Ujjain: The week-long health and environment awareness programme (HEAP-2021) concluded with participants celebrating International Biodiversity Day, here on Saturday.
The chief guest of the programme Prof Akhilesh Kumar Pandey, vice-chancellor, Vikram University said that the conservation of nature is the hallmark of Indian culture and imbalance between nature and culture results in ecological distortion.
Key speaker Professor DM Kumawat, head of School of Studies in Environmental Sciences, said that overpopulation, high economic growth and materialistic needs are the root causes of most of the current day problems. We are the part of solution of all natural and human generated problems, and all our solutions are in nature itself. He described alpha, beta, gama and omega levels of biodiversity and explained that biodiversity needs to be conserved as it has protective, consumptive, social, aesthetic, ethical and ecological value. The losses of habitat, habitat fragmentation, environmental pollution, overexploitation and introduction of exotic species have resulted in biodiversity loss. He described various global and Indian biodiversity hot spots and enumerated different strategies for biodiversity conservation.
The second speaker, Dr Vinod Singh Gaur, associate professor, Amity University, Jaipur described the surfactant properties of Balanitesaegyptiaca and uses of this plant in making detergent and bio-diesel. He also described the micropropagation of this pant by tissue culture. He emphasized the exploration of biodiversity for sustainable development. The session was chaired by Professor GS Shekhawat, professor, Department of Botany, Jai Narayan Vyas University, Jodhpur. He explained the importance of below ground biodiversity, marine biodiversity and genetic biodiversity. He also expressed the importance of carbon foot printing.
It week-long event was jointly organised by Government Kalidas Girls College and School of Studies in Microbiology, Vikram University.
African wisdom: Hakuna Matata and Ubuntu
In the concluding session HEAP-2021 organisers Dr Harish Vyas and Dr Alka Vyas recommended two main concepts for happy and healthy living viz Hakuna Matata and Ubuntu, both derived from African culture. Hakuna Matata translates to “no worries and tension free life” while Ubantu philosophy proposes that “I am because you are, so we are”. A rural awareness programme for infectious siseases (RAPID) was initiated and a group of participants was formed for creating awareness in society regarding various infectious diseases like COVID-19, mucormycosis, white fungus etc.
