BHUBANESWAR: Faced with serious concerns over environmental damage caused by unscientific and unsafe disposal of industrial waste, the state government on Monday announced it will soon come up with a fly ash atlas and a citizen reporting app for its appropriate management.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed between Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) and IIT-Bhubaneswar in the presence of Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati and senior forest officials during the former’s 42nd foundation day celebrations.
“The project will use technology like geo-fencing, QR codes, drone surveillance and a citizen reporting app to create a complete digital map for monitoring the generation, transport and utilisation of fly ash across the state,” said OSPCB member secretary Uma Nanduri.
The project will also track flyash management using advanced technologies, ensuring transparency and restricting their illegal dumping to protect the environment and promote sustainable growth, she added.
OSPCB chief environmental engineer Bijay Kumar Behera told this paper the Board will work with the Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy (SRIC) wing of IIT-Bhubaneswar to create a flyash atlas that will identify potential fly ash generation sites and types of fly ash based on their chemical composition and other details. “The mobile application will be developed to create a complete digital map for monitoring of the industrial waste, starting from its source to transport and safe disposal,” he added.
Behera informed that the duration for development of the atlas has been set to two years, while the mobile application will be developed in the next six months. The Board also inked pact with ICAR-CRRI, Cuttack, department of biotechnology and bioinformatics, Sambalpur University and OUAT Bhubaneswar on fly ash utilisation.
“The project will work on two missions to scientifically neutralise the harmful heavy metals present in fly ash and extract the beneficial micronutrients from it to create a safe and effective biofertiliser for the farmers,” said OSPCB deputy environmental scientist SS Pati. OSPCB also signed an MoU with SOA university for research on combating emerging threats like antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and zoonotic diseases.
The second pact was with Utkal University on developing synergistic adsorption-photocatalytic systems to remediate organic pollutants. This MoU is intended at creating sustainable, cost-effective catalysts to clean up the environment, OSPCB officials said.