The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and the Indian Consulate General in Birgunj held series of events on LiFE mission, a global awareness program launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that seeks to create an ecosystem that will reinforce and enable environmentally friendly behaviours to be self-sustainable.

“The seminar also focused on Mission #LiFE #LifeStyleforEnvironment to combat

climate change and build sustainable ecosystems,” the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu tweeted.

During the event, presentations were made by the Kathmandu University faculty and research scholars focusing on Nepal’s journey to carbon neutrality, women engagement towards sustainable solutions, green hydrogen opportunities, engineering waste to wealth, sustainable rehabilitation and lifestyle for environment.

Likewise, the Consulate General of India, Birgunj organized a special week-long LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) mission participated by dozens of participants.

Issuing a release, the Indian Consulate in Birgunj stated that the aim of the mission launched at global scale is to nudge individual and collective action to protect and preserve the environment.

“Mission LiFE is an India-led global mass movement to nudge individual and community action to protect and preserve the environment,” Consul General Nitesh Kumar remarked addressing the event, a release from the consulate General in Birgunj stated.

PM Modi in the year 2021 had introduced the Mission LiFE to the world at the 16th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow.

Under Mission LiFE, the Consulate organized a panel discussion on “Healthy LifeStyle” on June 20, 2023 inside its premises. On this occasion, Dr Niraj Kumar Singh (MD Int-Med) and Dr Suchit Kumar Sharma (Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Social Development, Madhesh Pradesh) presented their views on how individuals could modify their lifestyle for a healthy life.

During the session on July 21, a panel discussion was held on “E-Waste Reduced” which was presented by Bijay Kushwaha (Director, NIIT, Birgunj).

He enlightened the participants about the hazards of storing e-Waste and not disposing them properly. He encouraged the audience to prolong the use of electronic goods instead of replacing them quickly.

During the session held on July 24, Ranjit Kumar Singh (Cleanliness Activist, Raxaul) and Jai Prakash Khetan (Cleanliness Activist, Birgunj) presented their views on reducing “Single Use plastic” as far as practicable as their use leads to production of tons of plastic wastage around the world. Single use plastics take a very long time to decompose.

During the session held on July 25, Mahesh Agrawal (President, India-Nepal Seema Jagran Manch, Businessman and Social Activist, Raxaul) presented views on Sustainable Food System.

He covered the contours of healthy food habits and the benefits of using millets. He recalled how our ancestors used to plan their meal according to local conditions. He also stressed on the cooking methods and the risks associated with the use of pressure cookers.

On July 26, an orientation Program on “Waste Reduced” was held. Sarfuddin Miya (Incharge, Sanitation Wing, Birgunj Metropolitan City) and Mahesh Agrawal, (President India-Nepal Seema Jagran Manch, Businessman and Social Activist, Raxaul) stressed on minimal littering to help reduce waste and keep the area clean, green and healthy. They also stressed the need of planting more trees.

On July 27, Gobind Gupta, Chartered Accountant and Priyanshu Gupta, a member of the Nepal Engineers Association presented their views on “Energy Saved” and eulogized how we can economize the use of Energy.

They also described about Renewable and Non-renewable Energy and demonstrated with statistics how reduced use of energy can benefit the society facing the risk of extinction of non-renewable energy.

The Special week concluded with the final event inside the Consulate premises with discussion on “Water Saved”.

Niran Maharjan, Chief of Nepal Water Supply Corporation, Birgunj and Priyanka Rauniyar, Chartered Accountant, demonstrated how wastage of water leads to water crisis. They suggested ways to increase water level and emphasized the importance of rain water harvesting.

A total of seven sessions were conducted under Mission LiFE. Around 100 members of civil society from Birgunj and the officials and staff of the Consulate attended the sessions.