Kamat inaugurates national meet on Climate Change

Panaji, Aug 29 (UNI) Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat inaugurated the 8th National Greentech Conference on Environment and Management here today.

The theme of the three-day event is 'Climate Change - Issues and Concerns'.

Speaking after inaugurating the Conference, Mr Kamat said, ''We are aware that industries do pollute, but Goa needs them and we need to protect environment.'' ''Goans are environmentally sensitive and the government's job is to strike a balance between the industry and environment,'' he added.

The Chief Minister also gave away the awards for excellence in environment protection to ACC Cement, Aditya Cements, Lafarge India Ltd, Birla Corporation and Grasim Cement.

The experts who spoke on the occasion opined that the global warming and its devastating effects are increasingly being felt across the globe, sending environmentalists and scientists scrambling to find ways to check environment pollution and stem the damage.

India is already witnessing soaring temperatures, higher summers and shorter winters. In the last 40 years, key Himalayan glaciers have shrunk by 21 per cent. Close to 127 small glaciers have shrunk by 38 per cent, while larger ones by 12 per cent, they said.

About 250 delegates are taking part in the conference and they will present their papers in the next two days.

UNI