NEW DELHI: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar stressed during his address at the valedictory session of the National Conference on Environment 2025 that India has led a sustainable lifestyle since long before the concept of sustainability gained currency.“Way before sustainability became a global buzzword, India lived it for centuries — where every banyan tree was a temple and every river a goddess,” he expressed.The two-day conference was organised by the green court of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). During the event, Dhankhar emphasised the need for an organisation such as the NGT to act as a watchdog for environmental issues.He mused, “Had such an organisation existed earlier, the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 might have been averted.”“If we had had a regulatory institution like the NGT at that time, many disasters could have been avoided,” he added.The V-P described the gas tragedy as an outcome of environmental negligence and rued that we are yet to draw lessons from the episode.Further dwelling on the significance of the tribunal, he suggested that the ‘N’ in the abbreviation stood for ‘nurturing’, the G for ‘green’ and the T for ‘tomorrow’.“This is not merely wordplay but a vision for an institution that integrates law, science and ethics to transform our relationship with nature,” Dhankhar pointed up. He also urged developed countries to look beyond their national borders in an effort to save the planet.“There is a global need to evolve and embrace environmental ethics, emphasising man’s moral obligations to protect and preserve the environment,” he noted, adding, “The planet is not exclusive to us. Flora and fauna must flourish alongside other living beings.”
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