APAC meet in Indore resolves to free air, soil, water from

A conference of mayors of cities from the Asia-Pacific region here today resolved to free soil, air and water from contamination.

They were participating in the four-day '8th Regional 3R Forum in Asia and the Pacific' which started here on April 9.

The conference was organised by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Japan's Ministry for Environment and United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD).

The theme of the current conference was "Achieving Clean Water, Clean Land and Clean Air through 3R and Resource Efficiency- A 21st Century Vision for Asia-Pacific Communities", organisers said.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Minister of Japan's Environmental Global Affairs Department, Yasuo Takahashi, said that the success of the 3R (reduce, reuse and recyclable) formula in achieving cleanliness of soil, air and water depended on mutual cooperation.

 

He added that local civic bodies and people had a big role to play to make it a success.

Madhya Pradesh's Urban Administration Minister Maya Singh said, "It is our duty to work with full responsibility to hand over the land, rich with natural resources, to the next generation. Effective use of 3R formula in Asia-Pacific will help in this regard."

Durgashankar Mishra, Secretary, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, expressed confidence that discussions at the forum would help achieve the goal of "clean land, air and water".

Nearly 300 delegates from 45 countries participated in the conference.

The ninth forum would be in Bangkok in Thailand, organisers said.