Soon a dedicated institute for pollution research: Prakash Javadekar

Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar (Photo: IANS/PIB)

New Delhi – Calling for better coordination between the different pollution control boards in the country, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday that India is to soon get its first ‘National Pollution Research Institute’.

“The ministry has proposed to set up a dedicated research institute to study the menace of pollution. This will be of great help in drafting pollution-related policies,” the minister said while addressing a workshop here on Pollution Control Boards of the states.

The minister said that talks were going on at the conceptual level to start such an institute.

The minister called for better co-ordination between the ministry and central as well as state pollution control boards for effective monitoring of air and water quality.

“There should be better coordination between Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and state pollution control boards,” he said.

“Such a workshop on pollution should be held every six months,” the minister said.

The MoEFCC recently launched a web-based application to track and monitor the movement and management of hazardous wastes from some 43,000 industries. The data from such systems should also be sent to the owners of industries, the minister suggested.

“Data from continuous ambient air quality system and water quality system should also be sent to the owners of the industry so that they would also get a picture where and how they are lagging,” the minister said.