THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Union Minister and Congress leader Jayaram Ramesh has said that humans cannot go forward without protecting the environment.

“Even if there is no electricity, we can go forward but we can’t, without protecting the environment. When all said Silent Valley project was needed, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi took a stand that the project was not necessary after considering the opinions of the people. When she pronounced her decision, all were silent.

In the case of Athirappilly project also, administrators should take the same stand,” Jayaram Ramesh said.

The former environment minister said the government authorities should be ready to listen to the people. “From the influence of Salim Ali’s book on Indira Gandhi to the elephant’s death along Palakkad-Malappuram border by explosion in its mouth, the students asked many questions.

Kerala has not learnt lessons from the floods in 2018. Projects connected to the environment should be implemented only with the consent of the people,” he said at a webinar with 152 students from Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and countries like Saudi Arabia and Mascot.