Noted environmentalist and Magsaysay Award winner Sandeep Pandey has said the capitalist model of growth based on greed is not sustainable, and that it needs to be demolished.
Inaugurating a public meeting organised as part of the International People’s Climate March here on Saturday, Mr. Pandey pointed out the need to adopt a growth model that was not based on GDP growth rate but on fulfilling the needs of the common man.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Pandey said: “Nature has given enough to all provided we take only what we need. But when people become greedy, nature will not be able to fulfil their needs.”
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Mr. Pandey, who had been part of the fight against the Coca Cola plant at Plachimada in Palakkad district years ago, had replicated the struggle in other parts of the country.
He extended support to the struggle by the people of the State for the implementation of the Madhav Gadgil Committee recommendations for the protection of the Western Ghats. He blamed sand, granite and land lobbies for the environmental issues facing people at present, including depletion of ground water and dwindling agriculture.
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The march was organised in support of the United Nations Climate Conference to be held in Morocco from November 7 to 18. It also upheld the December 2015 Paris Agreement which came into effect on November 4.
The march, which began from the corporation stadium at 3 p.m., proceeded to Muthalakkulam grounds where a public meeting was held. Thousands of environmental activists from across the State took part in the march, besides schoolchildren, NCC cadets, Scouts and Guides, and representatives of various school eco-clubs.