CUDDALORE:
The Neyveli Township of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation, by its layout and maintenance, has set the standards for other townships. Those planning new townships could follow the NLC model, said K.S.Reddy, Chief Conservator of Forests, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, Bangalore.
He was delivering a speech on the occasion of the “World Environment Day-2011” celebrations at the Employee Development Centre Auditorium within the Neyveli Township. Mr Reddy pointed out that this year's theme for World Environment Day was “Forests—Nature at your service,” and it meant that mankind ought to share the resources with the animal and plant kingdom. But what was obtained now was that to meet the ever increasing demands of humanity natural resources were being exploited mindlessly. For construction of big industries, mega-size dams and roads vast stretches of forests were felled and this was the prime reason for the deterioration of environmental condition, Mr Reddy said.
The Chief Conservator pointed out that contentment was a sterling quality that would help in conservation of natural resources. Mr Reddy called upon the people to lead a simple life, use as far as possible public transport, make use of articles that would not harm environment and economise electricity consumption. If it were done we would be doing our bit for safeguarding environment, he added. NLC Executive Director (Mines) S.Ramalaingam said that we had borrowed the Planet Earth from our ancestors and it was our bounden duty to hand over it to our successors or descendants in a fit condition. If we had done anything that would mar the environmental condition we would be doing disservice to our progeny. By giving away saplings as prizes to the winners of various competitions the seeds of sensitivity about environmental protection could be successfully sown in them, he said.
U.Sridharan, a scientist, Union Minister of Environment and Forests, said that the effluents discharged from the thermal stations endangered the marine life such as coral reefs and underwater plantations on which fish species breed, thereby breaking the food chain. Therefore, he called for promotion of clean energy sources such as solar and wind energy. Head of the NLC research wing S.Santhanam said that research was in progress to harness energy from the carbon-dioxide emitted from thermal stations. On the occasion thousands of saplings were planted on the premises of Mine-I and Mine-IA.
