VIJAYAWADA: The State government has constituted a State-Level Expert Committee for protection of environment. The order constituting the five-member committee led by retired IAS officer T Chatterjee was released on Friday by Environment and Forest Special Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad.
The five-member committee will evaluate the state of environment in the State and suggest measures for its improvement, continuous measurement of its parameters and developing an index system for tracking progress towards sustainable development goals, develop the environmental policy at State and district level along with providing strategic directions for improvement in environmental conditions.
The panel will also assist in preparation of action plans for each district, especially major towns, for attaining standard environmental conditions, suggest measures required in the State to reach the goal of zero discharge from industries and appropriate Green Tax System to be adopted. The term of the committee will be for six months. Chatterjee was secretary, Union Ministry of Environment & Forests, director, EPTRI, Hyderabad and member secretary, Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board.
The panel members include B Sengupta, an expert in the field of air and water quality management, industrial pollution control, etc, Suresh Jain, an Associate Professor in IIT, Tirupati and an expert in air quality modelling and management, V V Narayana Reddy, former deputy director of IICT, Hyderabad and S Bala Prasad, a professor in the environmental wing of Civil Engineering department, Andhra University.
The AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) will provide technical and secretarial support to the committee.