Respected dignitaries on the dias, the judges and my dear friends, A very good afternoon to all of you. Today, I am going to talk about ‘Flourishing of cities because of human intrusion over nature.’

The other day’ I read a news report about a leopard entering the IIT Campus at Powai and was sitting at the door of an apartment. It is scary indeed! But have we ever thought why this animal has to come out of his natural habitat to enter into human territory? Yes, you have guessed right. We have intruded in the animal’s territory. We have built beautiful houses for ourselves amidst a natural surrounding but with all modern amenities. In the process, we have snatched from the wild animals their places for survival.

Friends, I do agree, modern cities have lost to offer. We are making bigger cities but are aware of the fact that we are getting disconnected from nature. And this reduced access to nature is causing enormous amount of problems, the major among them are diseases, mental strain, etc. The kids, who do not have enough time and space to lead a natural life are the worst victims.

Cities are flourishing but friends, how many megacities have been formed without disturbing the nature? This is due to absolute irresponsible in action to environmental problems. You and I are totally unconcerned about the intrusion in the world of nature. But, still there is no reason to lose hope.

Of course there are remedies, but we need to learn to appreciate nature first. Buildings need to have sufficient number of windows to allow fresh air and light, rooftop gardens, creation of spaces within and around the building to touch, smell and nurture plants. But all these require thoughtful planning of the cities where peaceful co-existence with nature is possible. For this we need to be sensitive towards the ecosystem, public health and sympathetic towards animal population.