This was evident from the address of the environment minister, Suresh P Prabhu's address on the occassion of the World Environment Day in Capital on Saturday.

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, while releasing the `State of the Environment Report' on the occassion, however, made a feverent appeal to the industry and cautioned not to wait for either the Government or the judiciary to enforce environmental laws. He said that voluntary and speedy compliance is good for both industry and society. He categorically told the industry `Do not think of investment inenvironment-friendly technologies as a burden you can shirk. It is a moral, social and legal obligation you must fulfil. Moreover, it makes good business sense in the medium and long-term. Whatever possible--and it is possible in many cases -- we should also implementlow-cost green technologies that are appropriate to our needs and conditions.'

The Prime Minister also stated that many of the problems that India and other developing nations are facing on the environmental front are not entirely our own doing. Industrialised nations cannot absolve themselves of far greater contribution they have made to environmental degradation around the world. If rich nations continue to put unrelenting pressure on our planet's limited and non-renewable resources and if the present glaring imbalances in global economic growth continue, damages to the environment will be universal. Ironically, the poor have to pay a heavier price for the guilt of the rich, he said. He stated that on occasion of World Environment Day, India joins the environment-conscious people around the globe in demanding radical changes in the global financial and trading systems. The gulf between developing and developed countries as also the worsening conditions of want in developing countries are not only a sourceof social discord but also environmental degradation.

Vajpayee, however, admitted that sometimes even genuine developmental projects are opposed in the name of protecting the environment. Some of the critical delays in the completion of infrastructure projects with huge investment outlays and large-scale social benefits are due to this reason. The country cannot afford such delays, he said.

Indeed, in a country like India, environmental protection is more likely to become a mass movement if we are able to give it a strong development and employment thrust, he said. He said that the environment ministry's decision to extend 33 per cent forest cover in 20 years and augmentation of bamboo resources in the country will be a source of livelihood for many weaker sections of the society. He complimented the ministry for launching a special programme to promote involvement of rural women in raising forest nurseries through Integrated Rural Development Programme. He called for a synergy of efforts by the concernedministries and agencies like the ministry of rural development, ministry of environment and forests, agriculture ministry, Khadi & Village Industries Commission, Planning Commission and the state governments. The environment minister, Suresh Prabhu said that the Government will introduce environment as a subject for study in the curriculum, introduce insurance cover for foresters, scheme of sharing forest produces with local communities, utilisation of Environment Fund for afforestation, scheme of green guards in villages. New law on management of municipal solid waste will be introduced and Himalayan Authority and district forest agencies will be created on lines of DRDAs.