Independence
Day
Pledge
15th August is observed as Independence Day every year in India. It reminds us about the innumerable sacrifices made by our forefathers to win freedom for us. The cherished goals of the leaders of the national freedom movement have almost perished in the din of poverty, communalism, corruption and environmental degradation. While political and voluntart forces are somewhat engaged in fight against poverty, corruption and communalism, the struggle for mitigating adverse impact of ongoing process of climate change has not received desired momentum in consonance with the magnitude of the vast array of problems generated. Recent torrential rains, landslides, cloud-bursts and flash floods have wreaked havoc with human and animal lives and caused irreparable loss to property in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
There is need to generate heightened awareness amongst the people about climate change and make them capable of adapting to the changing climate, improve their livelihoods by imparting them adequate skills. There is also dire need to disseminate water and energy literacy amongst the people so that they imbibe the habit and culture of conservation and judicious use of these finite resources along with cultivating the habit of rainwater harvesting and keeping water resources free from pollution. Generation of awareness amongst the people is a gigantic task which cannot be accomplished by government of its own because the governments have resources and technology and not resource persons; whereas this task is better accomplished by the civil society. On this auspicious occasion of our Independence Day, let’s pledge to make India safe from adverse impact of climate change and this can be better facilitated by close cooperation between civil society and government agencies.
