India landed at the six-week religious gathering Maha Kumbh Mela held in the northern state of northern state.
According to the state government, the number of people participating in all expectations.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said, “The world’s largest human religious festival has already arrived by more than 520 million, which is more than 10 million every day.”
Polluted water, garbage piles
However, an event of this magnitude presents serious environmental challenges.
The influx of millions of Hindu pilgrims affects local water resources and ecosystems, producing huge amounts of garbage of non-biodenable materials and increases the level of pollution.
There are concerns over the quality of the Ganges river and waste management during the 45-day spiritual and cultural festival.
India’s Central Pollution Control Board reported high levels of fecal coliform at the confluence of River Ganga and Yamuna rivers earlier this month, indicating sewage contamination.
Swami Mukundananda, a spiritual leader of the Jagadguru Kripalu Yoga Trust, said, “We need to protect nature, otherwise no Ganga or Yamuna occur until the time of the next Kumbh is there,” a spiritual of Jagadguru Kriplu Yoga Trust Leader Swami Mukundanand, who promotes social development, told DW.
“This is why we are reaching people to promote ideas and awareness about waste, hygiene, environment and hygiene management.”
Saints, spiritual and religious leaders have come together for the first time in Kumbh, who can play a role in addressing religious institutions climate crisis and environmental issues.
Religious leaders promote climate action
Chief Secretary Singh said that trust-based organizations are trying to promote permanent practices, which are inspired by their basic values and a sense of responsibility towards environmental leadership.
Confidence for the Earth initiative launched by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 2017 is attached to strategic attached confidence-based organizations to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) and 2030 agenda.
Similarly, the conservative Tivido Church of Ethiopia has helped to preserve the forests for centuries, protecting biodiversity.
Singh said, “We are therefore trying to re -connect people with nature with the help of a religious leader. It needs to be a beginner and more.”
Chidanand Saraswati, president of the Parambha Niketan Ashram located in the Northern Indian city of Rishikesh, told DW that spiritual leaders can find ancient knowledge and modern stability, promote devotion and responsibility towards nature.
“If faith leaders, society and government can join hands, we can find a solution,” he said.
Many believe that religious leaders can be powerful advocates for climate action within their communities through education and activism inherent in faith.
India’s climate crisis intensifies
Human-inspired climate change is already increasing the extreme weather in India, including summer waves and floods and other disasters.
Thesis Events Through Food, Water and Energy Security, said that Rocky Matthew Cole said that a climate scientist of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune.
Colol said, “Entry area – not only India – looking at a clear tendency in the waves of rising heat, floods, slides, droughts and cyclones of the country,” Cole told DW.
Chandra Bhushan, president and CEO of the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology, Independent Research and Innovation Organization, said Chandra Bhushan said that there is a common feeling within the scientific community and government officials which is limited.
“It is not enough to provide scientific information to the people. They understand climate change and its effects if they can relate it to their lives, which are undone to perform science and government programs,” Bhushan has D.W. Told it.
He said that religious leaders can help to bridge this difference, to confuse communities at a spiritual and moral levels, “to promote permanent practice and advocate policy changes.”
The UN Intergiversal Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its 2022 report painted a foggy picture for India, warning that it could face several climate-inspired disasters over the next two decades.
Religious leaders have asked to promote environmentally friendly practice among their followers.
This included adopting renewable energy, implementing waste management strategies and including climate education programs with Vishwas communities.
NGO to NGO, Shalini Mehrotra of Shri Ram Chandra Mission said, “We have made efforts to spread the word.
Edited by: Keith Walker
