Chandigarh, April 7
Chandigarh now plans to counter the affects of global warming in its own way. The first planned city of the country will soon be the first solar city that will use renewable energy to large extent to meet its needs by the year 2012.
Adviser to the UT administrator Pradip Mehra, chief guest on the occasion of the World Health Day announced the scheme.
To make the city a solar city, Mehra was speaking in the symposium on “Protecting Health from Climate Change” organised by the Indian Public Health Association at the advanced paediatric centre at the PGI here.
Talking of the role played by the administration, adviser said soon 1,100 CNG three-wheelers would be moving on the roads of Chandigarh and the Mass Rapid Transit System was also in progress that would help in reducing the carbon footprints in the city.
Mehra said people should accept that they were in the middle of climate change and the frequency of natural disasters was increasing at an alarming pace.
He said with economic development accompanied with the Industrial Revolution had led to the unprecedented development and great increase in welfare activities and thus increased the comfort levels.
But consequent to it was the huge consumption of fuels leading to global warming, he added.
While addressing the gathering, experts discussed the consequences of global warming which would lead to the rise of sea level and submerging of islands and coastal areas of the world.
This will again lead to greater migration from coastal region in the internal cities getting influx of people thus would metamorphose the face of the cities in another 50 years.
Showing deep concern over the water scarcity in the country, the experts said it was unfortunate that a planet with more then 70 per cent of water cover was facing such shortage.
Director, PGI, Dr K.K. Talwar, many senior doctors and students were also present on the occasion.
The World Health Organisation placed “health” at the centre of a global dialogue by making it the theme of the World Health Day today. This follows an overwhelming scientific consensus that the climate change is happening and making it one of the most critical challenges of our time.
According to an eminent expert, if the increase in greenhouse emissions continues at the current pace, air quality will suffer greatly and respiratory illnesses will worsen. Lack of safe water will most probably trigger outbreaks of diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases. Projecting the risks associated with the climate change in 2030, the WHO estimates that the number of malnutrition cases will increase by more than 10 per cent.
The WHO estimates that warming and precipitation trends due to anthropogenic climate change currently claims over 1,60,000 lives a year.