Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Saving ecology

Sir, — The Supreme Court order imposing a penalty of Rs. 1 crore on the Himachal Pradesh Government for disturbing the ecological balance is a welcome step. Last year, it fined a Minister for the same reason — for constructing a hotel in Delhi. It gives us a lot of satisfaction that there is an authority to take care of the wellbeing of the future generation. But, punishment by way of fine alone will not do. A few lakhs of rupees to an individual who is very rich and Rs.1 crore to the Government is a meagre sum, compared to the damage done to the ecology. The punishment should be in the form of both fine and imprisonment, or imprisonment and a direction to restore the affected area to the original shape.

Arun Kumar Acharya,
Udupi, Karnataka

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Sir, — The Supreme Court ordering the HP Government to pay a fine of Rs.1 crore for allowing the advertisers of various products to deface the rocks has not come too late. This order should be extended to ban indiscriminate defacing of walls of public and private property with writings and posters. They should also ban the pasting of posters on the distribution boxes of electricity boards.

V.C.K. Raman,
Chennai

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