Punjab lagging in eco protection: NGT chairman

JALANDHAR: Punjab lags behind in protecting the environment even as it plays a leading role in making Indian self-reliant in food production. This observation was made by National Green Tribunal chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar, who urged Punjabis to play proactive role and preserve environment for coming generations.

Delivering his keynote address during a state-level function organized by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to mark the World Environment Day here on Friday at Ivy World School, Justice Kumar said NGT had set a deadline of maximum one year for disposing of every case pertaining to environmental problem.

"We don't want that a man files a case and his grandson gets the justice so we have set this deadline for delivering justice to people within a year," he said, adding that 82% of cases filed with the NGT had already been disposed of.

Citing the examples of nature's fury in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Nepal, Justice Kumar said those disasters proved that human interference in the process of nature was proving very costly to them. He said that even in the national capital Delhi, small children were facing a number of health problems due to the ever-increasing pollution, which was a major cause of worry.

He held that holding mega events on the World Environment Day would be meaningless if they were not coupled with the necessary actions to save the earth. He also strongly advocated introduction of environment preservation as a subject in the primary curriculum of schools so that the spirit of protecting environment could be imbibed in the children from the inception.

Meanwhile, PPCB chairman Manpreet Singh Chhatwal said Punjab had taken a lead in the country by framing the e-waste rules while also detailing the other steps being taken to tackle pollution.