Lucknow, November 30: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while addressing the ‘Green India Summit’ organized by a newspaper group on Saturday, expressed serious concern over the changing environment and ecosystem.
He said that the country’s capital New Delhi has become a gas chamber for the last one month. The situation is very serious for respiratory patients and the elderly. The government is concerned about this and the court is strict.
He said that environmental disasters are the result of man’s unplanned development policies and wrong habits.
Referring to the changing pattern of monsoon, Adityanath said that earlier the monsoon used to start from June 15 and end by August 15, but now it is stretched from August 15 to October 15. This is also changing the time of harvesting and sowing of crops. Somewhere there is excessive rain and somewhere there is drought, due to which farmers are getting ruined.
Yogi also described water pollution as a major problem. BP, sugar and stomach diseases are increasing due to polluted water. He said that the Modi government is supplying pure drinking water through the ‘Har Ghar Nal’ scheme, so that waterborne diseases can be controlled.
Yogi said that we have also done unplanned and unscientific development. We will set up big industries and pour waste into the rivers. By making the life-giving rivers unhealthy, we are creating a disaster for humans and living beings. Diseases are increasing rapidly due to spraying of pesticides and chemicals beyond capacity. The government had to run a train within a state, which was named Cancer Train, that is, most of the patients coming in the train were cancer patients. This disaster did not come from anywhere else, but man himself has created it.
Yogi said that the UP government has started several campaigns to reduce carbon emissions. Since the year 2017, 16 lakh LED street lights were installed, which reduced 9.4 lakh tonnes of carbon emissions and saved Rs 968 crore. Referring to the Central Government’s “PM Surya Ghar Yojana”, he said that under this scheme, people can produce the electricity they need by installing solar panels and can sell the extra electricity.
The Chief Minister said that since 2017, 204 crore saplings have been planted in the state. The state’s forest cover has reached 10%, which is targeted to be taken to 15% in the next three years. 23,000 hectares of landbank has been prepared in UP, which can be used for renewable energy.
Yogi said that polluted water and open defecation are very dangerous. Deaths due to encephalitis in 38 districts of eastern UP from 1977 to 2017 are proof of this. 50 thousand children died in 40 years. The cause of the disease was polluted water and dirt. Now toilets are being built in every house, pure water is being delivered to every house by running a campaign. Due to this, this disease was controlled within just two years. Now there are no deaths from encephalitis.
