World Environment Day: Special drives in many parts of country to check pollution, plant trees

Special drives for tree plantation, cleaning rivers and creating awareness on steps to check pollution were held across the country to mark the World Environment Day on Wednesday.

Experts batted for urgent measures to check air pollution, the theme of the Environment Day this year, as a study claimed it has become a national emergency killing one lakh children under the age of five in India every year.

In their messages, President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that living in harmony with nature will lead to a better future and reaffirmed the commitment to a cleaner and sustainable planet.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar planted saplings at the ministry headquarters here with celebrities like legendary cricketer Kapil Dev and actor Jackie Shroff. The minister also clicked a picture as part of the #SelfieWithSapling campaign he had launched on Tuesday to encourage people's participation to tackle environmental issues.

"A small step may lead to a gigantic impact," the minister tweeted.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said until environment issues find a place in the country's politics, they won't get the importance they deserve.

New Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that all state-run stadiums and academies will be made environment friendly.

Chairman of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel lamented that India is not taking the issue of air pollution seriously.

Addressing an event in Ahmedabad on the occasion of World Environment Day, Goel also said that not a single state in the country is complying with garbage disposal norms.

"The world is taking it (air pollution) so seriously, we are not. I am very sorry to tell all of you that no state in the whole country is compliant with waste management rules .... We need zero tolerance if air quality deteriorates beyond a point," the NGT chairman added.

Causing pollution is no less an offense than murder or rape, he said.

A drive to clean Sabarmati river was launched in Ahmedabad by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani which will continue till June 9.

Mahatma Gandhi had set up his ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati river after his return from South Africa in 1915. On Wednesday, thousands of citizens took part in the drive to clean a stretch between Dufnala and Vasna barrage in Ahmedabad. Rupani also joined the volunteers.

The Gujarat government, meanwhile, launched 'Emission Trading Scheme' (ETS), under which a firm which reduces emissions below the stipulated limit can sell its surplus 'emission permits'. The government has claimed that it is the world's first such scheme for Particulate Matter (PM) pollution.

Cleanliness drives were held in Bangalore in Karnataka and Thane in Maharashtra. Several NGOs conducted a drive to clean River Mahanadi in Siliguri in West Bengal.

The Coast Guard Eastern region for the first time conducted an underwater clean up programme in Bay of Bengal near the Chennai coast and managed to remove nearly 500 kg of trash in two hours