Pollution, care for nature and waste management take centre stage during talk for sustainable development

Officials of Global Shapers Community Kohima along with the panelist during a dialogue series on “The future is now” in Kohima on Friday.

• KOHIMA — The need for promoting public transport as an alternative to private vehicle use took centre stage at a discourse held in Kohima on Friday, even as traffic congestion and air pollution are worsening by the day amid increase in the number of vehicles.
• 
  
• Speaking at the dialogue series “The future is now,” hosted by Global Shapers Community Kohima hub on the theme ‘Sustainable strategies for a lasting impact’ at D Cafe, Kohima, Boka K Rochill, policy analyst and systems innovator, advocated prioritising public transport to counter the growing traffic woes caused by the increase in the number private vehicles.

Also read: Tabernacle Technologies to host ‘Tech4Church’ conference

• 
  
• As per the National Family Health Survey 2019-5 (2019-2021), Nagaland state has the highest percentage of households that own a car in the northeast region and in top six among the Indian states.
• 
  
• Speaking about sustainability, Rochill said public transport enhances mobility and reduces vehicle emissions. The increase of vehicle also affects waste management, particularly in hill stations, he said, citing the challenge of collecting waste in Kohima, where vehicles are randomly parked on the sides of the narrow roads.
• 
  
• Mentioning that Naga youth are naturally gifted, he stressed the need to capitalise this human capital and ensure that they are equipped and ready for all the changes around them.
• 
  
• Kevisato Sanyu, entrepreneur, educator, indigenous innovator and founder of NagaEd, shared that nature provides an outstanding opportunity for contemplation, reflection and renewal of the human spirit.
• 
  
• Speaking on the theme of the dialogue, he shared that one needs to experience the nature to understand its intrinsic value, asserting that a person who grows up in a city with no experience of nature may find difficult to understand its value.
• 
  
• Research shows that children who experience nature before the age of 8 years old understand the concept of sustainable development and nature better than those without such an experience, when explained to them later in life, he shared.
• 
  
• He also said that Northeast as a whole is seen as a buffer state or as a place for natural resource extraction and “so we need to explain to the policy makers who may not have had experience with nature, that nature is important.” “Your experience with nature affects your world view and how you perceive and your values,” he added.
• 
  
• Another speaker, Theja Tsukru, architect and AEC entrepreneur, sharing about his experience with Kohima Smart City project as an architect, said that the project deals with many interesting policies and ventures including development of children parks in all the 19 wards of Kohima, adding that six pocket parks have been completed.
• 
  
• Tsukru went on to say that ideas, inputs and grievances of citizens, especially who would be directly affected are incorporated into the smart city mission if feasible.
• 
  
• Updating about the solid waste management plant at Lerie Kohima, he said it has the capacity to handle about 120 tonnes of waste, while Kohima currently produces about 70-90 tonnes daily. As the present facility may not be able to handle waste 10-15 years from now, he said the Kohima Smart City is collaborating with KFW, a German development bank, and AFD, a France public development bank to roll out the 3.0 project very soon to address the impending waste crisis.