The World Environment Day celebrated on 5th June every year after the First United Nations Conference held in 1972, has grown to be the largest platform for environmental outreach. The State Level Function held online to celebrate World Environment Day 2022 on the theme ‘Only One Earth’ with focus on ‘Living Sustainably in Harmony with Nature’.
The programme was livestreamed throughout the Punjab and attended by all the Deputy Commissioners, Senior Officers of various Departments, eminent personalities & NGOs, College & School students, general public, etc.
Speaking on the occasion, Sh. Rahul Tewari, IAS, Secretary, Science, Technology & Environment, Govt. of Punjab -cum- Mission Director, Tandrust Punjab Mission mentioned that Indian Constitution, written by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar with immense foresight, assigns the responsibility for environment protection to citizens of the country. He thus urged all Punjabis to discharge this responsibility by contributing towards cleanliness of their surroundings, on-source segregation of waste and adoption of sustainable lifestyles.
He further informed that his Department is working fervently on ten sub-missions of Mission Tandrust Punjab for developing Clean & Green Punjab. He specifically mentioned the reduction in air pollution brought in through demonstration and wide replication of new technologies in brick kilns & induction furnace clusters and focused efforts being made to facilitate conversion of industry from coal to PNG.
Sh. Rahul Tewari also on behalf of Govt. of Punjab inaugurated Common Effluent Treatment Plant of 50 MLD capacity for dyeing industrial cluster of Ludhiana. He shared that State is making relentless efforts to improve operations of 128 sewerage treatment plants and setting up 55 new plants. Further, that online stations are being set up for monitoring the quality of air as well as the rivers of the State. He also shared that the State envisions to increase area under forests to 7.5% and 1.2 crore trees will be planted in the current financial year.
A Film on Environmental Issues titled “Ik Navi Aas” prepared by Directorate of Environment & Climate Change and Mission Tandrust Punjab highlighting the key achievements and plans of the State Govt. to create good living environment for ensuring best of the health to citizens of the Punjab, was also screened during the event.
Two major announcements were also made on the occasion. Firstly, the institution of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Punjab State Environment Award to be given to organizations for making outstanding contributions towards environment improvement. He also announced that the State Government will ban manufacturing, sale and use of single use plastics from 1st July, 2022.
Mission Tandrust Punjab Gallery set up at Pushpa Gujral Science City (PGSC), Kapurthala was also inaugurated during the function. He also released Coffee Table Book on Threatened Flora & Fauna of Punjab prepared by Punjab Biodiversity Board and Punjab State Council for Science & Technology; Mission Tandrust Punjab Action Plan for 2022-2023 prepared by Society for Mission Tandrust Punjab; Student Activity Book on Climate Change prepared by Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST); and Compendium on Environment Acts, Rules and Regulations prepared by Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).
The other Senior Officers of the Department of Science, Technology & Environment namely Dr. Manish Kumar, IFS, Directorate of Environment & Climate Change; Dr. Adarsh Pal Viz., Chairman, PPCB; Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora, Executive Director, PSCST; Dr. Neelima Jerath, Director General, PGSC and Mr. Gurharminder Singh, Principal Scientific Officer, Department of Environment & Climate Change were also present on the occasion.