Conrad urge school kids to plant trees

TURA, NOV 2: National Peoples Party (NPP) chief and Tura Lok Sabha MP Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday urged every child in the state to adopt a tree and contribute to the cause of a greener earth.

“We have to care for our planet. It is the responsibility of every concerned citizen. I urge every child in a school to adopt a tree and pledge – let me take care of a tree that gives me oxygen”, said Sangma, while speaking at the inaugural session of the Northeast Green Summit, which is underway here.

The summit is organised by a Guwahati based publication house in collaboration with North East Hill University (NEHU) and Don Bosco College, Tura.

Sangma said that the steps that allow measurable goals and target should be the key focus of the summit, which will create awareness amongst the citizens. “We should define realistic goals. There is nothing call small steps, every step taken for the earth is important. We have to take it up as a challenge and be prepared for our future generation”, Sangma added.

Inaugurating the summit secretary ministry of DoNER Navin Verma highlighted the importance of rich natural resources of Northeast. He said, “We have to convert our resources into wealth, which is a way towards sustainable development and economic gains”.

Verma also spoke at length about bamboo of Northeast and its potentials. He also stressed that there is a big market of bamboo outside India.

He said that the region should be promoted as green destination by highlighting the bio-diversity hotspot of Northeast.

“I see potential of green tourism in Northeast. Entrepreneurs should take up ventures, which will promote the region and its best to the rest of the world”, Verma added.

The summit will end on November 5 with different sessions and cultural evening.

During the summit there will be brainstorming session to be attended by green policymakers. There will be technical sessions on Swachh Bharat, Green Power and Towards Building a Natural Economic Zone.

As part of the programme an art exhibition and workshop will be underway to be held in collaboration with Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi. Artists from different parts of India will showcase their works on nature.

Lalit Kala artists will also hold first ever artists-in-residency workshop on clean and green Northeast.

A nature inspired cultural concert will be held on November 5. The attraction is the Vayali Folklore group, a group from Kerala. The group uses indigenous percussion instruments made of bamboo and colourful costumes to create foot tapping music to preserve the dying Valluvanadan tradition and culture.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr. Gour Das Choudhuri, Director Fortis Healthcare, Founder HOPE initiative and Former President, Indian Society of Gastroenterology, Siddharth Ghosh, Eastern Indian Secretary, Lalit Kala Akademi, Tengsak G Momin, President GSU, P.K. Prasad, MD, NERAMA and Dr. Shailendra Choudhari, MD, NERCORMP.-From Our Correspondent