Green toilets in trains
The trials on green toilets are continuing in the long distance Delhi-Trivandrum Express after a pilot project with the short-distance Prayag Raj Express was successfully completed lately, Railway ministry officials said. In his budget speech of 2008-09, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav had earmarked Rs 4,000 crore for equipping 36,000 coaches with ecofriendly toilets. “Various options were looked at, but onboard chemical treatment of human excreta is the most feasible,” said mission coordinator and IIT Professor Dr N.S.Vyas. The system involves technologies for separating the solid and liquid parts of human waste and collecting them in separate containers. The solid parts are collected in a waste collection and processing tank and mechanically removed on reaching the last station. The liquids, after being chemically treated, are recycled and used for flushing purposes.
Air monitors to be installed
A new, imported air-pollution monitoring device is ready to be commissioned at Netaji Subjash Institute of Technology at Dwarka in Delhi, which will measure the level of pollution every second and display the figures on an electronic board. The display will have the permissible limits and the actual levels for all pollutants, like nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide etc. Apart from being imported from the US, each machine costs Rs 80 lakh with an operating cost of Rs 10 lakh per year. The data they generate are accurate. As per the National Ambient Air Monitoring Network, CPCB will have 354 such stations in India, nine of which are currently in Delhi.
E-waste recycling at Haridwar
An e-waste recycling plant is going to be set up in Haridwar in the coming months. The plant will be the first of its kind in north India with a recycling capacity of 12,000 tonnes per annum. The plant is being set up by a private company and is supposed to be ready in 4-6 months at a budget of about Rs 25 crore. E-waste includes waste from electronic and electrical appliances like computers, mobile phones, air-conditioners, refrigerators and other household appliances. Even as we are becoming aware of the hazards of e-waste, the county has no means of dealing with it. Most, if not all, of the recycling takes place under an informal structure and hence no clear data is available on how much e-waste is being recycled. Delhi produces about 730 tonnes of e-waste per annum and more is brought in from other states. Delhi is specially at risk since it is the biggest center for e-waste recycling. Waste is not only brought in from Mumbai, Kolkata and other major centers, but is also imported. The agency building the facility is expected to collect e-waste from department stores and scrap dealers. Experts believe that it is easy to build the infrastructure but if collection only takes place from factories and consumers are not tapped, the situation won’t change at all. There are no laws for collection in the country at present so just making plants won’t solve the problem.
|
