Ramesh Chandra Parida & Pranab Kumar Ghosh

Nature cares for us throughout our lives. However, we the intelligent ‘thinking animals’ of the modern era have been treatingher very harshly, particularly since the Industrial Revolution, thanks to the unceasing materialistic desire to fulfill our ever–increasing greed. Nature’s resources are being exploitedat a rate of 1.7 times of the capacity she can replenish and if this trend continues, as per predictions, this rate may increase to 2 times by the year 2050.

We are destroying almost all the elements that keep Nature healthy –felling trees at a rate of 15 billion per year, emitting greenhouse gases, including tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere taking it above the tipping point of 400 ppm to reach 410-440 ppm, damagingthe biodiversity by causing an acceleration of the extinction of species hundred times more than that normally expected, turning all the major water resources including the rivers and the oceans toxic, and much more.

Nature needs to be protected from further damages, giving her an opportunity to replenish and provide us with a healthier living environment and forthe next generations. A recent judgment (April 29, 2022) by the Madurai Chair of the Madras High Court has come as a beacon of hope. In the judgment, Honorable Justice S. Srimathy stated,“MotherNature has thesame legal status as a human being, which  includes all correspondingrights, duties and liabilities of a living person.” She indicatedin her 23-page judgment, “The past generations have handed over ‘Mother Earth’ to us in its pastime glory and we are morally boundto hand over the same ‘Mother Earth’ to the next generations.”…read more on NOPR