post news network, Bhubaneswar, June 18: “Fighting against drought and desertification will not be possible without any initiative from all citizens. We need to come forward to save the world. We need to plant trees and be conscious about the proper utilisation of resources that we have,” minister of forest and environment and parliamentary affairs, government of Orissa, Bikram Keshari Arukha, said on the occasion of the ‘World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought’ at the Soochana Bhawan here Wednesday. “Government has reserved above one lakh hector land for forestation. Besides, the government has also planned to plant trees at the roadside this year,” he said.
A significant number of city residents from all walks of life gathered at the Soochana Bhawan in order to observe the state-level celebrations of the day that has a special significance from the point of view of conserving nature and our environment. The event was organised by the forest and environment department of Orissa with an intention to make people of the capital city aware of the gravity of the situation.
Several eminent persons such as principal chief conservator of forest, Orissa, J D Sharma, professor of the department of geography and chairman of the PG council of the Utkal University, Gopalkrishna Panda, additional chief secretary, forest and environment department, Bhubaneswar, UN Behera alongside the minister, attended the programme and shared with the audience their thoughts on the subjects and what should be done to make the people aware of the gravity of the situation.
Professor Panda, in the course of his speech, invited all young people to come forward and plant trees. “We have to work together to save our world from major disasters like drought and desertification. If we step out with an initiative of planting at least a tree in our life, we will help a lot to avoid such disasters. All departments should share their technology and resources with you in a bid to save our planet,” he said.
Many youngsters, who attended the programme displayed genuine concern about the problems such as desertification and drought and observed the day with sincere enthusiasm. They also pointed out that the social networking sites such as the Facebook and the micro blogging platform, Twitter, were very much responsible for spreading the awareness in this regard.
“We can protect our country from disaster if we take such initiatives as planting trees and utilising our resources in a proper manner. We, the young people, have to make the people of our localities aware in this connection. We are going to hold many awareness programmes in our college shortly,” said Snehalata Samal, student, Orissa Forest Rangers College, Angul, who attended the function at Soochana Bhawan.