Chandigarh, June 3, State Environment Council Meet

Chandigarh, June 3: The Haryana Governor Dr. A.R. Kidwai and the Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda both were of the opinion that the problems of use of oxytocin on plants and animals, bio-medical waste, air pollution and waste water should be properly checked and existing labour laws, rules and regulations should be properly implemented to solve these problems for keeping the environment clean and healthy in the State. This was revealed in the 16th meeting of the State Environment Protection Council, Haryana held at Raj Bhavan here today under the chairmanship of the Haryana Governor Dr. A.R.Kidwai who is also the Chairman of this Council. The Governor said that the problem of recharging the ground water should be taken up seriously especially for the southern Haryana as the water table in that part of the State had gone very low. For this purpose large tanks and a big recharging web should be prepared at different places of the State, the Governor suggested. This was also informed in the meeting that the farmers of the State were being educated to make use of sprinkler and drip irrigation methods in agriculture for judicious use of irrigation water for agriculture and horticulture. The Chief Minister said that the subsidy to farmers on sprinkler and drip irrigation methods should be increased up to 90 per cent so that maximum use of these methods could be made by the farmers in the State. He informed that during the regime of the present State Government irrigation water had been supplied to those parched areas of the State where it reached never before. This was also decided in the meeting that the artificial rain water harvesting system adopted by all the existing Government buildings, schools, colleges, universities and educational institutions in the State would be monitored and implemented properly with a view to recharging ground water. This was also informed in the meeting that as many as 38 bio-gas plants had been installed in Gowshalas of the State and these plants were being looked after and maintained properly for their proper functioning. This was also observed in the meeting that unauthorized dyeing units which were growing rapidly in the outskirts of some cities of the State should be checked properly. It was also observed in the meeting that the plastic carry bags should be used for carpeting and re-carpeting of roads after their conversion into petroleum products as it was being done successfully in Bangalore. It was decided in the meeting that in Haryana also this work should be done on experimental basis for carpeting a small stretch of road on pilot basis. Some members also suggested that condemned vehicles especially taxis and tempos which are frequently used especially in Faridabad and Gurgaon should be properly banned for keeping these mega cities air pollution free and other health hazards. It was also observed that reuse and recycling of industrial waste water and domestic should be encouraged for which dual lines were suggested to be made mandatory for all new buildings to be constructed in the State. It was also observed in the meeting that functioning of the outsourcing agencies in disposing of the bio-medical waste in the various hospitals of the State should be inspected regularly and a survey should be made to check this problem effectively. This was also suggested in the meeting that the implementation of the bio-medical waste rules in the State of Haryana should also be made mandatory in all the hospitals, nursing homes and dispensaries of the State. This was also advocating strongly in the meeting that there was an urgent need for the conservation of the water bodies and wet lands like Braham Sarovar at Kurukshetra, Sarovar at Pehowa, Phaglu Sarovar at Pharal and Pond at Pundri etc. as these ponds and lakes serve a big source of recharging of ground water. The Finance Minister, Mr. Birender Singh, Education Minister, Mr. Mange Ram Gupta, Urban Local Bodies Minister, Mr. A.C. Chaudhary, Minister of State for Environment and Tourism Mrs. Kiran Choudhry, Dr. Shiv Shankar Bhardwaj, Mr. Subhash Chaudhary, both MLAs, Haryana Chief Secretary, Mr. Dharam Vir, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. M.L. Tayal, Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary, Finance Department Mr. S.P. Sharma, Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary, Mr. R.N. Prasher, Commissioner & Secretary, Environment Department Mr. Y.S. Malik, Chief Administrator HUDA, Mr. S.S. Dhillon, Senior Officers of Forests and Environment, Public Health, Agriculture, Finance, Urban Development, Education Departments and Haryana State Pollution Control Board also attended this meeting. Mr. Vijai Vardhan, Director, Environment Department, Haryana conducted the proceedings of the meeting.