|
 |
CHAPTER
IX
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
9.1 ACTIVITIES OF NGO CELL
Prior
to reporting period 605 NGOs were enlisted with the Central Pollution Control
Board, and 20 more NGOs were additionally enlisted during 2000-2001. Financial
assistance of a total amount of Seventy five thousands Rupees was provided to
15 NGOs as financial assistance to organise mass awareness programmes in different
parts of the country.
Two training programmes were organised at Shillong
and Pune for local NGOs. The NGOs from Gujarat, Mahrashtra, Dadra & Nagar Haveli
and Daman & Diu participated at Pune and the NGOs from Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya
and Tripura took training at Shillong.
A meeting with regional NGOs was
organised at Lucknow in September 2000. The meeting was organised in collaboration
with the State Pollution Control Boards of Northern region for coordination of
activities and promotion of the public participation in the pollution control
programmes. The NGOs from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi
and Chandigarh participated in coordination meeting.
An interaction meet
of NGOs in western part of the country was conducted by University of Pune. The
financial support has been extended to them by CPCB.
9.2 DISTRIBUTION
OF WATER TESTING KIT
Environmental awareness plays a vital role in
prevention and control of pollution in industrial as well as at community levels.
Assessment of water quality in a particular water body to understand any impact
of water pollution, needs laboratory facility, which is not readily available
everywhere. Providing Water Laboratory at every location is not possible for the
developing countries like India. A mobile and cost effective laboratory is required
to assess the characteristic of water and wastewater all over India. Keeping this
fact in view, the Central Pollution Control Board has developed a Water Testing
Kit (WTK) to assess the water quality of surface, ground and potable water bodies
in field conditions. The kit designed and developed by a team of scientists of
the Board is intended for students, NGOs and public. The WTK is a portable mini
laboratory equipped with the apparatus and chemicals needed for testing of water
samples. The required apparatus and chemicals are kept in the kit box made up
of Rexine lined wooden case having dimension 45 x 30 x 20 cm and weighing 6.5
kg. An instruction manual is provided with the WTK, which includes the details
of program components, instruction sequence, sampling and analysis procedure,
preparation of reagents, glossary of terms and related standards. The WTK has
been designed and explained in a simple way so that any person having the understanding
of the basic science can use it effectively for the intended purpose.
The main objectives of this WTK are to create mass awareness and to provide low-cost
Water Testing facility. The kit has been designed not only to test water samples
but also to serve as a scientific, informative, thought-provoking and educative
tool to the students, NGO's and the public. The kit is useful in providing the
information, whether pollutants are above or below the permissible limit based
on quantitative as well as qualitative analysis.
The following analytical
tests can be performed using the water testing kit:
A. PHYSICAL TESTS
1. Colour 2. Odour 3. Temperature 4. Turbidity 5. Suspended solids
B. CHEMICAL TESTS
6. pH 7. Alkalinity 8. Dissolved Oxygen 9. Total Hardness
10. Calcium 11. Magnesium 12. Chloride 13. Fluoride 14. Nitrate 15. Ammonia 16.
Phosphate 17. Iron 18. Residual chlorine
C. BIOLOGICAL TESTS
19. Total Coliform 20. Primary Productivity 21. Benthic Organisms.
During the reporting period (2000-2001) about 750 Water Testing Kits were distributed
to various NGOs, schools, and for other Mass Awareness Programme.
9.3
CPCB PUBLICATIONS DURING 2000-2001
The Central Pollution Control
Board continued to collect, compile and publish scientific, technical and statistical
reports relating to pollution and the measures to be taken for its effective prevention,
control and abatement. CPCB has published following technical documents during
the year 2000-2001:
Apart
from these publications, the newsletter "Parivesh" was brought out on different
themes, Viz. Polluting Industries, Environment Management System, Biomonitoring
of Water Quality in Problem Areas, Clean Coal, Environmental Management Plan Kanpur,
Common Effluent Treatment Plants and Highlights 2000.
Booklet on Noise
(in Hindi) was also published for free distribution.
9.4 QUERY RESPONSE
SERVICE
A Distributed Information Centre (DIC), as a network partner
of the Environmental Information System (ENVIS) was established in CPCB with a
Memorandum of Understanding reached and signed between the Ministry of Environment
& Forests, Government of India and CPCB. Query response service (QRS) is the regular
activity of the ENVIS centre. Queries are received from the schools, colleges,
NGO's, consultants and technical institutions, government organisations in the
field of air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, solid/hazardous waste,
consultancy and mass awareness. During the year, more than 200 queries were received
and answered. In addition to queries through letters, a lots of queries were received
in the form of telephonic conversations, fax massages and E-mail. These queries
were also entertained and answered.
9.5 PARTICIPATION IN EXHIBITIONS
Participation in exhibitions is an important means for direct interaction
with the general public. With this objective, CPCB had put up stalls/pavillion
at various exhibitions during the year. The main items displayed at CPCB pavillion
were air monitoring devices, blow ups on Zoning Atlas Programme and other major
activities, pollution information booklets and technical publications. Films on
pollution control and nature conservation were the major attraction of exhibition
pavillion. Mass Awareness literature giving general information on pollution control
in form of pamphlets, newsletters etc. were distributed. The important exhibitions,
in which CPCB participated during the year are :
9.6
KANPUR PARYAVARAN-2000
A three day mass awareness camp was organized
at Brijendra Swaroop Park, Kanpur, during 6th to 8th April 2000. The objective
of the camp was to educate the people of Kanpur regarding environment and its
components.
The
camp was inaugurated by Sh. Satish Mahana, Hon. Minister of State for Urban Development,
Government of Uttar Pradesh. This camp was a collaborative effort of different
government/non government organisations.
Different kinds of techniques/tools
were used to disseminate the information among the people including school children.
The main activities performed during the camp were;
9.7
ECO-FRIENDLY SCHOOLS IN BHOPAL
Earlier CPCB organised a competition
for best Eco-friendly School in Bhopal to commemorate Silver Jubilee Year of Enactment
of Water Act, 1974. The Eco-friendly school competition was organized for the
year 2000-2001 for the schools in Bhopal city. The Carmel Convent School was adjudged
the best school again and the running trophy was awarded by Prof. G.K. Lehri,
Principal, Regional Institute of Education, Bhopal.
9.8
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATION AT VADODARA
World Environment Day
on 5th June 2000 was celebrated at Vadodara. As a part of celebration, video shows
on several pollution control programmes were organised to the students of M.S.
University, Vadodara. A lecture on "Conservation of Natural Resources" has also
been delivered to the public and students at M.S. University. A lecture on "Legislation
and Pollution Control Laws" has also been arranged for the officials of West Zone
Office of the Central Pollution Control Board at Vadodara.
Central Pollution
Control Board in association with SOCLEEN, a leading NGO in Vadodara has conducted
a mock drama on Green Bench with the help of school children. The theme of the
drama was "Who is responsible for the pollution"? Can they be punished? Total
6 schools from Vadodara have participated and best 3 participants were given prizes.
 |  |  |