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Check environmental pollution: Nittoor

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE Aug. 4. How environmentally conscious can a man in his 100th year be? Much more than anyone else, if that person is Nittoor Srinivasa Rao.

The former Chief Justice of the Mysore High Court and the first Central Vigilance Commissioner told a gathering of advocates here on Sunday that he was now, more than ever, conscious of the need to preserve our fragile ecology.

At the valedictory of a two-day workshop on "Judicial enforcement of environmental law" at the Karnataka Judicial Academy (KJA), Mr. Justice Rao said that some 30 years ago even educated people were unaware how important the environment was and how necessary it was to have an environmental law.

He toured the Kudremukh region when plans for an iron ore plant were afoot. "At that time, we did not foresee its consequences."

The effects of the mining were now visible on the rivers there (the Tunga and Bhadra), he said. But he was happy that, when the time came for KIOCL lease renewal, there were widespread protests.

With time, the law courses had also changed. There was now more opportunity to go out into the field, he added. The Karnataka High Court judge, H. Rangavittalachar, who is also the Governor of the KJA, in his presidential address, stressed that environmental pollution threatened the very survival of human beings.

The judge traced environmental consciousness down the ages. Early man lived in harmony with his surroundings but later he separated human and natural culture. And Mr. Justice Rangavittalachar quoted Jawaharlal Nehru as saying that "only an acceptance of collective responsibility (by citizens, institutions, Government) would save the world's environmental future." The courts could not devote too much time to laying down orders to protect the environment, that work had to be done by the public.

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