THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A sapling was gifted to every speaker on the dias at the inaugural function of state-level observation of International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who inaugurated the function, said that human greed was the biggest adversary of Nature.
He said that living in God’s Own Country, people think that nature offers them plenty and they can use it as much as they want. It is this attitude which causes problems. The degradation of lakes like the Sasthamkotta lake into dump sites is an after effect of such an attitude, he said.
However, there is a ray of hope on the new generation who are conscious about preserving environment, he said.
The talks at the inaugural function did not linger on chlorofluorocarbons or their depletion of Ozone layer. Internationally, the larger picture of preserving environment has made an impact, with the ozone layer largely cured. It is believed that the ozone layer will be restored to its 1980-level by the middle of the century.
K Muraleedhran MLA, presiding over the function, amidst the rains commented that it does not usually rain during Chingam. “ The aberration was because we are not in tune with nature, he said. Even the food we eat is not in harmony with nature, if it is grown with the help of pesticides, Muraleedharan said. Developmental activities should not cause environmental issues, he said. An Environmental Impact Study has to be carried out in each case, as it was done in the Vizhinjam project, he said.
State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority Chairman K P Joy, in his keynote address, said that the Ozone layer was on a road to recovery and the Montreal treaty was one of the most successful environmental treaties. He said that this was primarily because industrial countries reduced the use of chloroflurocarbons.
The programme was organised by Department of Environment and Climate Change at VJT Hall. The department’s director C S Yalakki, Kerala State Science, Technology and Environment Council Executive vice president Suresh Das and district panchayath vice president Rufus Daniel spoke.
Ozone Posters
T’Puram: What comes to your mind when you hear this year’s UN slogan ‘Ozone: All there is between you and UV’ for International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer? A large umbrella with patches protecting earth was what Anju Elizabeth Kurian, a Mar Ivanios college student, thought of before bagging first position for herposter at a competition held at the college on September 16. She wrote, ‘Protect our environment today. Tomorrow could be too late.’ The organisers of the event, Mar Ivanios Zoology Association, said that there were too many ideas to choose from. Some drew airconditioners on the posters, while there were those who showed a green past and a bleak future. One of the organisers said that the multitude of ideas show that they have achieved the goal of spreading awareness on the issue. Poster competitions and seminars on ozone will be conducted in schools and colleges in the days to come. Kerala State Council of Science, Technology and Environment has allocated around Rs 20 lakhs to various institutions to conduct such programmes.