Bharat Vikash Parishad, Dakshin Silchar organises tree plantation, art competition & special lecture on 5 June

June 6: The World Environment Day has been celebrated by Bharat Vikash Parishad (BVP), Dakshin Silchar with a day-long programme. In the morning hours (7 am to 11 am), members participated in tree plantation programme in two schools- Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya, Borjalenga and Maharshi Vidya Mandir. The President of BVP Prof. Niranjan Roy, Vice President Dr. Himdari Sekhar Das, Secretary Dr. Darsana Patoa, Treasurer Dr. Kingshuk Adhikari, Additional Secretary Biswaraj Chakraborty, Coordinator of the plantation programme Sri Biswa Ranjan Roy and other members Paramita Das Choudhury, Dr. Nabendu Sen, Biseswar Bhattacharjee, Arnab Deb, Samrat Dutta participated in the programme on behalf of the BVP, Dakshin Silchar.

In BKV school, President IB Ubhadhia and Principal Partha Sarathi Dey participated in the programme. On behalf of the school authority of Maharshi Vidya Mandhir, Sujata Dutta Gupta participated in the programme. On that occasion, Sujata Dutta Gupta accepted the membership of BVP, Dakshin Silchar.

The participants highlighted the importance of ecosystem restoration,  preservation and conservation of environment for sustenance of human life. They gave stress on judicious use of environmental resources. The members expressed their gratitude to the school authorities for their support in the plantation programme. A total of 50 saplings obtained from Social Forestry, Silchar were planted in both the schools.

The second programme was online Art competitions organised among the school students in two groups ( Group A representing class V to VIII and Group B representing class IX to XII). The theme of Group A was “Our Environment” and for Group B “Ecosystem Restoration”. A total of 166 students participated in the art competition. The results will be declared within a few days. All will be given e-certificates and 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes will be given for each category. Arnab Deb was the coordinator of this program.

The third programme on the occasion was a special lecture organized on the theme “Contemporary Environmental Issues versus socio-ecological development: An Indian perspective” by Prof. Sunil Nautiyal from Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru. In the beginning of the programme, Prof. Suparna Roy, Coordinator Seminar/ conference/ Special lecture etc of BVP, Dakshin Silchar delivered the welcome address and narrated the theme of World Environment Day 2021, that is, “Ecosystem Restoration.” She also introduced the speaker Prof. Sunil Nautiyal. Prof. Suparna Roy highlighted on the decade-long programme (2021 to 2030) on ecosystem revival and restoration. She said that all kind of ecosystem that can be restored include forests, farmland, cities, wetlands and oceans.

Prof. Nautiyal is a former Humboldt fellow, ZALF fellow by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research and also JSPS fellow. He is also awarded Platinum Jubilee Award lecture for Environmental Science section of 106th Indian Science Congress. Prof Sunil Nautiyal delivered the lecture and focused on matters of societal sensitization towards environment and ecosystems around human settlements. Referring to the young researchers of Assam University, Silchar as well as other participants, he shared his own experiences of research works taken up in various biodiversity hotspots around India and the world. He pointed out the shortcomings in various conservation policies and advocated for adopting strategies of biodiversity conservation vis-a-vis sustainable socio-economic-ecological development. Human association with natural habitats were discussed which was followed by a Question-Answer session.

In brief, this initiative ignited the young minds in taking up such research issues of relevance in the context of North East India. Prof Niranjan Roy delivered the presidential address and stressed upon ancient Indian methods of conservation of biodiversity which were ecosystem and natural-friendly while supporting livelihoods. A total of 125 persons participated in the programme. . Dr Shubhadeep Roychoudhury conducted the Question & Answer session and offered the customary vote of thanks. In the beginning, Biswaraj Chakraborty sang the National Song Vande Mataram and at the end Dr. Himadri Sekhar Das sang the National Anthem. Devdatta Biswas compered the entire programme.