Major Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao here on Thursday observed that small water bodies like lakes and tanks in Greater Hyderabad have not only become pollution centers but also being encroached upon by land sharks.
Speaking as chief guest at a seminar on “Small Islands and Climate Change” in the Visveswarayya Bhavan at Khairatabad, Harish Rao said people in large numbers in the urban and rural areas were taking ill and dying due to environmental pollution.
He also pointed out that some six percent of the people in the villages were dying due to cancer caused by environmental pollution. Therefore, awareness must be created among the people to protect environmental pollution.
The minister called upon intellectuals and engineers to cooperate with the government in bringing about green revolution in the State.
Speaking at the seminar later, Chief Advisor to Government Vidhyasagar Rao said the deteriorating environmental pollution was also one of the causes of poverty in the country.
IEI Hyderabad chairman Sudhakar, Engineering chief director Satyanarayana of Metro Water Works and others participated in the program. (NSS)