of such substances, which don’t degrade for 400 years and destroy the soil, should be completely stopped. “The ill-effects of modernism has been hitting us badly. It is high time for going back to the use of nature-friendly daily items like earthen ‘kullads’ and paper bags,” he said. 

Saibal Dasgupta, Expert Member, NGT, said of 52.90 million tonne of solid waste generated in the country annually, plastic waste alone accounted for 5.6 million tonne. “About 78% of this waste was collected while 25% was processed,” he said.

Amidst the gloomy scenario, the good news was that India was among 10 countries which have large forest cover accounting for 24.6% of the total land mass with the dense forest area spread across 99,779 sq km. The forest cover in Odisha had increased by 537 sq km which was heartening, Dasgupta said.

Prof Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Pro-Vice Chancellor of SOA, presided the programme which was also addressed by Prof Prabir Kumar Patnaik, SOA’s faculty of legal studies, Prof Basudeb Behera, faculty of agricultural sciences and Prof Aditya Kishore Das, faculty of engineering and technology. Prof Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students’ Welfare) conducted the event.