``Chambers should not be merely commerce chambers, but thinking chambers, which need to have new dimensions in planning activiities,'' he said, inaugurating an auditorium at the Hindustan Chambers of Commerce here named after its founder member late HC Kothari. Pointing out that there had been tremendous improvement in the lives of human beings during the 20th century, he said development had also led to vast destruction of flora and fauna. If this trend continued, ``we too will one day disappear as some other species in the past.''

``We should not imitate the West in our developmental efforts, but learn from their mistakes, which have caused enormous environmental pollution, he said, adding the country required a policy based on area and density of population that would protect theenvironment. Former supreme court judge S Mohan, in his address, deplored the `pollution of morals' which, he said, was even more dangerous than the environmental pollution.

Referring to corruption at political level, he regretted that many of the present day politicians were concentrating more on amassing wealth and escaping from the clutches of law rather than serving the people.