BHUBANESWAR : The Coastal Environmental Monitoring Nodal Centre (CEMC) at Paradip will be developed as a Centre of Excellence to strengthen coastal environmental monitoring and research.
This was decided at the 135th Board meeting of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) held here at the Lok Seva Bhawan. Presiding over the meeting, chief secretary Anu Garg said the CEMC at Paradip should not just be a laboratory, but also be developed as an integrated centre of science, data and technology for coastal environmental protection.
To strengthen the environmental monitoring infrastructure of the state, proposals for construction of office buildings in Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Kalinga Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Keonjhar and Sambalpur and modernisation of the laboratory in Patia were discussed.
Besides, the meeting also discussed establishment of a command and control centre at OSPCB headquarters in Nayapalli to strengthen environmental monitoring and make it more data-driven.
The meeting also discussed expanding water sample collection and monitoring through robotic technology and air monitoring through drones.
