Kezhokhoto Savi
President, NVCO
& Asst Professor, Kohima Law College
World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5th every year and this is the day that the Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) is observing the same with rest of the world following the United Nation’s principal which for encouraging awareness and action for the protection of an environment.
Colombia will host World Environment Day 2020 in partnership with Germany and that it will focus on bio-diversity and it is a day when we pay tribute to the environment by pleading to take care of it and spreading awareness about the same. While observing the World Environment Day let us all remember that it is a time of nature explore nature around ironic spots. The foods we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that makes our planet habitable all come from nature. Yet, these are exceptional times in which nature is sending us a message. To care for ourselves we must care for nature.
In the context of India, the Environment Protection Act, 1986 clearly defines the word environment as the sum total of what is around something or someone. Environment is of two winds namely the natural and the built environment. The natural existence are such as plants, air, water, wind, etc. whereas the built environment are those that man is responsible for the dams, cities, factories, industries, etc. Environment is the very basic essential that sustains the existence of all life forms on this planet. Some of the current major problems of our environment are as follows; air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, global warming and climate change.
Time has come for us to develop a sense of urgent need to protect our environment as well as a sense of hope for its future. Plenty of damage has been done to the earth, the more is inflicted every day. “This land is your land, this land is my land”. What land belongs in the hands of private owners, and what land should remain open to the public for all to enjoy. Land is one of the world’s most important natural resources. It provides humanity with food and shelter, among numerous other things contributing to human survival. However, it also provides for the existence of the plant and animal worlds. Therefore, it is important to protect and conserve our natural resources including air, water, and forest in order to maintain the overall health of our environment as all these resources are at some risk today. We are failing on our part in replacing the trees that we have cut or cleared the thick forest/jungle around us either for development or construction of roads and in order to fight for the menace of global warming, vigorous efforts should be made such as to discourage activities or development or business such as stone quarry, stone crusher, vehicle servicing centre attaches to rivers, etc. which caused damages to environment. Together, let us save our land and our people.
Man made global warming is the biggest scam in the history of mankind to fulfill his greediness with the uncontrolled excessive use of fossil fuels. Nuclear exploration and unnecessary excessive use of artificial goods with the advent of the standard of living. In doing all these, we are not only polluting our natural environment, but we are also creating social, economic and political problem as well. When we harm the natural environment there arises the problems the problems like crimes, illiteracy, poverty, overpopulation, homelessness, and traffic and most importantly our health both physically and mentally. Some of the major problems facing in Nagaland due to negligence and lack of civic sense is the ongoing menace of solid waste management, lack of proper drainage system and the recent raise in temperature during the last two years. Concerning Environmental protection, most of the citizens have the thinking and focuses on the role of government, legislation and law enforcement, however, in its broadest sense protection must be the responsibility of the people, for every single person on this earth is solely dependent on the basic needs of our existence i.e food, air and water. It is not only the duty of environmentalist and nature activists to protect our environment, indeed, we all are entitled to the protection of our environment. To take a great example, few years back the Kohima Ao Baptist Arogo (KABA) under its community service project ‘Creating Awareness for Restoration of Environment’ (CARE) has indeed taken a great step towards protecting, spreading awareness and cleaning the Environment. As a responsible citizen every one of us should have a moral duty to protect our environment, for without environment, life itself is not possible. Therefore, our main act and goal is to protect our environment and create awareness among our community, culture and society, for the security, preservation and cleaner, greener environment as a legacy and gift to our future generation.
