‘Introduce Gross Environmental Product in planning and implementation activities’ Anil Joshi, founder of the Himalayan Environmental Studies & Conservation Organisation (HESCO) here, has urged the Uttarakhand Government to play the forerunner by introducing Gross Environmental Product (GEP) in its planning and implementation activities as the highly endangered health of the natural resources needed to be improved before it was too late. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday after completing his 2,200-km GEP Awareness Cycle Yatra from New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal to Dehra Dun, Dr. Joshi said the general view gathered from about 10,000 people during 300 meetings held in 37 districts spread over West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand was that the natural resources had taken a beating in the unscientific and haphazard race for development. Farmlands in the remotest of villages had been eroded by chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The once clean and potable waters of rivers, ponds and springs had been seriously contaminated by residual poisons from the agriculture fields and industries. Worse, the waterways had become the most convenient dumping yard for sewerage. Air-conditioners, considered a must by many, and automobile emissions have punctured the ozone layer. The drastic consequences of all this and climate change are being felt worst by the poor and developing nations. It's not that the risk cannot be mitigated… all it needs is political will to introduce GEP in all our present and future activities, Dr. Joshi said. Other members of the Yatra were Dayaram Nautiyal, Dwarika Prasad Semwal, Vinod Khati, Manmohan Negi, Satyendra Panwar, Ranjana Kukreti, Renu Saklani, Satyapal Ramol and Deepak Choudhary. Dr. Joshi wondered why governments were silent over the depleting forest cover in many areas. Against the mandatory 33 per cent, Uttar Pradesh had only 5.9 per cent, Bihar 7.9 per cent and West Bengal 14 per cent land under forests. Forests are the lungs of any eco system and steps should be taken to keep them in good health, he said. Not a single village visited had a collective water filter despite water in many places having a very high percentage of iron, fluoride and arsenic. The worst among the 27 rivers visited by the cycle yatra were Gandak and Varuna or Yamuna in UP, Mahananda in West Bengal and Harda Kosi in Bihar. HESCO would soon make a report and submit it to the Chief Ministers of West Bengal, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to encourage ecological growth along with economic growth, Dr. Joshi said, adding that ecological growth would ensure prosperity in rural India while economic growth would ensure development in urban India.