Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 3
The problem of climate change is not a natural phenomenon but a result of human activities, M C Konyak, the Minister for Forest, Ecology & Wildlife, said at a function in Dimapur today. Konyak, who was here to inaugurate the office and laboratory of the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB), said education is the biggest weapon to curb climate change. “I believe that through education, human lifestyles can be changed to support ecological integrity, economic and social justice, sustainable livelihood and respect for all life,” he said.
Konyak said that the present global climate change is a cause of great concern and there is need to step in the right direction. He said the government has enacted several rules and acts to safeguard and protect the environment for the future.
In Nagaland, the Minister said, there is extensive land degradation due to shifting cultivation, deforestation, urbanisation and unplanned industrial development. Konyak further attributed the increase in air and noise pollution due to jhum cultivation, carbon emission from vehicles and industrial growth. He lamented the increasing water pollution due to daily human activities while also appreciating the efforts of villagers to ban hunting, fishing and forest fire in order to preserve the state’s rich flora and fauna. Pointing out that the state is facing acute water shortage this year, the Forest Minister assured that the government is taking measures to save the situation.
The Minister felt that one can also learn from indigenous and traditional patterns of living that respect and honour the earth and its life support system and that people can adopt this wisdom to the fast changing world. We can make individual, community, national and even global choices with due consideration for the collective good, for individual civil societies, government and other institutions can appreciate that the daily action can shape a viable future of which all can be proud of, he added.
Against the backdrop of the inauguration, Konyak said the new laboratory was a long felt need for the state. The Minister said the laboratory will go a long way in mitigating the pollution levels in the environment and develop the state in an eco-friendly manner. He further urged that with the setting up of the laboratory, NPCB must strive to keep the pollution limits as prescribed by the government of India. Konyak said that the laboratory, with modern instruments, efficient and well-trained manpower, must keep track of the environment in the process of modernisation with the rest of the world.
Delivering a brief report on the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB), NPCB Chairman, A Rongsenwati Ao, IFS, informed that the new office and laboratory building was constructed at a total expenditure of Rs.65.2 lakhs on 50:50 basis from the MoEF and state share.
The programme, chaired by the NPCB Chairman, was attended by Commissioner and Secretary L Kire, members of the Kohima and Dimapur Municipal Councils, eco-club members and a host of top officials from the forest and wildlife department.
