'Protect nature or lose God's Own Country tag': Pinarayi Vijayan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If the environment is not conserved properly, then there are chances that our state will lose the tag God's Own Country to devil's own country, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He was delivering the inaugural address at the inauguration of Wildlife Week celebration at Forest department headquarters on Sunday.
It was a directive from Indian Wildlife Board to celebrate the Wildlife Week from Sunday on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
"The Kerala society is aware about the issue and should not forget its responsibility. A government department cannot solely conserve wildlife and forest but needs the support and participation of public. The government has clear vision about conservation of environment and will take decisions based on sustainable development," the chief minister said. He also distributed cash prizes and chief minister's forest medal.
"As part of Wildlife Week celebrations, entry to wildlife sanctuaries in the state will be free till Friday. The winners of the state-level competition conducted by forest department as part of the celebration will be exempted from the entry fee for the whole year," said minister of forest K Raju.
The minister released the special wildlife edition of 'Aranyam', a magazine published by forest department by handing over the first copy to MLA D K Murali.