THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Forest Minister A K Saseendran has called for carrying out development activities without disturbing the environment. He was speaking after inaugurating the Environment Day celebrations at the Forest Headquarters on Wednesday.
“Human’s invasion on nature threatens the existence of flora and fauna. Awareness should be created on environment conservation. We should maintain vigil against the exploitation of nature that would result in climate change,” he said.
Head of Forest Force Ganga Singh presided over the function. Chief Wildlife Warden D Jayaprasad delivered the introductory address, and Higher Education Council vice-chairman Rajan Gurukkal released the special edition of Forest Department’s publication “Aranyam”. PCCF Amit Mallik delivered environment day message.
APCCFs P Pukazhenthi, L Chandrasekhar, Pramod G Krishnan, and Justin Mohan spoke. Social Forestry CCF Sanjayan Kumar welcomed the gathering and Forest Conservator Shyam Mohanlal paid a vote of thanks. Students’ cultural programmes followed the event.
NCC
The NCC Battalion under Trivandrum Group of Kerala & Lakshadweep Directorate celebrated World Environment Day at Kanakakunnu. The programme was held in association with We Grow Forest Foundation. Brigadier Anand Kumar, Group Commander, Trivandrum NCC Group, the chief guest at the event, distributed saplings to NCC Cadets and public. The cadets took out a march from Kowdiar Palace to Kanakakunnu along with volunteers of We Grow Forest Foundation.
Brigadier Anand Kumar, in his address, emphasised the importance of environmental conservation. He lauded the efforts of the cadets in organising the event. Street plays were performed by the cadets of Christ Nagar School and Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan.
SUT Hospital
A programme titled ‘Sugathavana’ Project was launched at SUT Hospital, Pattom, to mark the Environment Day. The programme, organised in association with the Sugathakumari Navathi Celebration Committee, saw the planting of tree saplings associated with the 27 nakshatras. Former Union Cabinet Secretary T K A Nair inaugurated the function by planting a ‘Kanjiram’ sapling, the birth star tree of Sugathakumari. Colonel Rajeev Mannali, Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, presided over the function. The event was attended by Kummanam Rajasekharan, former governor of Mizoram, Lakshmi, daughter of Sugathakumari, George Onakkoor, writer, G Shankar, architect, Ranjith Karthikeyan, Chartered Accountant, Dr Rajasekaran Nair, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Unnikrishnan, Senior Vascular Surgeon and Chief Liaison Officer Radhakrishnan Nair
KSCSTE
Chief Secretary V Venu inaugurated the World Environment Day celebrations at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Pattom. The programme was organised by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) and the Pollution Control Board. Council’s executive vice-president K P Sudheer presided over. Pollution Control Board chairperson Sreekala S, Kendriya Vidyalaya principal R Girisankaran Thampi offered felicitations. Council member secretary S Pradeep Kumar welcomed the gathering and senior scientist P Harinarayanan delivered a vote of thanks. Prof K P Jaikiran delivered a talk on environment restoration. The programme had the financial assistance of Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.
CPI
The CPI organised environment day celebrations at the party headquarters on Wednesday. CPI assistant secretary P P Suneer planted a sapling in memory of party’s former state secretary Kanam Rajendran. Suneer urged the workers to reorganise farming methods to mitigate the effects of climate change and to create awareness on environment conservation among people. AITUC state secretary R Sajilal and Pulippara Santhosh attended.