Ranchi, March 22 Jharkhand's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force, Sanjeev Kumar, emphasized the urgent need to balance development with sustainability on Sunday, and called for widespread adoption of green technology to reduce environmental damage.
With continuous efforts, the state's forest cover has increased by about 58 square kilometers, the officer told 55 prominent artists gathered here from across India for the 'All India Spring Art Camp' organized by the Jharkhand forest department.
"Green technology should be adopted in this era of rapid development to minimize harm to nature. The state forest department is continuously creating awareness among people to adopt it, as nothing is beyond nature," he said.
Regarding the event, the officer said, "Expressing emotions through painting and sketch art is one of the oldest forms of communication," and asserted that the program aims to encourage people to come together to conserve nature.
"Take steps to save nature from destruction. Our efforts can only be successful when we bring about behavioral changes in our lifestyle that suit nature.
"Forest cover is steadily increasing in the state. According to the 2023 National Forest Survey data, our forest cover has increased by about 58 square kilometers. Earlier, it had increased by 110 sq km," Kumar said.
Around 55 contemporary and local artists from across the nation, including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Jharkhand, participated in this camp, exhibiting more than 50 paintings dedicated to preserving nature.
"Everyone has the right to live in nature, whether it is a bird, an animal, or a human. We cannot detach ourselves from nature. Yet, people nowadays are becoming detached from it even while still living within it.
"This causes a great deal of harm to future generations. Psychologically, too, our thinking process is increasingly shifting only towards the economic race. That is why it has become important to remind people that their attachment to nature is more necessary," said Shridhar Patnala, an artist from Guntur University in Andhra Pradesh, who attended the event.
Alay Kumar Ghosh, from West Bengal, said, "Human beings think that they are developing and improving themselves. But, in reality, they are destroying themselves. They do not understand that by cornering nature in the name of development, they are putting themselves in a precarious situation.
"In the end, they will have to pay for it. That's why I have placed nature at the centre of this complicated world in my work, using abstract symbols including Brahmi script," he said.
Sonali Chauhan, another artist from Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, said her painting was based on the conservation of sparrows, as their numbers have declined due to the continuous degradation of a suitable environment.
"Therefore, I want to urge people to love nature and create a conducive environment for the conservation of sparrows," she said.
"Everything exists in nature because of love and compassion. Humans and forests have always coexisted and cannot be separated. That is the crux of my painting," said Ravindra Das, who had come from Bihar to the event.
