Tuesday, 01 November 2022 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Activists and citizens expressed their views on preserving greenery in Uttarakhand in a dialogue organised by U Turn Foundation (UTF) to mark its 15th founder’s day here on Monday. Activist Usha Negi, BJP leader Ravinder Jugran, social activist Mohan Pant and UTF founder Hemant Nav Kumar shared their views on the occasion.
Negi directly linked environmental protection with migration. According to her, by making the villages self-employed, the backbone of the villages will be strengthened and the villagers themselves will promote the greenery and prosperity of their villages. She also highlighted the importance of green bonus that can play a meaningful role in making Uttarakhand self-reliant. Real change can only come through grassroot work, she said.
Citing the example of neighbouring country Bhutan, Jugran said that Uttarakhand needs to formulate a policy at the earliest to control the carbon footprint and at the same time the government needs to be sensitive to check the current environmental exploitation. According to him, it is possible to run an efficient Uttarakhand environmental protection action plan by adding all the aspects from solid waste management to Kedarnath air travel.
Pant said that despite the presence of many institutions in Uttarakhand, nothing worthwhile could be done because they could not motivate the citizens on the ground. Only a citizen can bring real change, by adopting a better green lifestyle, he said.
Kumar gave the details of the activities of the organisation during its 14 years so far. He spoke about the various efforts taken by the organisation ranging from Sunday’s part time cleaning campaign to its current efforts to generate employment in remotest villages of Uttarakhand. He said that today is the first episode of ‘Chintan Se Manthan Tak’ awareness campaign and added that it will be undertaken in various parts of the State.
At the end of the programme citations were distributed to the volunteers of U Turn Foundation for their support.
