Strive for
BETTER ENVIRONMENT

Dear Friends,

Most of you would be aware of the fact that environment preservation tops on my list of priorities  and there is a valid reason for the same.

To tell the truth, we have polluted our environment in the name of development to such an extent that no one can say for certain how long our Earth can sustain life.  The earth, water, air - everything has been polluted.  We consider Ganga as the holy river and regard her as our mother but gangajal is rendered unfit for even a holy sip - the aachman.

We talk endlessly about it but do not take any concrete steps to correct the situation.   The harmful gases in our atmosphere and the cacophony are making our life miserable.  Are you aware that every child taking birth in our country is having 14 ppm DDT powder and he gets this pesticide from his/her mother's milk!   Obviously the meals of the mothers are polluted and contain poisonous pesticides.  All of this has been due to the vast quantity of pesticides used 'to save our agricultural produce'.

Besides this, we are extremely worried because of holes in the protective ozone layer and the green house effect.  All of us have to understand the eco-system and be vigilant about our actions so that we do not knowingly or unknowingly harm our ecological balance and harm ourselves in return.

TEAMWORK NEEDED

          SANSKAR NIDHI trust was formed by me to be able to do what I had always wanted to do for the preservation of our environment.  Even before SANSKAR NIDHI came into existance, I have been assisting various other social organisations in their projects aimed at preserving and sustaining environment. But the work that needs to be done is too big to be successfully handled by you or me alone.   The problem has to be tackled on war scale and only by concerted team effort; we can hope to do something worthwhile.   Let us start by improving environmental conditions of our own city - Saharanpur itself!  This is no small task but if we start today,  we will be moving towards a better tomorrow with each day passing.  Are you not going to be a part of the team ?

THE PROBLEM HAS MANY FACES

          I still remember my school days.   One day I saw that the underground water of the area around Pilkhani had turned muddy and absolutely unfit for any use.   A war had to be fought besides increasing awareness in the public about this problem.  A small stone thrown into the water creates waves after waves and this happened here also.  The awareness of this problem spread slowly but steadily and the public was finally helped to realize that the water was getting polluted because of the distillery.    The first step to solve a problem is to know about it, discuss it with people, think of the ways to solve it and then do the needful.    Similarly, being a founder member of DISHA and VIKALP organisations, I commenced rehabilitation work for the uprooted habitants of the forests so that bio-diversity could be preserved.

REWARD FOR GOOD WORK

After Sanskar Nidhi came into existence, we were the first to honour and felicitate Pt. Somdev Sharma.  If you would remember, Professor Somdev Sharma had saved Irmo Stacis Superba from extinction.  The world owes much to him but it was SANSKAR NIDHI who acknowledged his work and appreciated his contribution for the first time on public forum and invited him to receive honour.

Who does not know the great environmentalist Pundit Sundar Lal Bahuguna of CHIPKO fame?   The distinction of inviting him to Saharanpur and honouring him in a public function goes to SANSKAR NIDHI only.   I don't think you can forget the tooth and nail fight that I had to undertake to get the law enacted relating to disposal of non-bio degradable waste (U.P. Ordinance No. 11 dtd. 29 June 2000).

PARYAVARAN SENA

If life on this Earth is important to us, we must get prepared to undergo a prolonged fight against noise, water and air pollution. A process of enlisting 'soldiers' for environmental protection has already begun. These soldiers will  inform the public about hazards of the pollution and will motivate the public to do whatever it can for the preservation of environment.  There is a misconception in certain sections of the society that environment preservation movement opposes development.  It is all the more necessary then to inform the public and the policy makers of our country of the importance of environment for the very survival and well being of human race.

SANSKAR NIDHI,  ever since it came into being,  has been seeing the problem from various perspectives and is touching even those points that often escape our attention, through a series of seminars and brain-storming sessions being conducted regularly  for awareness and awakening of the public.   In the year 2003, we organised a seminar on WAR AND ENVIRONMENT so that we can better understand the short and long-term ill-consequences of war on human race and its environment.  

Friends,  I hold the conviction that when people's representatives, teachers, students, social workers,  housewives (in other words - all of us) will coordinate and start working to preserve our environment and to raise our voice against pollution of every nature,  the government is bound to listen to us and then only it will feel the need to make necessary laws and to get these laws obeyed.

******************************