Science Forum urges political parties to focus on education and environment sectors in U.T.

Puducherry Science Forum urges political parties to prioritize education and environment in upcoming Assembly elections for sustainable development.

The Puducherry Science Forum (PSF) has urged political parties to prioritise education and environment sectors while drafting the manifesto to contest the April 9 Assembly elections.

In an appeal to all political parties and candidates, the PSF called for their commitment to one overarching principle of democratic decision making and citizen participation in environment policy and a set of priority areas including participatory water management, coastal ecology and land use, urban planning, biodiversity conservation, solid waste management and climate change.

The PSF wanted safe drinking water made available to all as a fundamental right and clear plans formulated with local participation for protection and restoration of natural drainage systems. It also sought strict segregation of sewerage from drinking water and stormwater networks to prevent contamination of waterbodies, and developing an adequate State-wide system for proper sewage disposal, segregation of bio-degradable and non-bio-degradable waste at household-level.

It also recommended designing protocols for e-waste management and recycling, strict enforcement of the ban on single-use plastics and establishing a bio-mining plant at the landfill sites.

According to the PSF, Puducherry has become increasingly vulnerable to a number of threats to its environment and development due to a combination of anthropogenic pressures, unscientific nature of urban planning and development policies and climate change.

It called for a community-managed system based on a scientific survey and mapping of all wetlands of Puducherry, including ‘eris’ (traditional irrigation tanks), lagoons, estuaries, backwaters, marshes, and associated seasonal and perennial waterbodies. The process should incorporate hydrological boundaries, catchment areas, inflow–outflow channels, and buffer zones essential for maintaining ecological integrity.