“Painting competitions a powerful tool for cultivating environmental consciousness in youth”

MANGALURU: Painting competitions can become a medium through which the younger generation can imbibe the values of environmental protection, said Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) senior officer Vijaya Hegde in Mangaluru on Sunday.
He was speaking after inaugurating a painting competition organised for students in the backdrop of World Environment Day, by TOI's sister publication Vijaya Karnataka, in association with KSPCB at Sharada Vidyalaya.
Lauding the concern towards the environment by Vijaya Karnataka, Hegde said environmental pollution is a man-made disaster, primarily brought about by the use of plastics.
“Of the plastics we use, 90 per cent are single use which ends up everywhere creating pollution,'' he said urging the participants to be aware of this aspect while discarding plastic.
Sharada Vidyalaya Chairman M B Puranik rued that Indian values of worshipping nature as god have changed and as a result, the world was seeing environmental degradation.
He appreciated VK for the effort to educate the younger generation about the environment.
Alva's Institution Chairman Dr Mohan Alva said if younger generations are made aware of the importance of the environment, they will be the guardians of nature.
The competition saw more than 15,000 students from 300 institutions of Dakshina Kannada district take part in the competition at the college level. Of them, 1300 were selected for district-level competition.