Two-Day National River-Mountain Conference Concludes in Jamshedpur; Draft Bill to Be Finalised Within a Week

Key Points:

• MLA Saryu Roy coins ‘Sanatana Vikas’ model as alternative to sustainable development
• Saryu Roy releases new book ‘Changing Face of Saranda’ priced at Rs 100
• Prof. Piyush Kant Pandey and Prof. Anshumali tasked to finalise draft bill within a week

JAMSHEDPUR — The two-day National River-Mountain Conference concluded at the auditorium of Motilal Nehru Public School in Jamshedpur, with Jamshedpur West MLA Saryu Roy delivering the keynote address as chief guest and proposing an alternative development philosophy he called “Sanatana Vikas.”

At the heart of the conference was Roy’s argument that the prevailing development model was, in fact, a model of destruction. He said mountains and rivers must be protected first, and only then should development proceed.

He argued that today’s development model operates in the reverse order. Development is being carried out extensively, he said, and the protection of rivers and mountains is considered only if it ever becomes possible. In contrast, he proposed that true development must follow the principle of “Charaiveti Charaiveti” — moving forward continuously — and must leave natural resources intact for generations to come.

MLA Roy termed this approach “Sanatana Vikas.” He explained that the word “Sanatana” means that which is eternally new yet perennially ancient. Development, he said, should be a continuous flow with course corrections along the way, rather than sudden changes in direction.

He also took aim at the government’s target of achieving sustainable development by 2030. Nothing substantial appears to have been done to make development sustainable in all this time, he said. He added that replacing “sustainable development” with “Sanatana development” would be far more meaningful and effective.

Roy pointed to the failure of existing laws as a core problem. He said that environmental laws, like many others, are simply not being enforced. Moreover, even when they are applied, they are implemented in a spirit contrary to their original intent. He noted that a new law, even if it does not achieve everything, would at least give citizens one more instrument to knock on the doors of courts.

He also referred to a recent remark by the Chief Justice of India questioning whether environmentalists had ever supported development. Roy said such remarks need to be addressed in public forums. Those who speak for the environment, he said, are reacting to the adverse effects of development on society.

On the sidelines, Roy’s new English-language book Changing Face of Saranda was released at the event. The book documents the transformation that has taken place in the Saranda forest region. It is priced at Rs 100. A souvenir edited by Anshul Sharan was also released. The 126-page souvenir contains articles on various aspects of the environment.

The conference patron Rajendra Singh assigned the responsibility of finalising the draft bill to Prof. Piyush Kant Pandey and Prof. Anshumali. The two will study three existing draft proposals and consolidate them into a single document incorporating all points discussed during the two-day conference. They are expected to submit the final draft to Rajendra Singh and MLA Saryu Roy within a week, after which further deliberations will take place.

During the valedictory session, several guests were honoured with shawls, saplings, and mementos. Gautam Sutradhar was felicitated by Sanjeev Mukherjee; Arun Kumar Shukla by Praveen Singh and Prem; Sanjay Upadhyay by Santosh Bhagat and Tuntun Singh; Prof. M.K. Jamuar by Neeru Singh and Sunita Singh; Prof. Gopal Sharma by Vineet; and Manoj Singh by Nirmal Singh. UP Sangh president D.P. Sharma was welcomed by MLA Saryu Roy and Rajendra Singh.