Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh on Thursday said that nearly 40% of urban young couples are taking the help of IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) to have children due to the effects of environmental degradation.
The health minister was speaking during a discussion on a resolution moved by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi, who sought a suitable law to maintain green cover by planting more trees and preventing illegal felling as a protection against the dangerous impacts of environment pollution.
Dr Balbir said: “I have no hesitation to say that nearly 40% of couples living in urban areas are affected by pollution, adulteration of food and other environmental hazards that they are unable to conceive. They are taking help of IVF and other techniques to have children.”
He said that food adulteration is also a problem, and the government has taken steps to enhance the sampling and testing. He also sought the public’s help to use four government labs and 13 mobile labs to check food quality.
Dr Sukhi, while moving the resolution, elaborated on the importance of enacting new laws to protect the environment, including water, air and soil for future generations. Sukhi listed various studies which reveal that the groundwater, and soil health are degrading, and there is an urgent need to protect the environmental diversity.
{{/usCountry}}Dr Sukhi, while moving the resolution, elaborated on the importance of enacting new laws to protect the environment, including water, air and soil for future generations. Sukhi listed various studies which reveal that the groundwater, and soil health are degrading, and there is an urgent need to protect the environmental diversity.
{{/usCountry}}Issues of stubble burning, ill effects of pollution on health and environment, food adulteration, air pollution and noise pollution were also raised by over a dozen MLAs during the debate.
Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer also chipped in and said that the protection of the environment is a collective responsibility.
He advocated an increase in the area under forests and said that more trees should be planted on panchayat lands in villages and individual residences.
Meet Hayer said that under the leadership of chief minister Bhagwant Mann, continuous efforts are being made by the state government to protect the environment which includes the installation of solar panels at government educational institutions, ban on single-use plastics and curbing industrial pollution.
“Many other projects have been started including plantation. The government has also undertaken steps for ex situ and in situ management of stubble which have resulted in a 30% reduction in stubble burning cases,” he said.
MLAs call for special girdawari to assess crop damage
SAD MLAs Manpreet Ayali, Ganieve Kaur Majithia and Sukhwinder Sukhi moved a call attention motion to draw the attention of the minister for revenue towards damage caused to the wheat and potato crops due to recent hailstorms. Minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa said that the deputy commissioners have been asked to access the loss and hold special girdawari if needed. “The government is committed to compensating the affected farmers,” he assured the house.
During the zero hour, AAP MLA from Chamkaur Sahib, Dr Charanjit Singh asked the government to pay the arrears of the sixth pay commission to employees, while MLA Budh Ram asked the government to terminate the contract with the company which has failed to perform the duties of cleaning of sewerage in district Mansa. MLA Kulwant Singh Bazigar batted for allowing poppy cultivation in Punjab, while Baba Bakala MLA Dalbir Tong sought the government’s help for starting computer courses in the GNDU regional campus in Sathiala.