Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

S. L. Goyal, I.A.S., Secretary (Environment), Government of Maharashtra and Chairman, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, shares his strategy for preserving the environment with Vijay Pandya

The message I would like to give on the occasion of World Environment Day, is that people should follow the 3Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. They should reduce consumption, reuse what has been consumed and when it cannot be reused any further, recycle it, whether the item is cloth, iron, paper, water, electricity...   

Increasing awareness among the public is the key to preserving our environment and we are actively pursuing this concept. No matter what the law says, people need to be made aware of its implications and their responsibilities. Even the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has made provision for this purpose. The idea is to spend more money for awareness. People need to be educated and made to understand what needs to be done to preserve the environment.

In this direction, we have organised a four-day function at Ravindra Natya Mandir from June 5 to 8, 2008. About 50 short films relating to environment issues will be screened continuously from 10.00 a.m. onwards, free of charge.

We have been focusing on issues like biomedical waste, targeting healthcare institutions and reiterating scientific procedures for disposal… we do inspections and enforce the law. While we are not directly connected with aspects like gardens, if we get proposals to replace a garden with construction, we oppose it.

In Maharashtra we have started the National Green Corps, on the lines of the NCC, targeted at children to educate them on environment-related issues. There are 9,000 clubs in the state and we pay for their activities.  

When we give production permissions to industry, we look at the consumption of water and electricity per unit of production. Environmental norms relating to thermal power emissions are being made more stringent. Everything can be managed - there is a cost attached, but saving the environment is more important.

We do our best to preserve river quality. As per a policy formulated in 2000, no industry is permitted on the river bank. If one is allowed, it has to be set up at a distance of at least two to three kilometers to keep effluents away. We are implementing this very seriously.

Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has 700 people and we are in the process of adding another 700. People have not been added for years while laws have been increased adding to our workload. For instance, 20 new legislations have been added. There are rules for the disposal of batteries, electronic goods, hazardous waste… everything is categorized and taken to different dumps.

Hazardous waste is monitored for 30 years so that it does not adversely impact the environment and nobody builds a house above it by mistake. We have a 100-acre waste management facility at Taloja for this purpose.

Garbage is not waste. It can be segregated into iron, glass, plastic, sand, stones an pebbles, bio-degradable matter that can be used for compost, so that only the inert matter left is not recycled.

There is a sand shortage in Mumbai, so that sand can fetch a good price, even compost sells at Rs. 4 to 5 a kilo, so there is a lot of scope for wealth from waste.

The BMC is planning a big facility for this type of segregation at Kanjurmarg.

Compulsory compliance with the norms is essential for preserving the environment and to further increase public awareness, we have set up an Environment Information System. The Centre will collect information and disseminate it to the public. 

We have set up an information highway for kids.

Even the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board official website www.mpcb.mah.nic.in is very informative and regularly updated.