IGPP award for 2005 awarded to Jagdish Babla of Uttarakhand

New Delhi, June 7 : Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar-2005 (Individual Category-Rs.three lakh) is awarded to Jagdish Babla in recognition of his exemplary contribution for environmental protection and awareness among the local community in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, instituted an award called "Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar", in the year 1987 to give recognition to those having made or have the potential to make the measurable and major impact in the protection of environment.

The governing body of the IGPP also revised and instituted from the year 2005 one prize of Rs.5,00,000 under the Organisation category, and two prizes of Rs.3,00,000 and Rs.2,00,000 each to individuals in the Individual category to be given annually.

Along with the cash prize, each awardee is given a silver lotus trophy and a citation.

For the year 2005, the Ministry received a total number of 190 nominations (125 individuals and 65 organisations) out of which 34 nominations (22 individual and 12 organisations) were short listed by the expert members.

The ground-truth verification of these short listed nominations have been carried out by the Regional Offices of the Ministry.

Jagdish Babla was born on 9th October 1958. He has been working sincerely for the last three decades in Garhwal region of the state of Uttarakhand for environmental protection, raising large plantations, organizing literacy symposiums, creating environmental awareness and bringing out harmony among the local people in addition to his normal duties as an employee of the state government.

He has planted about 3,20,000 trees with the help of children and youth in Dehradun District's hilly wasteland. His tour for environmental protection covered about 150 kilometres from Dehradun to Devprayag and Dehradun to Hindolakhal along with 32 social workers on foot.

Babla involved children, youth, old men and women for the cause of environmental protection. He organized 38 camps in villages helping them plant a large number of trees in hilly tracts and talking to people to live hygienically and creating awareness about use of clean drinking water to minimize the chances of water borne diseases.

He created a dense forest in 27 acres of land in Dhoran village valley during 1984-1988.

Babla has also organized seminars, workshops, kavi sammelans and other cultural programmes and has also published various articles in newspapers and magazines for creating environmental awareness among the common people.

He developed among youth, the national spirit, make them environmentally conscious, and create spirit of helping one another.

ANI