Bengaluru: Prof Rangarajan awarded for contribution to environment

Bengaluru, Nov 6: Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday, Nov 6 said that there should be a balance between conservation of environment and development. "It is not conservation versus development but a balance between the two is needed," he said speaking at the TN Khoshoo Memorial award here.

Speaking at the award function and moderating a panel discussion, Ramesh said that ‘there should be a need to make business environment friendly and not vice versa.' "We need to have rapid economic growth which is sustainable. Need to think of creative means of reinforcement of ideas," said Ramesh while moderating a panel discussion here.

Prof Mahesh Rangarajan was awarded the TN Khoshoo Memorial award 2014 for his contribution to the field of environment.

The panel discussion featured Prof Rangarajan; Praveen Bhargav, Managing Trustee, Wildlife First; and Vidya Athreya, Research Associate, Centre for Wildlife Studies and Wildlife Conservation Society- India chapter, and recipient of the TN Khoshoo Memorial Award in 2012.

Ramesh: We need to recycle water, use less land and engage with people

The panelists put forth their ideas of energy conservation and how people at every level need to be engaged in the procedure. Ramesh said that in India most of the ores are found in the forest areas.

"So what we need to do is to extract the ore without harming the forest. We need to recycle water, use less land and engage with people, so that conservation and growth go hand in hand," he said.

The panel said that engagement with the people at every level needs to be done. Rural as well as the urban population needs to be included in the process of conservation. The panel concluded that growth, for a country like India, needs be rapid, inclusive and most of all, sustainable. "These have to be the three pillars of growth," Ramesh said.

When asked how conservation can take place with any corruption, Ramesh said: "If you can have regulation without any regulators, law without lawyers, it is a corruption-free world. Regulators create problems like corruption."

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