Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, June 5:

Experts today criticised the government for its indifference towards issues related to environment. Addressing a talk programme organised by the Centre for Environment Laws (CEL) to mark the World Environment Day, Professor Amber Prasad Pant, the centre’s chairman, said the government is a silent spectator to all legal problems. “The Environment Protection Act alone is not sufficient to look into all environment-related issues. It is outdated,” he said. According to him, the Supreme Court has made over 20 verdicts, directing the government to take measures for the conservation of the environment, but they were never followed. He also criticised the government’s recent decision to bring environment

under the purview of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

TU rector Prof Mahendra Singh said the principle of “simple living high thinking” will help the country in its efforts to conserve the environment as “pollution is the result of greed and excessive exploitation of the natural resources.” According to the dean of Faculty of Law, Prof Kanak Bikram Thapa, as the conventional laws were formulated to make profit from the resources, they never cared for environment conservation. “They need to be amended.”