West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated people on the occasion of World Environment Day today even as a top environmentalist expressed apprehension that the present century is poised to be the warmest.
"Sabuj Bangla Biswa Bangla.... Biswa Paribesh Dibase Obhinandan" (Green Bengal, Global Bengal. Congratulations on World Environment Day), Banerjee said in a message on her Facebook page.
Pressing the alarm button, eminent environmentalist and state-run West Bengal Pollution Control Board chairman Kalyan Rudra said "This century is poised to be the warmest one in the world where cities will turn into heat islands during summer."
"We have to find ways to come out of this. Since 1950, the global weather has been changing rapidly," he said.
On the Sunderbans, Rudra said "In the past one century the Sunderbans has seen 420 km land erosion as the sea is approaching steadily."
In Gangasagar area the sea has advanced by 12 km since 19th century and the trend continues though we may not notice it immediately, he said.
"All over the world in the past century, the sea level has risen by 19 cm and the sea level rise rate is 1.7-2mm every year," he said urging everyone to sit up and take note.
Rudra and other speakers at the programme attributed the gradual isolation of man from nature as the root cause behind this and said people should work towards saving the four components of eco-system - air, water, land and bio-diversity - in their own way.
About WBPCB projects, a spokesperson said 30 rainwater harvesting facilities have been made in the state.
"We have brought 4,400 schools under our green drive, which includes organising eco-tourism camps involving school students.
"We have also set up solar power units in 100 different locations in various buildings in collaboration with the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd," he said.
State Environment minister Sovan Chatterjee, present on the occasion, handed over LED solar lanterns to students of Bhalo Pahar school in Purulia.
A one-day workshop was also held at the American Centre on the issue of Sustainable Development of Tea-gardens and Issues of Urban Wetland in which US Consul General Craig L Hall, IIT-KGP Professor A K Datta, Tea Board Director (Research) Dr Biswajit Bera and others took part.
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