Conservation of water, forest and land must for natural balance: Minister Patel

Staff Reporter : Two-day workshop on subject ‘Water, Forest and Land’ begins at WALMI Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Kamleshwar Patel said that conservation of water, forest and land is necessary to prevent the deteriorating natural balance.

This is possible through community participation. Patel was speaking at the two-day workshop on ‘Re-Generating Natural Capital Land, Water and Forest’ organised under the joint aegis of MP Water and Land Management Institute, Club of Rome International and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Minister Patel said that in the race for development, natural resources have been exploited indiscriminately in developed and developing countries including India. As a result, the existence of water, forest and land given by the nature has been endangered. He said that if we do not become conscious, the consequences will be dangerous. For this, the society should also come forward, he added. Water, forest and land are synonymous with each other: Minister for Public Relations P C Sharma said that water, forest and land, all three are synonymous with each other. Conformity among the three is necessary for environmental balance. He informed that the former Prime Minister Late Indira Gandhi during her visit to Bhopal had said that ‘Bhopal is a beautiful city; there is a need to make it more beautiful’.

The ponds, hills, forests located in the city of Bhopal double the natural beauty. Need to reduce dependence on ground water: Minister for Urban Development and Housing Jaivardhan Singh said that unthoughtful exploitation of ground water in the past years has created a serious situation. He said that efforts are being made to reduce dependence on ground water for drinking water. For this, the work of water audit has been taken up. Under the Right-to-Water, a target has been set to provide sufficient, pure and regular drinking water to every person.

Director WALMI Urmila Shukla informed that a research paper will be prepared and presented to the Chief Minister on the suggestions given by the subject-experts in the workshop, regarding the preservation of nature’s invaluable heritage. Director General of Club of Rome, Lt General Arun Kumar Sahni, former Member of Planning Commission of India and Economic Advisory Council Dr Kirit Parikh, Lieutenant General Balveer Singh Sandhu, Dr Ashok Khosla, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies Vijay Mahajan and other subject experts also expressed their views during the workshop.