VEDHA PARYAVARANACHA

ENVIRONMENT IS AN ISSUE OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE IN THIS TWENTYFIRST CENTURY. WHEN MAN HIMSELF WAS TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON THE NATURE LIKE THE OTHER LIVING THINGS, ADAPTING HIMSELF TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE EARTH, THE ENVIRONMENT WAS SAFE. BUT SINCE THE DAY MAN LEARNT THE ART OF FARMING AND DEVELOPED IT, HE STARTED DISTURBING THE ENVIRONMENT. HE IS WHOLE AND SOLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT. INITIALLY, HE STARTED WITH CUTTING DOWN FORESTS FOR FARMING AND SLOWLY SWITCHED OVER TO OTHER DESTRUCTIVE MODES SUCH AS BUILDING DAMS AND BUNDS AND SO ON. AFTER THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION THE HUMAN INTERFERENCE WITH THE NATURE STARTED GROWING, AND HAS BEEN GROWING EVER SINCE. TWENTIETH CENTURY SAW THE WORST EFFECTS OF ALL THESE. AFTER THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, HUMANS STARTED REALISING THE IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENT. STILL, IT WAS IN THE YEAR 1965 WHEN ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION WAS CONSIDERED SERIOUSLY. NIRANJAN HAS ATTEMPTED TO THROW A LIGHT ON THIS PROBLEM THROUGH HIS EARLIER BOOK, "PARYAVARAN PRADUSHAN` MEANING POLLUTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT. IN HIS PRESENT BOOK, NIRANJAN HAS GIVEN A DETAILED STUDY OF THE ENVIRONMENT DISCUSSING ITS VARIOUS ASPECTS. THE ENVIRONMENTALIST WILL SURELY FIND IT VERY HELPFUL. NIRANJAN SAYS THAT HE REALISED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE DISASTER WHICH IS APPROACHING FAST TO ENGULF MOTHER EARTH WHEN HE READ "THE RUINS OF EARTH`, BY THOMAS M. DISH, "THE LAST GASP` BY TREVOR HOYLE AND "EVEN THE BIRDS ARE COUGHING` . AT THAT TIME, HE WAS CONDUCTING CLASSES FOR STUDENTS OF STANDARD NINE, MAKING THEM AWARE OF THE ENVIRONMENT. HE REALISED THAT THE YOUNGER ONES ARE BETTER IN A WAY THAT THEY WERE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT BUT THERE WAS HARDLY ANY CONCERN IN THE ADULT MINDS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT. THIS IN TURN GAVE BIRTH TO THIS BOOK "VEDH PARYAVARNACHA`....पर्यावरण हा विषय एकविसाव्या शतकात फार महत्त्वाचा ठरणार आहे. मानव शेती करू लागला, तेव्हापासून पर्यावरणावर परिणाम करणारा सर्वांत महत्त्वाचा घटक असं स्वरूप त्याला हळू हळू प्राप्त होऊ लागलं. शेतीसाठी जंगलतोड, पाण्यासाठी बांध, असं करत माणूस बरीच वर्षं जगला. औद्यागिक क्रांतीनंतर मानवाची निसर्गातली ढवळाढवळ वाढीस लागली. विसाव्या शतकात तिनं फारच गंभीर स्वरूप धारण केलं. दुसया महायुद्धानंतर पर्यावरणाचं महत्त्व हळूहळू आपल्या लक्षात येऊ लागलं. १९६५ नंतर पर्यावरण संरक्षणाला महत्त्व प्राप्त झालं. पर्यावरणप्रदुषण ह्या महत्त्वाच्या ग्रंथानंतर निरंजन घाटे ह्यांच्या लेखणीतून पर्यावरणाची सांगोपांग माहिती देणारा हा महत्त्वाचा ग्रंथ उतरला आहे. पर्यावरणाच्या चाहत्यांना तो खूप उपयोगी पडेल.