Clarion call to save nature

Clarion call to save nature
Deccan Herald

Everyday is a cleanliness day. World Environment Day, commemorated each year on June 5, is a vehicle through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness on environment.

Professor and Head, Department of Civil Engineering, Dayanada Sagar College of Engineering, H K Ramaraju, has been invited by the Sun Yat-sen University, China, to participate in an international conference on Hydrology in Asia, from June 8 - 10. He will present a research paper on “Integrated management for drinking water security in Karnataka, South India - an overview”.

Prof Ramaraju told Metrolife, “This year the focus of World Environment Day is on desertification of the world. The slogan ‘Don’t desert Drylands!’ emphasises the importance of protecting drylands, which cover more than 40 per cent of the planet’s surface, and roughly, a third of the world’s population lives in such habitats.”

Since our natural capital in air, water, land, bio-diversity and eco-system is being encroached upon, there is an urgent need to protect our heritage and traditions that are under threat, he said. Maintaining the symbiotic relation with nature and integrating environmental concerns with economic, social and development concerns will ensure sustainability, he added.

He says World Environment Day has become “an annual event” which is used to enhance political attention and action. This also provides an opportunity to ratify international environmental conventions. He, however, insisted that immediate action is necessary to confront new environmental challenges.

“Policies should be developed to value environmental goods and services and promote voluntary initiatives. Appropriate databases should be provided to all stakeholders to enable them to participate meaningfully in decisions and action. Good governance and funding for environment needs will help in the shift towards sustainable development,” he said.

Air quality study

Based on a Supreme Court directive, and as a part of constitutional obligations, the Central Pollution Control Board ( CPCB) has taken up a project in the select cities, to help manage and install ‘Continous ambient air quality monitoring stations’. The CPCB has identified four locations in Bangalore which are suitable for locating the ambient air quality stations.

Dayanada Sagar College of Engineering’s Department of Civil Enginnering campus at Kumaraswamy Layout is one of the locations. The cost of each station is about Rs one crore and as per norms the station has to be located on the first floor of the building. The station, housed in an air-conditioned room, should run round-the-clock and must be free from any noise and air pollution.

The data generated will be uploaded on the CPCB of the Ministry of Environment and Forests website everyday. A display board also will be installed in the college premises showing the online data of air quality. The parameters monitored will generate data generated for various research activities and educational courses.

Hopefully, the data generated by this private-public venture will help find solutions to reduce the pollution in Bangalore.