Tura, 20th Oct: Environmental regeneration has been at the mind of most people within the region and there has been a lot that has been tried by many with little results. However, now a group of very concerned citizens have taken it upon themselves to try and stem the rot and help with the regeneration of nature as and where they find they can. Welcome to CEPARD or the Centre for Environmental Protection and Rural Development, an NGO that has taken up the mantle.
The President of CEPARD, Samgar R Sangma, who has been one of the founding members of the group said, “Protection of the Environment is the basis of any true civilization and the same holds true for the Garo Hills. Though, we have been extremely lucky and have had plenty of forest cover earlier, however recently activities have rocked this fragile balance. There are a lot of factors that have been at the forefront of the problems and needs to be looked at by us to ensure the balance can be restored. CEPARD looks to ensure this happens harmoniously”.
The problems of the region have been highlighted through the years but nothing much has actually come about. They highlighted the various tree felling activities that are rampant within the region even though there are checks. The checks they said were not enough as criminals were using the system to their advantage in conduit with some unscrupulous Government officials. This needed to stop or one day; there would be no natural resource within the Garo Hills region due to the greed of the criminals.
Though started in the year 2001, the movement had lost a lot of its fizz as the original members joined different spheres of work and were unable to continue the work. This time however, the team is determined to work and ensure there is some way they are able to reverse the trend and ensure the environment is not degraded further.
T G Momin, the Vice President said, “We are aware that the benefit most schemes by the Government are lost in the midst of red tape. We will go to villages and spread awareness and that is where Rural Development comes into the picture. We hope we will be able to make a difference this time and ensure development of the local populace”.
The team is now looking at resources within the region that are as concerned about the environment as them and hope they can work with the Government of the state to not only identify environmental issues, but seek its rectification.(SP News)
