A part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav a conference titled ‘Vayu – The vital life force’ is being organized at Siksha O Anusandhan University in Bhubaneswar from 2 December to 4 December.
Meanwhile, this Conference is organized to focus on varied air quality issues ranging including a discussion on climate change and pollution control.
“According to the concept of Panchmahaboot, everything in nature is made up of five elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space. The imbalance or threat to any of these elements threatens the well-being of humanity. Thus, clean air is vital to sustaining life force and good health. The aim of the Vayu conference is to build upon the multidimensional efforts taken by Governments to achieve our air quality targets as set in National Clean Air Program by uniting all the important stakeholders,” the ministry said.
The Ministry further said, “To celebrate the achievements of our cities in their efforts to achieve clean air targets, the ‘National Clean Air City’ award based on Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan will be given to the best performing nine cities for meeting air quality targets and implementation of corrective, preventive and mitigation actions. Total cash prize of about Rs. 05 Crores will be awarded to these cities to motivate them to take further concrete action towards clean air goals.”
Moreover, the conference is being organized to engage the youth of the country. This platform will provide youth to present their innovative ideas to solve air quality challenges.
On 2 December 2022, an engaging youth session has been organized in which students will involve in sessions like climate change, human health, heritage studies, agriculture issues, and mitigation measures. In Odisha, an exhibition is also organized to raise public awareness of air quality, natural alternatives
However, around 500 participants will attend the conference which will include experts from different fields, students, academicians, State Pollution Control Boards, Pollution Control Committees, Municipal Commissioners, State Environment Secretaries, scientists, and engineers.
Furthermore, the conference will be also attended by Prof. Ganeshi Lal, the Governor of Odisha; Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and distinguished dignitaries from all around the country.