Bhopal, Feb 5 (Inditop.com) Advocating the need for ecologically sustainable development, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar Friday said social and economic growth should be in tandem with conserving environment and wildlife.

“There is no doubt that economic and social development of our people and poverty eradication are essential but the path of development has to be ecologically sustainable,” she said.

Kumar was addressing a symposium on ‘Urgency in Addressing the Needs of Environment and Conservation of Wildlife’, organised in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on the concluding day of the presiding officers’ meet.

She said: “It is not only our responsibility but also a compulsion for our survival that we protect and conserve our environment and wildlife while pursuing the model of development.”

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that both government and people should work in tandem in this regard as laws alone will not be adequate to deal with the challenges of global warming and global chilling.

“For this, people’s mindset will have to be changed. Masses will have to come forward and help the government in its efforts to conserve forests,” he said.