The Hindu : Kerala News : Sudheeran calls for law on water conservation

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Sunday, Jun 05, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Sudheeran calls for law on water conservation

Staff Reporter

`Conflict for water will be the biggest issue of future'

KOCHI: The former Speaker V.M. Sudheeran has called for legislation on conservation of drinking water.

Delivering the keynote address at the annual regional council meeting of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Southwest India region at YMCA, Palarivattom, on Saturday, Mr. Sudheeran said the conflict for drinking water would be the biggest issue of the future.

He said judgments that did not consider the travails of people who struggled to meet their daily needs of water would erode people's faith in the judicial system. The present social and political system was leading to a situation in which even the fundamental belief in democracy was eroding.

Mr. Sudheeran said those who had not even visited the tsunami-hit areas of Alappuzha district were now discussing the possibilities of selling off mineral sand in those coasts.

He expressed sadness that Kerala recorded the highest consumption of alcohol in the country. When arrack was banned during the 50-day rule of the A.K. Antony Government in 1996, the number of road accidents had come down drastically.

Mr. Sudheeran lamented that political leaders had become political executives these days. The dearth of good leadership was being felt in all spheres of life, especially politics. The political parties were quarrelling not on issues related to the lives of common people, but for their own selfish ends. Politics was existing not for the people, but just for its own benefit.

However, Mr. Sudheeran said political parties were integral to any democratic system. Talking of an apolitical stance was meaningless. Instead, there should be attempts to cleanse the existing system of corruption and nepotism. He called upon organisations such as the YMCA to take the initiative to bring about a qualitative change in public life.

Inaugurating the seminar, Baselius Thomas I, Catholicos of the Jacobite Syrian Church, called upon members of the YMCA to emulate the values propounded by Jesus Christ. He reminded the youth of their moral responsibility to uphold truth and sacrifice.

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