It has been known from the Vedic times that nature and mankind form an inseparable part of the life support system. This system has five elements, air, water, land, flora and fauna, which are interrelated and interdependent. Deterioration is one inevitably affects the other four elements. If the deterioration is for a short term, it repairs itself and reverts to the original state, but if the deterioration continues, the whole system, including all life form, is thrown out of gear. The unlimited diversity of life of India is most remarkable; but rapid industrialization, urbanization, population pressure and extension of agriculture have created a serious onslaught on the human ecosystem and the natural balance which is necessary for proper human development, has reached a perilous stage. Destruction of forest has led to the shrinkage of wildlife habitat leading to the disappearance of many valuable species of wildlife that dominated the surface of earth in earlier era. Technology has enormously expanded the frontiers of the feasible. In the process, mistakes were made. The setting of new goals and an improved understanding of overall interrelationships constitute the prerequisites for rectifying with aid of technology a part of the damage, and for avoiding damages in the future. The planning activity which has to precede each technical solution so to speak the software is therefore of particularly great importance. Problems of a limited scope, e.g. the installation of filter systems or the treatment of certain wastewaters, can naturally be dealt with in relative isolation and independently. And wherever areas are already governed by succinct regulations, good technical solution can be found with low planning effort.
