New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday urged developed nations to transcend political boundaries in environmental thinking. He also called for adopting models where planetary health can become foundational to human prosperity.
Addressing the valedictory session of the National Conference on Environment- 2025 at Vigyan Bhawan, the Vice President recalled the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy. Calling it mega environmental negligence, he observed, “Even after four decades, families suffered generation after generation, genetic disorders, and groundwater contamination.”
He added, “ Just imagine how pathetic was the lack of awareness. We did not have an institution like NGT. We did not have a regulatory regime that could address the issue. Things would have been very different if there had been a regulatory regime of the current level then.”
‘Planet not exclusive to human beings’
Further, pointing out the need for developing environmental ethics, the Vice President noted, “There is a global need to evolve and believe in environmental ethics. This underscores human’s moral obligations to protect and preserve the environment. We have to be aware that the planet is not exclusive to us. We are not its owners. Flora and fauna must flourish and blossom alongside, and so must all other living beings.”
“There will have to be individual focus on optimal utilisation of resources of nature. This has to be our habit. Our fiscal power, and our fiscal capacity cannot determine the use of natural resources. The consumption has to be optimal,” Dhankhar noted while stressing the need for human beings to live in harmony with nature and other living beings.
Pointing out how India focused on sustainability for years, the Vice President added, “Long before sustainability became a global buzzword, much long before India lived it for centuries where every Banyan tree was a temple, every river a goddess and best an unknown concept in a civilisation that worshipped secularity. Our Vedic literature is goldmine for nurturing Mother Earth and propagating harmony between man and nature.”
