Srinagar, Sep 24: Marching school kids, holding banners and placards, along the Dal banks with parallel Shikara rally on the lake waters marked the Moving Planet Day in the summer capital Saturday.
  The school kids, holding banners and placards painted with eco-friendly messages marched from Dalgate to Nehru Park to raise the awareness.
 The event was flagged off by J&K State Pollution Control Board Chairman Lal Chand and Member Secretary Arun Tikku.
 “It’s exiting and encouraging to walk for environment. We want to tell our elders to stop polluting it,” Simran, a student of Saint Jesus and Mary School said.
 Faizan, 13, a student of Snow Sun Public School said he joined the rally for raising awareness about Dal conservation.
 “Whenever I walk along the lake, I see polythene bags floating on its surface, It turns me upset”, he said. “That’s why I took part in this rally.” 
 When hundreds of schools kids were having an exciting stroll along on the Dal banks, around 20 kids of Bilalya Educational Institute moved a step ahead and took out an Alternative Transportation Parade in colorful Shikaras and made an arrow formation to send the message “Move beyond fossil fuels”.
 The school kids also demanded action against industry holders for allegedly violating environment protection norms.
 “We are protesting against the damage done to our fragile environment. By celebrating this day we can aware people about the ill effects of using fossil fuels”, said a student of Bilaliya Public School
  “We Have Only One Address that’s Earth, So Save It and Save Water Bodies of Kashmir,” read the placards.
 “After all it’s the question of their future. Waterbodies are the lifeline of Kashmir,” SPCB Chairman Lal Chand said. “For that we need to regulate industrial activities and implementation of Environmental Laws.”  
 SPCB Member Secretary Arun Tikku urged the students to inculcate eco-friendly habits in them. He assured all help from SPCB for such endeavours.
 The rally is one of the thousand events that took place over 176 countries. Here the event was jointly organized by J&K Pollution Control Board, Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN ) and Nigeen Lake Conservation Organization (NLCO).
 The Chairman NLCO Manzoor A Wangnoo said the need was to sensitize people and ensure public participation.  “We can bring back past glory of Nigeen Lake only through people’s participation”, he said. 
 Addressing the gathering of students, a representative of IYCN said: The day signified “We Are Moving In A New Direction To Save Our Planet From Climate Crisis And Ensure A Safe Climate Future For Our Next Generation”

Lastupdate on : Sat, 24 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:00:00 IST