Punjab, Haryana
and Chandigarh shall face serious challenges due to climate change,
including scarcity of water and power, said Dr Prodipto Ghosh, a
distinguished fellow of TERI, New Delhi, and member of the Prime
Minister's Council on Climate Change.
He was
addressing a seminar on "Climate, Carbon, and Copenhagen" organised by
the Society for Promotion of Science and Technology in India at Panjab
University here on Wednesday.
Referring to the
failure of the Copenhagen Summit, Dr Ghosh lamented that none of the
participating countries are serious about climate change, which are,
in fact, indulging in economic negotiations and future trade patterns.
Dr. Ashok Sahni,
Professor Emeritus, Geology Department, Panjab University, however,
was optimistic about the changing global climate as a consistent
phenomenon, but affirmed that water being in limited supply on the
planet needed to be conserved.
Ashwagosha Ganju,
Director, Snow and Avalanche Studies Establishment, said the situation
of water shortage in Himalayan region was turning grave and the
efforts were on to improve the situation through measures like snow
harvesting.
Earlier,
inaugurating the seminar, Subodh Aggarwal, Chief Secretary, Punjab,
reiterated the need to take proactive steps to combat global warming.
Dr G. Prasanna Kumar, Principal Secretary, Environment, Haryana, in
his presidential remarks said their generation had already done great
dam- age to the environment and steps must be taken to reduce energy
consumption and look for alternative sources of sustainable livelihood
now.
Former Haryana
chief secretary and SPSTI president Dharam Vir said Society's mis-
sion was to help the youth in developing scientific temper and
encourage creativity amongst them, and the forth- coming seminar was
designed to sensitise them about the cli- mate change, its
ramifications, and engage them proactive action.
The Society
would be encouraging experimentation and inno vation in the schools in
Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab by distributing science kits to them,
and even introduce a mobile facility to spread the message.
