Assam CM urges each citizen to plant a tree on World Environment Day

Guwahati: On the eve of the annual World Environment Day, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has urged all the citizens of the state to plant a tree each to contribute towards a cleaner and greener environment.

"We all have to plant a sapling each and foster a natural environment. We have to strive so that the atmosphere of Assam remains clean", Sonowal said in a video message today.

"I appeal to people from all walks of life. Be it students from LP Schools, ME Schools, High Schools, Higher Secondary Schools, Colleges or Universities, the teachers, senior citizens, elected panchayat representatives, the village headmen, the sardars, line chowkidars, MLAs, MPs, Ministers, Government officials – come forward and let us all plant a sapling and strengthen the environment", Sonowal said. The Chief Minister also expressed confidence that the nature-loving people across the state will heed his clarion call and plant trees tomorrow.

It is pertinent to mention here that Sonowal has made his appeal at a time when environmentalists and concerned citizens are continuing to raise an outcry over the Centre's preliminary permission to Coal India to allow coal mining inside the Dehing Patkai forest area in Upper Assam.

Meanwhile, the Gauhati High Court has issued notices to the Central Government, Coal India Limited and other stakeholders after taking up a suo moto case against coal mining in the area. The suo moto PIL was registered after hearing two public interest litigations (PILs) filed by some advocates and a mountaineer against mining in the sensitive area.

The outcry over the issue erupted after the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change recommended approval of the CIL''s proposal for legalizing illegal mining provided that it fulfills a set of 28 conditions. However, the state Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya has said that the go-ahead for the mining is yet to be given by the Centre. The controversy over the issue continues to spur a series of debates, with the Opposition party leaders demanding complete scrapping of the project.

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