Kathmandu, July 2:

Speakers at a seminar held here today said poor implementation of environmental laws has resulted in the increase in pollution level across the country. They called for agencies concerned and the people to join hands to protect the environment.

Fifty years have passed since the first law aimed at addressing environmental concerns was promulgated, they said.

The first umbrella law on environmental conservation, promulgated a decade ago, is awaiting effective implementation.

Mahanta Thakur, Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, attributed the increase

in pollution to “poor implementation of relevant laws.”

Thakur was speaking at the seminar on ‘Role of Media in Effective Implementation of Environmental Administration’.

“Time has come for agencies concerned and conscious citizens to unite to protect the environment,” he said.

He added that the media can play a crucial role in this endeavour.

Finn Thilsted, ambassador of Denmark, stated that political issues have overpowered environmental issues both among the governmental bodies and the media.

“Clean environment is crucial for health and the government should come up with an action plan to manage the environmental quality,” he said.

“The judiciary and implementing agencies lack power to enforce laws aimed at curbing pollution,” Purushottam Ojha, officiating secretary at the Ministry of Industries Commerce and Supplies (MoICS), said.

The seminar was organised under the aegis of the MoICS, Ministry of Environment Science and Technology, Industrial Enterprise Development Institution and the Industrial Environment Management Project.