Highlighting recent heat waves in India and frequent extreme weather events worldwide, President Draupadi Murmu asked people to take “smaller” and “local” steps to protect the environment for a better tomorrow.
A day after participating in the annual Rath Yatra, Murmu spent some time at the holy city’s beach and later wrote down her thoughts on the experience of being in close contact with nature, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said.
President Draupadi Murmu message
In the X message, she said that the oceans and various flora and fauna have suffered a lot from pollution. Still, people living in the bosom of nature have preserved traditions of environmental protection “that can show us the way.”
“For example, the inhabitants of coastal areas know the language of sea winds and waves. Following our ancestors, they worship the sea as a god,” said Murmu, offering opportunities to protect and save the environment.
The President began her four-day tour of Odisha on July 6.
“There are places that bring us closer to the essence of life and remind us that we are part of nature. Mountains, forests, rivers, and coasts appeal to something deep inside us, when I walked along the beach today, I felt a connection with the environment – a gentle wind, waves to noise, and a huge expanse of water,” she said.
Murmu said it brought me “a deep inner peace which I also felt yesterday during Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannathji’s darshan”.
“I am not alone in this experience; we all feel it when we meet something much bigger than ourselves that sustains us and gives meaning to our lives,” she added.
In the daily hustle and bustle, people lose touch with Mother Nature, the president said while sharing photos of the time he spent at the beach.
“Mankind believes it has mastered nature and is using it for its short-term gain. The result is for all to see. Many parts of India are suffering from terrible heat waves this summer. Extreme weather events have increased worldwide in recent years. In the coming decades, the situation is expected to be much worse,” Murmu said.
Oceans make up more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface, and global warming will lead to a rise in sea levels that threatens to submerge the coast areas, she said in several messages
The president said that environmental protection and conservation are two ways to deal with the challenge.
“Broader steps that can come from governments and international organizations, and smaller local steps that we can take as citizens,” she said.
“These two complement each other. We promise to do what we can – alone, locally – for a better tomorrow. We owe it to our children,” Murmu added.