Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Most destructive government in last five years, says India Greens Party
We need long-term planning as against planning for five years, for this city to have better prospects in terms of environment, says official
Pune has environmental issues that need to be addressed as part of every local candidate’s agenda,” says Santosh Prabhakar Shintre, environmental journalist.
Shintre, along with Prabhakar Narayan Kukdolkar, retired forest officer and wildlife researcher, are both convenors for the India Greens Party, a pan-India environmental political party.
“The basic objective is to be part of the ruling party’s agenda and to highlight the fact that there are four types of environmental conflicting factors which harm the environment; Conservation versus large-scale projects, and vote based politics versus long-term benefits of nature conservation. India has witnessed the most destructive government in last five years for the environment,” says Kukdolkar.
“We need long-term planning as against planning for five years, for this city to have better prospects in terms of environment. Currently, this city is poised on the brink of a disaster and is prone to floods, besides it facing a serious health hazard with tree cutting, air and water pollution and illegal construction of nallahs,” says Kukdolkar.
The party is not registered for this Lok Sabha elections, but has made it their mission to appeal to local candidates in the city to look at the manifestos they have prepared.
The political green party movement began in New Zealand and Australia, and over the last 25 years has spread to 19 countries. Today, in Germany, the green political party is part of Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition.
In India, the party was launched in New Delhi on November 18, 2018.
“It’s a fight between political wisdom and ecological wisdom. Ecologically we need to achieve sustainable development for generations, that is why we have proposed training and awareness programmes for elected members and citizens,” says Kukodkar.