Environment protection should become mass movement: Minister

Mumbai : Union minister Harsh Vardhan today said scientific research should reach the public and asked scientists to solve the basic issues like water and sanitation confronting the common people.

Launching the National Carbonaceous Aerosols Programme Project (NCAP) on Carbonaceous aerosol emissions, source apportionment and climate impacts (NCAP-COALESCE project) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, the minister said that scientists should work at the grassroots level.

There should be synergy and coordination between the various scientific and technical institutions working for the common goal to combat climate change, Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said. Climate change and global warming is the talk of the world and this project will be a milestone in our history, the minister said.

Carbonaceous aerosols are a matter of great concern on the issue of climate change, he added. Organisations like ISRO are working in the field of carbon emissions, the minister said. The country needs environmental soldiers, he said.

The NCAP-COALESCE project would be a key step to build a strong knowledge base related to short lived climate pollutants, including carbonaceous aerosols, as part of India s broad commitment to climate action, an official statement said.

The project would emerge as an important knowledge and information resource to support national and state actions responding to climate change caused by carbonaceous aerosols, it said.