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“Civil society needs to protect natural resources”

NEW DELHI: Home to high rises, supermarkets and fast moving cars, Delhi in a few years could well become a city without any natural resources, caution activists fighting to save the depleting reserves.

Sharing their views at a discussion on “The Future of Delhi’s Natural Resources?” organised here this past week, the experts said civil society has been inert and Delhiites have played a rather inept role in saving the shrinking greens and checking the rapid depletion of groundwater.

“We have been talking about saving the future for about two decades now. Our natural resources are already dead and it is impossible to infuse life into them. The present scenario is grim… those who have to deliver goods are not doing so. The Ridge that was once considered the lungs of the city, is now diseased,” said Justice Kuldip Singh, chairperson of the Delimitation Commission.

Pointing out that the role of civil society in preservation of essential resources has been condemnable, senior journalist Kuldip Nayar said: “The interest shown by the civil society has been nil. People are not coming out to save the resources and it seems that civil society is living in some other world.”

Mr. Nayar regretted that a portion of the Ridge was being used to construct houses for defence personnel, while the Yamuna floodplains were being destroyed through construction works.

India’s “waterman” Rajender Singh said the urban population living in big cities was responsible for the death of rivers and should learn from their counterparts in villages, the farmers who are illiterate and yet have been able to sustain water bodies.

“No matter how deep rooted corruption is, we should fight and when we fight we win. Delhiites need to wake up,” Mr. Singh said.

Pointing out that destruction of natural resources was an issue as serious as global warming, Professor of Physics at the National Physical Laboratory Vikram Soni said if Delhi does not do enough to save the Yamuna and its ground water reserves, the city will face a severe water crisis.

Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority chairman Bhure Lal called for preventing the flow of untreated sewage into the Yamuna.

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