Adopting the stand that projects can be pushed through at any cost is not a viable approach, academic R.V.G. Menon has said, stressing the need to give due regard to the impact on environment.
Inaugurating the Environment Day celebrations on Sunday organised by the E. Somanath Fraternity here, Mr. Menon said some projects might have to be discarded when environmental aspects were taken into account.
Assessment of how projects impacted the environment should be an integral component in the design stage itself. Concern about the environment could not be treated as a luxury anymore, as it had become a matter of survival of humanity, he said.
On the energy front, India needed to take a re-look at its policies that still continued to largely bank on coal-based power plants for electricity generation, Dr. Menon said. He also underscored the need to take the message on environment protection to the people and policymakers.
Communist Marxist Party (CMP) general secretary C.P. John called for a holistic approach involving the environment and livelihood. Over the past 50 years, perspectives on development and the protection of the environment, which largely revolved around the question of livelihood, had undergone major changes, he noted.
Kerala Media Academy chairman R.S. Babu also spoke.
