Waste, if properly managed, is wealth, says Fr Abraham Mulamoottil, principal of Mar Athanasios College for Advanced Studies, Thiruvalla (MACFAST).
Fr Mulamoottil was addressing a seminar on environmental awareness and waste disposal, organised jointly by MACFAST and Thiruvalla municipality, at the municipal stadium in Thiruvalla on Tuesday.
He said proper management of the waste at its source itself was the best way to tackle the pollution problem in modern times.
Presiding over the seminar, Mr Cherian Polachirackal, municipal chairman, stressed the need for making the people aware of their social responsibility to desist from polluting their surroundings by dumping wastes.
He said the municipality would soon launch a public awareness campaign in association with MACFAST and various social organisations in the region in an effort to resolve the waste disposal problem in and around Thiruvalla.
Mr. Jose Philipose attached to Bodhana Social Service Society, Mr. Sasidharan Nair, environmentalist, Prof Varkey Mathew from Kottayam and Pampa Parirakshana Samiti general secretary, N.K. Sukumaran Nair, also spoke.
Mr. Anto Antony, MP, inaugurated the seminar, earlier, in the forenoon. Mr. Mathew T. Thomas, MLA and Dr. C. Balagopalan, resident dean of MACFAST Bio-campus, also addressed the inaugural function.
The two-day environmental awareness exhibition also came to a close at the municipal grounds, later, in the afternoon.