GUWAHATI, June 5 - On the occasion of World Environment Day, the Kamrup (Metro) district administration, in association with Help Earth, an NGO, launched the Green Home Awards aimed at promoting green homes in Guwahati and sensitise its citizens on the need to protect and preserve the natural environment.
Under the initiative, private households, apartments, government schools, offices and NGOs will have to register themselves with the website greenhomeguwahati.com and fill up a questionnaire.
�There will be a survey of the property by our volunteers and a preliminary screening of the entries by a panel of experts. Five top houses will be selected from all entries and the houses will be open for public voting,� Deputy Commissioner Dr M Angamuthu said while launching the award at a meeting held at Umananda Temple campus to mark the World Environment Day.
Earlier in the morning, Dr Angamuthu, with the help of journalists of print and electronic media and with some senior citizens planted 200 saplings on the Umananda Temple premises. He also formally opened a scientific preservation programme of the endangered golden langur in the same place in association with Help Earth.
The district administration has undertaken massive plantation drives in various parts of the district. Steps have been taken in collaboration with Round Table Guwahati, an NGO, to plant 300 saplings in and around the premises of Saraighat Lake, Amingaon. Moreover, all the Circle Officers, Block Development Officers, health institutions, schools and colleges and other government establishments have been asked to take up plantation in an appropriate manner in their campuses.
Hoygrib Madhab: The district administration also launched an awareness campaign to conserve the rare species of turtles and fishes in the Bishnupushkar pond in the campus of Hoygrib Madhab Devalaya.
A conservation committee has been constituted comprising experts, and representatives from local administration, forest and the temple committee for ensuring a secure future for the pond�s aquatic life.
�Works are already under way to create better living standards for turtles in the temple ponds by providing breeding and basking grounds and monitoring and improving the water quality. An artificial incubation facility where human-assisted eggs hatching could be done has been set up in the pond premises,� a district administration spokesperson said.
The committee, under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner, has also taken an initiative to develop a biodiversity information centre in the office of the Deputy Commissioner.
Earlier, a painting competition was held for schoolchildren in the Devalaya campus for promoting awareness on conservation.
