We did not make large emission reduction commitments. However, there is dismay at our making unilateral declarations on emission cuts.
We need to assess our own interests. It is time that we shed this ostrich like attitude and initiate various cost effective measures of environment protection.
We have expertise in frugal engineering and our solutions to specific problems can be low cost. We need not ape the solutions found by western nations. They are expensive and not suitable for us.
We need not make commitments at international fora but we should initiate this process quietly and encourage investments in new technologies.
Energy conservation, potable water, sewage and waste water re-cycling need attention. The low cost water purifier "Svach" from Tatas is one such example.
We must not shirk from cleaning up our act and also take advantage of "green"business opportunities.
Planting 100,000 trees is the
sole life mission of Chandra Bhushan Tiwari.
It all started in 1992, when he started planting a few trees outside his locality. That soon became such a pleasurable daily routine that Tiwari even left his job as a teacher to devote himself to it, prompting his friends and relatives to call him insane.
Initially, Tiwari used to buy the saplings. Now locals contribute. His wife Sushila, a teacher in a government school, takes care of the family's financial requirements.
When not planting saplings, Tiwari teaches poor students. His fee? Each student has to plant at least one tree.
Tiwari claims he has already planted 50,000 saplings till now. Let us hope that he not only accomplishes his mission but also inspires some of us to do our bit to contribute to society.
The rest of the world may be suffering due to the effects of global warming, but Ladakh is reaping the benefits of the plantation drive launched by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research.
Oxygen content in the air has
gone up by 50% in this around 12,000 feet high altitude desert due the abundance of poplar and willow trees, wheat cultivation, horticulture and greenhouses. These have also brought in rain for the first time.
Earlier Ladakh used to depend on Chandigarh for its supply of vegetables. Now, 58% of the requirement is met locally. With the help of scientists and local farmers, 13 types of apples have been produced and there are plans to undertake organised plantation of vitamin rich Seabuckthorn, Leh Berry, that grows wildly.
Plan a trip. The days of gasping for breath there are over.
