HC CJ bats for plans to better Meghalaya’s tourism sector

SHILLONG, June 25: Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court Justice Sanjib Banerjee on Saturday underscored the need for plans and policies for sustainable growth of Meghalaya’s burgeoning tourism industry.
Justice Banerjee was addressing a gathering at an orientation programme on ‘Forest and Wildlife Conservation Laws for the Judiciary in Meghalaya’, which was organised by the Meghalaya State Judicial Academy, WWF-India and TRAFFIC India, at the conference hall of Meghalaya High Court.
In his address, the Chief Justice expressed regret that despite the existence of number of laws for environmental protection, they lack implementation.
Referring to the state’s booming tourism industry, he accentuated the need for plans and policies for sustainable growth of the industry so that the beauty of Meghalaya is not destroyed.
Likening human activities to “a cancer inflicted on the planet”, he stated that intelligence and development have made humans arrogant, making them lose their instinct to cohabit with nature around them.
Stating that “We cannot fight nature and survive”, Justice Banerjee stressed on the need to preserve nature.
“While the Earth has been in existence for over four billion years and humans for about 3,00,000 years, the latter has destroyed more than three million species, satisfying their needs,” he rued.
Informing the gathering about that various judgments have been delivered in cases relating to environmental and wildlife conservation, the Chief Justice underlined the need for the implementation of environmental protection laws.
Others who spoke on the occasion were Senior Supreme Court Advocate ADN Rao, and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, SM Sahai.
It may be mentioned that Meghalaya’s tourism sector, over the past few years, had taken a back seat due to law and order situation and COVID-19 pandemic.
However, in the past few months, Meghalaya has seen a healthy inflow of tourists, and the scene continues to better each day.
While scores of tourists continue to visit the state, the government has also announced several beautification projects for places of attraction in Meghalaya.