Bengaluru: Citizens rally to protest climate change

Bengaluru: Braving rain, the citizens staged a peaceful protest at Town Hall to demonstrate the need for the government to declare a climate emergency. The #FridaysForFuture India chapter that witnessed a huge turnout is a part of a global movement.

It is a movement that began in August 2018, after 15-year old Greta Thunberg sat in front of the Swedish Parliament every school day for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis

On this day, students protest peacefully in 180 countries, led by Greta Thunberg – who recently spoke at the EU and UK Parliaments and who will also be on this month’s cover of Time magazine.

“We must get the newly formed government to declare a climate emergency by letting them know that many of us care,” said Karen Raymond, the Indian ambassador for #FridaysForFuture.

She and the core team of volunteers have been spending every weekend, going from event-to-event for the past 2 months to invite citizens to join the climate strike.

“Climate change affects us all. We all know someone whose house was damaged in the floods, or is suffering from asthma or other respiratory illnesses, made worse due to air pollution,” said Pranay Jajodia of Jhatkaa.org.

Tree doctor Vijay Nishanth brought the attention of the gathering about the degradation at the Bannerghatta National Park with rampant mining and the reduction of Eco-Sensitive Zone.

"No city in the world is called as the green city but with the plunder that took place at the national Park, and the aciding and illegal pruning of trees for the advertisements and parking the environment of the city has been affected. We need to bring the glory of the city back,"  Nishanth said.

On June 1, the tree doctor will come out with India's first tree census with precise details about the trees at Jayanagar. The citizens took oath to reduce the carbon footprint and follow the practice of reduce, recycle and reuse.