Toll free number facility to protect environment

Lucknow, Jun 18 (UNI) The Uttar Pradesh government will soon start a 24-hour toll free number facility to allow people to register their environmental complaints and grievances.

The facility would be started at the environment directorate, Lucknow, state Environment Minister Ujjwal Raman Singh said here taking serious cognisance of environment degradation in the state.

The toll free facility would be started within a month, where -- apart from complaints -- people can also register their suggestion for the protection of environment.

Mr Singh was addressing the inaugural function of a US-sponsored training workshop on 'Legal Awareness and Youth Participation in Environment Compliance and Enforcement' at the premier Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L).

Mr Singh said there were several laws for the protection and preservation of environment in UP, however, they were rarely followed.

The minister put the blame on the municipal authorities for the deteriorating situation vis-a-vis environment in urban areas of the state.

''The personnel manning the municipal authorities are untrained to take care of environmental factors in carrying out their job,'' he lamented.

Mr Singh also mention the need of special Environment Courts to deal with such cases in India.

Meanwhile, a number of scholars from several Indian states including UP, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan, apart from IIM-L students, are participating in the workshop.

IIM-L Project Director (Youth and Environment) Prof D S Senger said the basic premises and the motivation for conducting the workshop is, ''The greater poverty than that is caused by lack of money is the poverty of awareness.'' The workshop comprises lectures, group discussions, experience sharing and presentations on various issues of environment and legal awareness and youth participation in an access to environmental justice and citizen suits etc.

UNI VS SHB HT1407