HYDERABAD: Special Chief Secretary of Environment Science and Technology Rajat Kumar, on Monday, the reviewed the progress of the Telangana State Pollution Control Board in implementing an action plan to reduce v, e-waste, and construction and demolition waste in the state. During the review, Professor Mukesh Sharma of IIT Kanpur gave a presentation on a study carried out in Hyderabad to identify the different sources contributing to particulate matter of size less than 10 and 2.5 microns.
Rajat Kumar informed that the Government of India is providing funds to Hyderabad under the XV-FC to reduce air pollution. Based on the results of the study, the Air Quality Monitoring Committee (AQMC) will allocate funds to different activities in proportion to the source contribution, and the implementation of these actions will be monitored by AQMC to ensure tangible results.
The study found that air pollution levels in Nalgonda town are meeting the standards, but the focus is now on reducing air pollution in Hyderabad. The implementation of the action plan based on the study’s findings is expected to improve the air quality in Hyderabad in the coming years.
Rajat Kumar also reviewed the implementation of the E-Waste Management rules. The TSPCB was able to increase the collection of e-waste from bulk consumers from 30,000 tonnes to 44,000 tonnes after rigorous efforts. However, the challenge lies in collecting e-waste from the domestic sector and training the informal sector for scientific processing of e-waste. Rajat Kumar instructed TSPCB to increase awareness programs through different media to sensitize all sections and improve the collection mechanism from the domestic sector.
The Construction and Demolition Waste management was also reviewed, and the total capacity was increased from 1000 to 2000 TPD. Rajat Kumar instructed that the processed C&D material should be mandated for reuse in different projects, and TSPCB should study such policies in other states. He also instructed TSPCB to host a software for monitoring the C&D waste on their website to effectively track the waste.