Tuesday, 11 May 2021 | Vinod Chamoli | New Tehri
The drastic increase in pollution in the world has led to imbalances in water, forest and land. The human immune system has also weakened due to increasing pollution because of which people are getting sicker.
This is what Jagat Singh Chaudhari ‘Junglee’, the brand ambassador of Uttarakhand Forest department and expert member of National Board for Afforestation and Environment Development, Ministry of Forest and Environment has to say.
‘Junglee’ has developed a mixed forest on his own at Charkot in Rudraprayag district. The model of mixed forest has been appreciated in the country and around the world. Representatives of a company from England had also visited Charkot to study this forest and develop similar forests around the world.
On the dangers looming over nature in the Covid pandemic period today the veteran environmental activist is of the view that the second wave of Covid-19 has made the people realise the value of oxygen. Man hardly paid much attention to natural oxygen and has destroyed forests- the source of natural oxygen. People have caused a lot of damage to nature for their comforts. This has also affected the quality of air we breathe. The ill-effects of contaminated air are evident on the status of public health, said ‘Junglee’.
He opined that the Covid virus is like a silent nuclear bomb which is wreaking havoc without any tremor or sound. In the blind race for modernity, the humans have shut their eyes to rising carbon emissions in nature leading to the destruction of various natural processes. “We all know that one will get filth from filth. Wherever there is cleanliness such viruses are rare. Where there is more dirt, there are more viruses. Taking advantage of the contamination of the atmosphere, the virus is rapidly spreading its footprint and engulfing people,” he said.
He further said, “Our elders had planted Peepal and Banyan trees on the sides of main roads and we as children thought that they were for providing us shade but the truth is that walking reduces the oxygen level of our body and by sitting under these trees, one get enough oxygen that rejuvenates the body and helps the pedestrians to travel further. We have rejected traditional things today. Even now, elderly people who are 100 years old in the village say that the secret of their age is traditional food. Our elders used to eat seasonal things. But today we are eating unseasonal things. We are taking oxygen free of cost from the environment today and we have never paid to nature the way we pay for our water and food bills so it is time we start paying back to nature by planting trees and resolve that we will plant 20 trees in our lives and if we do not do this then we have to be prepared for another disaster,” stressed the veteran activist.
