GUWAHATI, Dec 13 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today stressed the need for innovative technologies for maintaining a healthy balance between preservation of biodiversity and economic development, an official release said.
Addressing the inaugural session of �North-east and response to climate change � policies for watershed management, energy security and biodiversity� organized by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) at NEDFi House today, Gogoi said that a problem-ridden State like Assam had to address the concerns of poverty, food security, access to health and education, etc., through economic development but at the same time the socio-economic concerns could not be allowed to ride roughshod over the environment as such a model would prove to be unsustainable in the long run.
�The need is to strike the right balance between ensuring economic prosperity and protecting the State�s rich biodiversity and the environment. Evolving new technologies is imperative to sustaining such a model strategy for development,� Gogoi said.
The Chief Minister also laid emphasis on putting to good use the traditional wisdom of the communities handed down from generations over the centuries.
Terming erosion as a bigger problem than floods, Gogoi said that the State had lost an area of four lakh hectares to erosion till date, which was having a debilitating impact on the livelihoods of lakhs of people. �About eight lakh people have been rendered homeless by erosion and these people are living on embankments,� he added.
The Chief Minister also said that earth-cutting on the hills of the city was a major factor behind the recurring artificial floods and waterlogging in Guwahati. He said that the State Government was taking necessary steps for protection of the wetlands.
Holding the developed nations responsible for global warming and climate change, the Chief Minister put emphasis on creating mass awareness and involving the people in the strategy to fight the menace.
Prabir Sengupta, a TERI fellow, called for cooperation from all concerned in impelmentaing the TERI�s Assam State Action Plan for tackling the problems induced by climate change in the State and the North-east. He said that climate change would severely impact the earth�s limited resources.
Several other speakers including TERI executive director Vibha Dhawan, State Chief Secretary Nava Kumar Das and TERI coordinator Dipamkar Chaharia also addressed the function.
