5th June is celebrated as the World Environment Day in a effort to strengthen and reaffirm our efforts towards conservation of our environment collectively. The theme for this year -“Only One Earth” drives home the importance of making collective action for conservation.
Human activity has been a major factor leading to many environmental hazards which threaten our very existence. The world today is in midst of a climate emergency and serious actions are urgently needed to mitigate the impacts of it which is being felt increasingly across the world.
Sikkim too is no exception to that. There has been a marked difference in the weather patterns observed in the state over the years which has impacted us in the form of calamities like landslides, cloud bursts excessive rainfall and other such calamities.
It has impacted our agriculture and forests too. While efforts are made by the state government to conserve and protect our environment, but we need to ask ourselves if we are doing enough. Whether our policies are shaped with an intention of reducing the impact on nature that is brought about as result of human activities and developmental projects. For a state like Sikkim with a fragile mountain ecosystem the challenge is more daunting. Our response therefore, needs to be even more vigilant and thoughtful. With tourism as a primary industry of our state, finding ways to balance it in a manner that is conservation friendly is a necessity that we must find answers to at the earliest.
We will see a spurt of plantation drives taking place in the state in the coming few months and this is a welcome step but it is equally important that we assure our efforts towards conservation are sustained throughout the year and that conservation of our nature and environment forms the very basis of our governance and policies.
Nature is an integral part of our culture and religious practices too and conserving nature would in turn help us conserve our culture too.
On this Day, let us unite and strengthen our resolve towards conservation of our environment and work dedicatedly to leave behind a healthy and green Sikkim for our future generations.
Ganesh Rai
Reform Call, Melli South Sikkim.