Mission LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment, Environment Education Programme organized at GNDU

Amritsar, June 7 (Punjab Post Bureau) –  Under the dynamic guidance of Vice Chancellor Prof (Dr) Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Office of Directorate of Research in collaboration with Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences of the Guru Nanak Dev University organized Mission LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment, Environment Education Programme (Initiative of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change). The event was supported by Punjab State Council for Science & Technology (PSCST), Chandigarh.

Prof. (Dr.) Adarsh Pal Vig, Chairman, Punjab Pollution Control Board was the Chief Guest and Prof. (Dr.) Harvinder Singh Saini, Dean Life Sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University was the Guest of Honour during inaugural function of the 2-days programme. During inaugural function, Prof. Renu Bhardwaj, Director Research and Coordinator of the event welcomed the guests and briefed the participants about the theme of Mission -LiFE.  Programme. She motivated the students to adopt the lifestyle for the environment for sustainable development. Prof. Jatinder Kaur, Head Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences and Deputy Coordinator introduced the Chief guest of the event to all the participants.

In the key note address, Prof. A.P Vig made the participants aware about the management of single use plastics, Environmental pollution and health and hygiene. He also talked about various strategies for solid waste management and resource conservation. Prof. Saini motivated the participants to duly indulge in various activities organized in Mission LiFE-Lifestyle for Environment.

After the inaugural session, the event was started with a series of expert lectures delivered by Prof. Promila Pathak, Punjab University, Chandigarh; Prof. VK Garg, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda; Dr. Neeta Raj Sharma, Lovely Professional University Phagwara; Dr. Geetika Sirhindi Associate Professor, Punjabi University, Patiala. Prof. Shalini Bahel Department of Electronic Technology GNDU, Amritsar; Dr. Indu Sharma, Sant Baba Bhag Singh University Jallandhar on various themes covered in  Mission LiFE-Lifestyle for Environment event.

Expert lectures were followed by Capacity building workshops conducted for the participants in Biodiversity Conservation Techniques and Waste Management using Vermi technology. The event was coordinated by Dr. Saroj Arora and Dr. Satwinderjeet Kaur, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences of the university.

In Exhibitions and Project Display event, students from various institutes of Punjab (Department of Apparel and Textile Technology DAV College Jalandhar and charitable trust (Pingalwara Charitable Society Amritsar) participated and displayed various eco-friendly items using waste. The event was co-ordinated by Prof. Rajinder Kaur, Head, Department of Physiotherapy and Professor at Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences and Prof. Balbir Singh, Head Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University.

The awareness camps and campaigns on the themes of Mission LiFE were done at various schools and colleges under the supervision of Prof. M.S Bhatti Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, and Dr. Varinder Kaur, Department of Apparel and Textile Technology of the University.

The second day of the event started with various competitions such as Painting, poster making, Essay writing, Quiz, Debate and Rangoli making Competitions under the supervisions of event coordinators, Dr. Astha Bhatia, Dr. Sandeep Kaur, Dr. Nitika Kapoor, Dr. Kritika Pandit of Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Puja Ohri, Head, Department of Zoology and Dr. Manpreet Kaur Head Department of Human Genetics, Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar. The students from various schools (including Special Education), colleges, institutes, universities, charitable society, Ecoclubs from Punjab participatedin the competitions and won the prizes including cash, mementoes and certificates. As many as 630 participants registered and attended the events under various categories and themes. Prof. Preet Mohinder Singh Bedi Dean Students’ Welfare Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar was the chief guest during Valedictory function. Prof. Manpreet Singh Bhatti, provided vote of thanks and Prof. Avinash Kaur Nagpal from Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences of University gave the concluding remarks on this occasion.