air and clean water because at that time the industrialisation was at its peak. Urbanization also grew in 1970s which lead to habitat destruction, increased dependence on oil based transport and loss of biodiversity. Hence, the theme of Earth Day from 1970 to 1980 was primarily environment-based. Most of the efforts were centred on waste minimization, resource conservation and pollution abatement. What is clearly visible in last 4 decades that human race has made tremendous progress in all spheres jeopardising the earth’ s capital including the air, water and land quality. There are cell phones, internet networks and genetic engineering which were not there before. The price which we have paid for this is filth in our rivers, degraded soil in our farms and volumes of trash in our backyards.
Scene Today Today Earth Day is celebrated throughout the world making it a world’ s largest civic function. Due to the widespread following, the environmental consciousness among public has grown far stronger, far better led, far better informed, and far more influential than it was 44 years ago. Since then, Earth Day is being celebrated primarily by environment organizations and various activities concerning environment protection are being organized. There are tree plantations, cleanliness drives, awareness sessions and discussions on various platforms to protect, conserve and manage the resources of the earth. However, in spite of the growing efforts and enthusiasm, there seems to be no radical change being observed. It is pertinent to question ourselves whether with that increased environmental awareness has the environmental sensitivity equally grown? Has the state of environment improved or have we been able to conserve our vital natural resources? A realistic analysis will only predict that we are on the verge of ecological doomsday. The reasons may be cited as increasing population and North South Debate or controversial climate change issue but one thing is certain that while celebrating Earth Day we have missed out a very important factor and that it is we ourselves. In this entire scenario, the component of biosphere comprising human race is mostly ignored. Earth is not simply environment but human beings too constitute a major bulk. All the past discourse on earth day have centred around protecting environment and its components but human rights and dignity and values have not been nowhere mentioned. Looking at the origin of the Day it is quite interesting to note that in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honour the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be celebrated on March 21, 1970. Earth means the planet on which we live that means we are an inseparable part of it. Therefore it is pertinent to
Special Volume 1, October 2015 29