The Hindu Business Line : Eco protection: Bengal in talks with Reliance

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Kolkata Feb. 6 The West Bengal Government proposes to introduce compressed natural gas (CNG) in the State to curb air pollution caused by auto emission.

Giving this information here on Tuesday, the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said, "we are in talks with the Reliance group for bringing CNG by pipeline from Andhra Pradesh and via Orissa."

Presenting the Fifth Environment Excellence Awards instituted by West Bengal Cleaner Production Centre in partnership with the Indian Chamber of Commerce and the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), Mr Bhattacharjee made it clear that the State Government's policy of industrialisation would be in conformity with the environment protection policy. "The two policies must converge," he said.

Environment issues

The environment issues in the State, as he pointed out, include control of industrial and construction related pollution, judicious handling of medical wastes, curbing auto emission, increasing forest coverage from the present 13 per cent to at least 18 per cent which is the minimum international minimum standards and protecting wastelands and water-bodies.

He urged the WBPCB to launch campaign to create awareness among school and college children about the need for checking pollution and protecting environment.

The West Bengal Minister for Environment, Mr Sailen Sarkar, said sustainable development could not be achieved by compromising with the environment issues.

The clean Ganga drive, he said, would be launched soon with the participation of various government and non-government agencies.

Award winners

Mr S.N. Bangur, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, gave the list of award winners including Budge Budge Thermal Power Station of CESC Ltd, Bakreswar Thermal Power Station of West Bengal Power Development Corporation, ITC Ltd, Kidderpore cigarette factory and Ambuja Cement Eastern Ltd in the large industry category; Reliance Potteries in the small-scale sector category; and SembRAmky Environmental Management System Pvt Ltd, Bio-Medical Facility, Green Building Technopolis and Westwind Welfare Residents Association in the category of service sector. Haldia Vigyan Parishad of Haldia and Bir Parivar of Chakdaha in Nadia district received awards in the NGO category.

The West Bengal Pollution Control Board, according to its Chairman Mr A.N. Bose, plans to have a comprehensive research board so that policies to be pursued could be research based and the policy-makers could take informed decisions.

Mr M.L. Meena, Secretary, Department of Environment, West Bengal Government, said the State Government is in the process of finalising the road map for introducing environment protection measures in the rural areas.

"We are in favour of community-based environment protection projects in rural areas," he said, pointing out that improving air quality was another area which received attention.

More Stories on : Pollution | West Bengal | Reliance Industries Ltd

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