Date:10/11/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/11/10/stories/2006111022580400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

YMCA debate on environment begins

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: "Cecil Saldanha was a visionary. He worked hard to protect the environment, specially the Western Ghats. It is good that the debate has been organised in his memory," said M.N. Jayaprakash, Senior Environmental Officer, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).

He was inaugurating the fifth Dr. Fr. Cecil Saldanha S.J. Memorial inter-high school debate competition here on Thursday.

The debate was organised by YMCA Bangalore Task Group on Ecology and Environment and Lions Club of Bangalore Orchards. The topic of the debate was "unchecked growth of multinational companies brings more destruction to Bangalore's environment."

Mr. Jayaprakash said that for the successful implementation of the environment protection rules and laws, people should cooperate with the Government because the State could not do it alone.

He said the newsletter published by KSPCB was circulated to over 200 schools in the city to create awareness among students about the need to protect environment. The Supreme Court recently said that Bangalore was the 11th most polluted city in the country. The KSPCB had drawn up 14-point action plan to reduce pollution in the city. He said the move to make it mandatory for autorickshaws to switch to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) had helped a little bit. "There still are a few autorickshaws that have not yet switched over to LPG. They have time till December to do so. Meanwhile, we are thinking of extending the use of LPG as fuel to other vehicles also," he said.

Most of air pollution in the city was because of vehicle exhaust, while water pollution was because of unscientific disposal of waste. "Over 3,000 tonnes of garbage is generated in the city. We need scientific landfill sites so that the solid waste problem is solved to some extent," he said.

V.V. Krishna Reddy and Gowda K.S.C, Lion's Club members, and S.V. Rathna Kumar, general secretary, YMCA Bangalore, spoke.

H.F.S. Knight, chairman of YMCA Task Group on Ecology and Environment, welcomed the gathering. Domnick Raj, president of Lion's Club of Bangalore Orchards, was present.