World Environment Day: The environment and the life

N Shyamsundar Singh *

Since 1974, World Environment Day has been observed every year on 5th June by public & private organizations, institutions, businesses and ideal citizens with a view to reminding the other responsibles of the importance of protecting the environment and also reviewing their own efforts on revival of the degraded environment.

The Institution of Engineers (India) HQ, Kolkata used to lead the other State and Local Centres in India and abroad, in the celebration of the statutory event every year. The event is made meaningful by organizing seminar and symposium on a theme which has specific relevance to the environmental issues. The theme for this year (2020) is Biodiversity.

This year, the IEI Manipur State Centre is unable to observe the World Environment Day in a befitting manner as done before, due to reasons better known to everybody. However, it is deliberately making an attempt to share some thoughts on the theme with each and everyone around.

It is known to us all that nature has given all the living beings on earth the basic needs like air, water, food items and the suitable climate etc. for their survival.

The natural gift-pack containing these essentials is also generally known as the environment. The ecology shows the details of intrinsic relationships of living things to one another and to the environment.

It is also an established fact that each of the items - living & non-living, created by the nature to form the environment has a definite purpose and function. All of them perform their assigned duties and also work in close co-ordination forming the webs of life.

Thus, the humans and the webs of life in which they exist are also interdependent. Changing or removing one element of this web shall affect the entire life system and result in undesirable consequences. In other words, it may cause extensive damage to the ecosystem.

Biodiversity, an integral part of the ecosystem, plays a crucial role in providing all kinds of supports for all life including aquatic life. It largely affects every aspect of human health maintenance.

In our state also, we notice that large scale deforestation continues unabated, surface runoff erodes top fertile soil and causes flash floods, soil health deteriorates, ecosystem disappears, wildlife loses its habitat, biodiversity sinks, agricultural yield decreases and horticultural produces lack nutrients etc.

In addition, we have also done knowingly or otherwise, more harm than good to the nature in different ways like - water bodies are extensively encroached, water courses are closed with solid waste, and plastics are allowed to pose major threat etc. The entire gamut of these hindrances has made all the living beings suffer from all kind of health hazard and deficiencies.

Rather, we have pressurized and left the nature somewhere beyond its ability. Ultimately, the biodiversity is gradually lost and it has caused severe implications like scarcity of nutritious food and failure of health system etc. for humanity.

Now, it is a popular belief among few scientists and medical researchers across the globe that when we destroy biodiversity, we also destroy the system that supports and cares human life and consequently infectious diseases like COVID-19 emerge. They are also of the opinion that most of these deadly diseases are zoonotic i.e. a disease transmitted to humans by animals and it is a warning from the nature.

Precisely, the environmental degradation that has already taken place, is directly or indirectly related to various problems like climate change (Global warming), global disease pandemic, fall-army and locust infestations and their severe impact on agriculture, education, employment, industry and overall economy, that the humans are facing today.

Therefore, the first and foremost priority among the responsibilities of every individual irrespective of age, profession, class and clan, is to save the environment collectively. When the environment is clean and healthy, the ecosystem shall also have a new lease of life and it will help the biodiversity regenerate naturally.

The ailing economy will also grow gradually with the progress of improvement in the associated features of the environment.

We need to act now before it is too late, we cannot survive without a healthy environment.