complete ban of plastic bags in haryana

December 24 - Haryana Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mrs Kiran Choudhry today directed the officers of Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) to prepare a list of all plastic bag manufacturers of the state and take steps to completely ban the use of plastic bags in the State.
Mrs Choudhry was presiding over the seventh meeting of the Board here today..
It was informed in the meeting that the Board had given notices to 159 Aravalli Hills defaulters and five prosecution cases have been filed against the defaulters so far.
She directed the officials to take strict actions against the defaulters. She had been touring the Aravalli Hills area and had found out that violations were being made despite the strict guidelines of the Supreme Court of India. All defaulters would be punished severely and such activities would be stopped completely.
The Minister urged the Regional Officers of the Board to deal with the pollution problem with strictness and sincerity as pollution free environment is the need of the hour. She directed all the regional officers to appoint environment wardens in each ward in order to keep a check on the use of plastic bags and products. She asked them to spread awareness through rallies and to conduct various wakeful activities pertaining to environment in the State. She also asked the officers to submit a detailed report of the various activities which included awareness campaigns, functioning of the Eco Clubs in accordance to the calendar of events issued by the Board.
Mrs Choudhry said that Head office of the Board would issue no-objection-certificates (NOC) on pollution angle to units having an investment of over Rs 5 crore. These units included hot mix plant, stone crushers, construction projects which had a discharge of 10 KLD or more, units covered under Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification. Units which had an investment of less than Rs 5 crore would be issued NOC on pollution angle by the District Level Clearance Committee (DLCC) headed by the respective Deputy Commissioners as per the Haryana Industrial Promotion Rules 2007. The Units included brick kilns and other plants machineries.
She directed the Board to prosecute the environment violators under the law, failing which the concerned official would be penalized for negligence. She stressed that Bio-medical waste should be disposed off with utmost care and ensure that various medical institutions were adhering to the disposal rules and regulations in the State.
The Minister directed the Board to formulate a proper NOC procedure and make it available online, she said that each stage should be properly explained in order to maintain transparency. She also asked the officers to amend the notification on the functioning of the stone crushers of the state to clearly list the norms and criteria for closure and functioning of the Stone Crushers.
She asked ROs to expedite the awareness campaigns in their districts through young children and disseminate more finances to the ECO clubs. She said that it was very important to sensitize the children on the various environmental issues as they were the future guardians of the Environment.

mou with management development institute

Dec 11- Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon and launch "Bal Urja Rakshak Mission" during State level function of National Energy Conservation Day 2008 to be held at the Apparel Export Promotion Council, Gurgaon on December 18.
While stating this here today, a spokesman of HAREDA said that the MoU would be signed to work jointly for capacity building and training in the areas of renewable energy, energy conservation, climate change and sustainable development. The expertise of the MDI in these areas would be of immense help for building capacity of various stake holders in the State, he added.
He said that Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda would be the chief guest at the function. Member Parliament and Chairman, MDI, Mr N.K.Singh, Chief Secretary, Haryana, Mr Dharam Vir and Director General Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Government of India, Dr. Ajay Mathur would be the guests of honour.
He said that on this occasion, the Chief Minister Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda would also launch Bal Urja Rakshak Mission under School Energy Education Outreach Programme of HAREDA. The Mission had been worked out by HAREDA and the School of Energy Management, MDI to implement a focused programme to bring about attitudinal and behavioral transformation amongst the students of eighth and ninth classes.
He said that State level Energy Conservation Awards, prizes for the State Level Energy Conservation Essay Writing Competition and Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Quiz would also be given away. Also, the Hindi version of the Energy Conservation Hand Book for building sector would be released.
The function would be organised by the Haryana Department of Renewable Energy, which is the State designated agency for energy conservation activities in the State, he added.

Haryana Governor on Solar Energy

December 2 - The Haryana Governor, Dr. A.R. Kidwai todaysaid that solar energy was the future of India, as it would go a longway in meeting our demand for Power.Dr. Kidwai, who was addressing the people after inaugurating the newly constructed environment friendly green building of the institute of Rural Research and Development at Gurgaon, said that in view ofavailability of solar energy in the country, Government of India had formulated a project to set up solar generators to generate 50 MW ofelectricity. Out of these, solar generators of 12 MW would be set up in Haryana.Dr. Kidwai said that to generate one MW electricity from solar energy cost Rs. 20 crore, as the Silicon Cells, which convert solar energy into electrical energy were imported from Germany. If these cells were manufactured in India, the generating cost of electricity from solar energy would get reduced considerably, he added.He expressed hope that India would soon start manufacturing SiliconCells resulting in reduction in their cost. Generating electricity from solar energy cost about Rs. 15 per KW. However, consumers had to pay only Rs. three per KW, thanks to the subsidy provided by theGovernment of Haryana and Central Government. Sanctioned had been accorded to generate solar energy by installing panels on the roofs of two factories in Gurgaon, he added.