• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Climate Cell to collect data on carbon dioxide emissions

Kolkata June 5 The West Bengal Government has enforced a ban on plastic bags from today.

Speaking at a national meet on `Global Climate Change: Issues & Challenges for India' here to mark the World Environment Day, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Chief Minister, said suitable strategies were being evolved, including collection of essential data by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, to tackle the environmental issues on a broader scale.

According to Mr Sailen Sarkar, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Environment, the Government will henceforth not permit manufacture of plastic bags of below 40 microns in the State, as a preventive anti-pollution measure. Discussions have already been held with the Indian Plastics Federation and other trade bodies.

He said a Climate Cell was being set up under the Department of Environment to collect the data on carbon dioxide emissions.

The Ministry is also in dialogue with the Motor Vehicles Department for CNG conversion by public vehicles.

Pointing out that industrialisation cannot take place without giving adequate attention to environmental issues, as the two were inter-linked, Mr Bhattacharjee said the melting of glaciers, leading to an alarming rise in sea level, was a serious issue which should engage the attention of both politicians and planners. He said some 27 countries, including India, have been identified as facing the potential threat.

The Chief Minister particularly cited the threat to the riverine Sunderbans delta , arguably the world's largest mangrove forest region. Warning of a chain reaction, he said global warming was a threat to agriculture as well. In the Bengal context, he said while agriculture has to be further consolidated, there was no alternative to industrialisation, which alone can guarantee jobs for the fresh engineering and other graduates in the State.

New investments

Sounding upbeat on fresh investments coming in sectors such as iron and steel, chemicals, cement, leather etc, he said there was however a need to know the real position (assessing the damage) with regard to the environmental aspect in manufacturing.

The State Environment Secretary, Mr M.L.Meena, said a Bengal-specific action plan to tackle the menace of green house gases is on the anvil, in which infrastructure projects (in coastal areas) with public-private investments investment are being envisaged.

Detailed presentations on `National preparedness in the face of major and inevitable adversities' and `India's strategy in climate negotiations' were made by Dr Prodipto Ghosh, ex-secretary to Government of India, MoEF and Dr Surya Sethi, Principal Advisor, Energy, Planning Commission, Government of India, respectively.

More Stories on : Environment | Plastics | Pollution | West Bengal

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Monsoon seen building in cyclone Gonu's wake

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line