Take pride in clean environment: Kalam

KOCHI: It is �delightful to learn that eight million trees will be planted under the second phase of the Haritha Keralam project, the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has said.

He was delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the projects second phase on World Environment Day at the A.P. Kurien memorial panchayat hall at Karukutti, near here, on Saturday.

Mr. Kalam put forth the mission of �billion trees for billion people of India in the next three years as part of the global �ten billion tree programme.

Recalling the �ten billion tree mission put forth during his NASA visit in October 2009, Mr. Kalam said it should be taken up by �global youth. It would bring about a major change to the eco-systems of the world, he said. �We agreed that nations should work together to achieve this mission through youth movement. Probably, it would be the first time that humanity would play a positive role as weather-makers, he said.

�All of us should prevent further damage to environment,� Mr. Kalam said and urged people to create quality living conditions in an equitable manner.

�This would call for learning lessons from the past, collaborative efforts, improvement and sustenance, political consensus, legislative action, scientific research, technological innovations, societal consciousness, education and a pride in clean environment,� he said.