Udupi : T. Venkatesh Naik, Principal District and Sessions Judge, said on Monday that deforestation and environmental pollution was impacting climate.

He was speaking after inaugurating the World Environment Day function organised by the District Administration, district units of Bharat Scouts and Guides, and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), here.

Mr. Naik said that the acute water scarcity in different parts of the State was also a result of environmental degradation. It was the duty of all citizens to protect forests and wildlife. It was essential that people maintained cleanliness in their surroundings and took interest in reducing pollution. In big cities, people could car pool. This would help lessen both pollution and traffic problems, he said.

Priyanka Mary Francis, Deputy Commissioner, said that people in the coastal districts were apprehensive of the K. Kasturirangan Report and Madhav Gadgil Report on the conservation of Western Ghats. They felt that more importance was being given to environment than to them.

The impact of climate change could be felt in Udupi district. The district received a rainfall of 3,500 mm to 4,000 mm every year. But in 2016, there was a 63% deficit in the North-East monsoon leading to all three taluks of the district being declared as ‘drought-hit’.

The district administration directed the Department of Public Instruction to engage students in environmental protection activities. The students and the schools would get prizes after an annual evaluation, she said.

Most individual houses in the district were located on nine to 10 cents of land. People in such houses could opt for pipe compost for disposal of wet waste. They could divert waste water from kitchens and bathrooms to percolation pits in their gardens, Ms. Francis said.