Maharashtra: Aditya Thackeray urges corporates, NGOs, individuals to come together to save environment

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 18 : Maharashtra Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray on Monday urged corporates, NGOs and individuals to come together to save the environment.
Thackeray attended a panel discussion organised by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on "Economic opportunity for India to accelerate management of marine and land waste and pollution".
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said, "We all hear, and the companies listed on NSE realise the fact that climate has changed around us. Last 13 months Mumbai and Maharashtra state have seen three storms which were never seen earlier in decades together, massive flooding with rainfall. Last three years, Mumbai city has faced more than 3,000 mm of rain and heavy downpour damaging agriculture crops, infrastructure housing assets and properties and at times taking a toll on human lives."
Thackeray pointed out that these incidents are only serving as a warning that society needs to come together and inculcate small environment-friendly habits and live life more in harmony with the environment.
Thackeray appealed to all stakeholders including corporates, NGOs and individuals to inculcate small but significant changes in their day to day habits in the way they live to make their lives easier.
Saving Water by ensuring water taps are locked when not in use, saving electric power when not required, saving on fuel and adopting clean fuel electric vehicles, will go a long way in mitigating climate change impact.
He mentioned that these small but significant changes in our habits will go a long way in helping governments, corporates and NGOs to mitigate the climate change impact.
"The companies listed on the stock exchanges are aware of the responsibilities and we all -- governments, individuals, NGOs need to come together to save future generations from the negative impact of climate change," he stated.
"We cannot say no to industrialization or manufacturing industries coming into our state. We must accept them. But yes, better discharge standards, emission standards and smaller nuances we can really focus on to make it a habit rather than a movement for us. So in terms of the corporates, I am not saying take the big steps, spend a lot or invest half of your capital change emergencies. If we can make smaller changes in your corporate houses, manufacturing industries, complexes, it will bring the change," added Thackeray.
He urged people to ensure the waste generated in complexes, buildings and households get segregated.
The minister said the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has managed to reduce daily waste by one third, to 6,500 metric tonnes in the span of one and half years from 10,000 metric tonnes in 2016-17, by taking firm steps urging corporates, housing societies, hotels and restaurants to segregate, manage and dispose of their own waste. All these entities contributed about 30 per cent of the overall daily waste collections.
Thackeray said the Maharashtra government would encourage innovations that will help sustainably dispose of waste, create value from waste, and help in mitigating climate change.