Independence Day 2024: Nature 'singing' Jana Gana Mana celebrates India's biodiversity, raises climate change awareness
India is celebrating its 78th Independence Day on Thursday. The day is also a celebration of India's rich history and the achievements the country has made on the world stage in the seven decades since Independence.
It is also an occasion to celebrate India's biodiversity and raise awareness about the challenges we, as a nation, are facing due to climate change.
India's biodiversity?
India is home to some 1.55 lakh species of flora and fauna, spanning birds, plants, insects, animals, reptiles, and mammals. This includes around 91,000 animal species, 1,377 bird species, and 45,500 plant species. India is also home to some of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots, including the Himalayas and the Western Ghats.
Mother nature singing Jana Gana Mana
ProClime, a Chennai-based startup working on climate change and sustainability initiatives, has found a unique way to mark India's 78th Independence Day and celebrate the country's rich biodiversity. ProClime released a rendition of India's national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana," recorded in nature using the sounds of birds, animals, and more.
ProClime spent nearly two months capturing the sounds of nature, including crickets, koels, Indian cuckoos, Indian barn owls, squirrels, elephants, bison, tigers, Indian forest frogs, and wild birds and insects in the forests of Bandipur and Mudumalai in the Western Ghats, to turn them into India's national anthem.
"We wanted to bring the sounds of nature and biodiversity to be a part of our daily emotions. And we felt that Independence Day was the perfect occasion to do it with patriotic emotion. That is how we recorded the raw sounds of nature and turned them into the national anthem," Kavin Kumar Kandasamy, the CEO of ProClime, told Indiatimes.
Also read:?Why It's Important To Save India's Western Ghats
How climate change is threatening India's biodiversity?
While India has a rich biodiversity, climate change is turning out to be a major threat. India is said to be one of the countries that would be most affected by the effects of climate change, in the form of more extreme weather events, including heavy rains, floods, landslides, heatwaves, droughts, cyclones, and more.
'We need to act now'
Kandasamy said it is important to raise awareness about climate change and start mitigation measures, including reforestation and other net-zero initiatives, before it becomes too late.
"Climate is a part of our daily lives, and if we don't protect it now, it will be too late. Earth is not home to just us, but to the entire biodiversity around us. They will all be immensely affected by climate change, and we should start looking at saving biodiversity with nationalistic pride," Kandasamy said.
Also read:?Right Against Adverse Effects Of Climate Change Part Of Right To Life, Says Supreme Court
ProClime is currently involved in several climate projects in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat, investing $150 million in initiatives like reforestation, improving water and energy efficiency, and more.
For more news and current affairs?from around the world, please visit?Indiatimes News.
