Thane, May 5 (PTI) Social activist Medha Patkar has said gram sabhas play a huge role in environment conservation and asserted forest, water and land can only be preserved through decentralized development planning.

Speaking at a felicitation event here on Saturday, she also said urgent action was needed to conserve the environment since the results of negligence had begun to show.

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Patkar lamented the "slow rehabilitation process" over the past 38 years for those displaced due to the Narmada dam project.

"Despite resettling 50 thousand families as per court orders, thousands still await rehabilitation," she added.

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(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)