The exhibition on “Environment, Conflict and Cooperation” jointly organised by Manipal University and adelphi (a Berlin-based think-tank for applied research, policy analysis, and consultancy on global change issues), supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, concluded here on Sunday.
According to a press release issued by the university here on Monday, the exhibition was accompanied by an interactive lecture series coordinated by Dhanasree Jayaram of Manipal University, in which a number of eminent speakers, specialising on various discourses in environmental studies, participated.
During the launch of the exhibition on April 4, M.D. Nalapat, senior journalist, while discussing India’s role with regard to climate diplomacy, said that there had been a visible change in India’s attitude where the new government was making efforts to work with others for sustainable economic development.
Speaking as the chief guest, Amarnath Shetty, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, emphasised that e-waste was the fastest growing waste stream in society today and the role of policy in stimulating and sustaining green technologies was crucial.
H. Vinod Bhat, Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University, said that there would be more research in the next few years on non-conventional sources of energy and environmental protection at the university.
The lecture series began with Ulka Kelkar from the Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, enlightening the audience on the inevitability of resource conflicts, through the lens of her on-field experience in drought-stricken Marathwada region in Maharashtra.
In the panel discussion on water security, K. Balakrishna of Manipal University and Bejoy K. Thomas of ATREE focussed on the state of pollution in Indian rivers and those in Karnataka in particular.
Field experiences in Odisha formed a part of the interactive lecture by Maitreyee Mishra of Manipal University, where she used the case studies of agitations against POSCO (Paradip), Vedanta (Niyamgiri hills) and Tata (Kalinganagar) to throw light on environmental movements in neoliberal India.
This was followed by a joint presentation by Leo F. Saldanha and Bhargavi S. Rao (Environment Support Group) on proposals to build the military-industrial-nuclear complex as “science city” in Challakere in the context of environmental regulations, on April 12. At the panel discussion on biodiversity on April 14, N.A. Madhyastha, environmental biologist, drew attention to the threats to biodiversity in the Western Ghats in the form of mining, climate change, infrastructure projects, and population pressure, among others.
