Steps urged for ecological sustainability in industrial region

Durgapur (WB): Importance of active waste management, recycling, and efficient effluent treatment are the key requirement to minimise environmental damage and maintain ecological sustainability at the Asansol-Durgapur Industrial Region, according to speakers at a discussion programme here.

"Governance is an important factor here. Adoption of regulations should be done in a way so that the industries flourish and yet the environment is preserved and protected," they said.

The discussion was organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with the West Bengal Pollution Control Board.

Speaking on the occasion, Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Sutanu Ghosh said, "The Asansol-Durgapur region is an integral part of the Damodar river valley resource region and is one of the most important urban industrial zones of Eastern India."

"The prime environmental concerns in the region are large-scale mining activities in the area and the pollution caused to river Damodar due to discharge of mining and other industrial and domestic wastewater," Ghosh said.

Since Asansol-Durgapur region is an industrial cross-section that naturally pollutes the area more compared to other cities, the density of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen in the air are becoming high posing threat to inhabitants with various health hazards.

Some of the key factors may be cited as reasons for ecological imbalance - such as lack of cooperation and more competition, uncontrolled exploitation and utilisation of resources, environmental pollution, inappropriate management of waste and population explosion.

Mayor of Durgapur Municipal Corporation Apurba Mukherjee said that wastes could actually be a resource if it was treated properly, which required to adopt the best possible technologies for waste management and treatment.

Dr Kalyan Rudra, Chairman, West Bengal Pollution Control Board, explained how their apex body was playing an active role in implementing a series of environmental Acts and Rules.