Ahead of voting for the Haryana assembly elections, a group of citizens have submitted a “Green Manifesto” to leaders of major political parties, asking them to include environmental issues in their poll promises.
The manifesto, prepared after taking a feedback from stakeholders from diverse fields in 17 of 22 districts in the state, has been submitted to senior leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Indian National Lok Dal, Jannayak Janta Party and other political parties.
“The document mentions citizens’ demands including safeguarding of Haryana’s abysmally low forest and tree cover, conserving the Aravalli, Shivalik and open natural ecosystems of the state, improving surface water and groundwater availability, implementing climate resilient agriculture, ensuring sustainable waste management, reducing air pollution, along with demands for good environmental governance,” said Neelam Ahluwalia, Founder Member, People for Aravallis.
One of the key demands in the manifesto is that ecological planning and design thinking be made the foundation of all development policies, projects and plans in Haryana.
Om Prakash Dhankar, Haryana Sarv Khap Coordinator and chief of Dhankar Khap in Dhakala, Jhajjar said, “The legacy that our forefathers left us of a Johad and Bani in every village must be revived to protect our future generations. No construction of any government or private buildings must take place on our common lands. We also demand that all the polluted ponds and other water bodies of Haryana should be cleaned and Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) should be built in rural and urban Haryana.”
{{/usCountry}}Om Prakash Dhankar, Haryana Sarv Khap Coordinator and chief of Dhankar Khap in Dhakala, Jhajjar said, “The legacy that our forefathers left us of a Johad and Bani in every village must be revived to protect our future generations. No construction of any government or private buildings must take place on our common lands. We also demand that all the polluted ponds and other water bodies of Haryana should be cleaned and Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) should be built in rural and urban Haryana.”
{{/usCountry}}Sunder Lal, founder director, Social Centre for Rural Initiative & Advancement (SCRIA) based in Khori village, Rewari, said that once the new government is formed, the Haryana Green Manifesto 2024 is used as a blueprint for the state to create an environmentally strong and climate resilient Haryana and an action plan is devised in collaboration with active rural and urban citizens across different districts, environment experts from diverse backgrounds and government officials to explore how the demands outlined in the Haryana Green Manifesto 2024 can be translated into reality.