JAIPUR | Dec 25, 2016: Justice Dalip Singh, judicial member, Central Bench, Bhopal of National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Saturday said there should be a balance between mining and protection of forests in the state.

He said mining and forests are major issues in the state. "Minerals are found in forest areas. But, we have to protect the forest areas from getting affected due to mining. On the other hand, mining is also required as we need minerals. So, there should be a balance between the two," Singh said, who was in the city to take part as a seminar on 'legal awareness of environment issues: role of courts and national green tribunal' organised by Nature Club of Rajasthan with Forest Training Institute held in the city on Saturday.

Besides, he pointed out that mining is also done to fulfil the need for house construction material. He talked about research and development to prevent mining for such material by finding out other materials which could be used for construction.

While talking to TOI, he emphasised that there is a need for research and development. "We have not invested so far in research. Not a single ministry has done any research on it. We are using traditional methods of construction of houses, which needs bajri, cement, stones and bricks. We have not thought about materials like prefabricated materials for construction of houses," he said.

Singh said, "When we construct houses, we think that it should have strength so that our generations should also use it. For that we use traditional method of construction. But, we may use some other material, which is not having such strength but a person can pass his life easily in such houses."

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)