Various events were held as part of the Wildlife Week celebrations organised by the Zoology Department of HNB Garhwal Central University Pauri campus in association with the Rotary Club and Central Bank of India, Pauri.
Events like essay and speech competitions on wildlife issues were held to mark the week. At the concluding function, Head of the Zoology Department, Professor Dr AK Dobriyal said that disasters like the one experienced recently in Uttarakhand are caused by humans disturbing the balance of nature.
The man-made imbalance in the environment has forced wild animals to approach human habitations in the search for food, which in turn is proving detrimental to both the humans and the wildlife. It is the duty of every human being to make effort for facilitating the conservation of environment and wildlife, he stressed.
Presiding over the concluding function, the director of the Pauri campus Professor TP Pant said that such programmes are useful for society and the students of the campus should work to spread this awareness in society. Pant emphasised that the forests should be protected and nurtured for the wild animals, so that wild animals could get food. Ensuring that wildlife secures adequate natural food within the forests would prove to be a milestone in conservation efforts, he said.
Special guest Jitendra Kumar, branch manager, Central Bank of India spoke about the banking system while Prof Subash Gupta spoke about the regulations and laws related to the environment and wildlife. In the essay competition for undergraduate group, Pooja Mamgain clinched first position, Meenakshi Naithani second and Kritika Bhatt bagged the third position while in the post graduate group Ayyaz Qayum came first followed by Suraj Singh Rawat and Rachen Ayago in the second the third positions respectively.
In the speech competition Rakesh Kumar won the first position, Rachan Ayago came second and Sumaya Sakur came third. Prof MS Bisht, NS Bisht, CB Kotnala, Dr Sunil Bhandari and Dr Anju Thapliyal were among those present on the occasion.