A roundtable meeting was held in the Fakir Mohan University campus on the subject ‘Environment and tribes’ ahead of a State level meeting at Koraput on the subject between December 21and 23.
Several speakers deliberating on the topic expressed their views lauding the role of the tribals in protecting the environment.
Attending the meeting as chief guest, Vice Chancellor of the university Prof Santosh Kumar Tripathy opined that climate change and protection of environment are the burning issues and the globe would witness a catastrophe if they were not addressed.
Stating the issue as paramount to society, he said that all have to come forward to protect the environment, however tiny the efforts may be.
“In the university campus we should use glass for drinking water instead of plastic bottles. We can tackle the menace of plastic to some extent by stopping the use of plastic wherever possible,” observed Prof Tripathy.
The meeting was convened by environmentalist Sudarshan Das and was presided over by Prof Surjendu Kumar Dey, Professor, Environmental Science Department of the FM University. Several speakers, including PG Council Chairman Prof Munesh Chandra Adhikari and Prasant Das etc expressing their concern over the climate change and its adverse impact, underscored the role of tribals in protecting the environment and globe.
A 10-member team of the university was selected who would be attending 13th edition of the Environment Congress to be held at Koraput.