Programs

The meeting was facilitated by Dr. Dipak Chakraborty, Chief Scientist, WBPCB who at the onset outlined the basic objectives of ECAC. This was followed by introduction of the Strategic Partners. Mr. Sandipan Mukherjee, Member Secretary, WBPCB expressed that this meeting marked the beginning of 2^nd phase of this initiative of bringing together the strategic partners, the industry associations and the academia. He suggested that the stakeholders meeting will be held at Durgapur and emphasised on the crucial role of WBIDC in this project.

In his presentation, Dr. Dipak Chakraborty discussed about the background and context which led to the formation of ECAC, which is the first of its kind in India and about the role of WBIDC and WBPCB and also mentioned the two industry sectors on which the ECAC will initially focus upon the Sponge Iron and the Chemicals and Petrochemicals sectors. He also mentioned about the work completed so far and the financial contribution by AECEN and WBPCB and shared his vision of how the ECAC will gradually develop as a full-fledged knowledge centre with the support of strategic partners.

Sri Amitabha Ray mentioned that the ECAC will be a repository of information that will be useful to the industry by providing Technical Assistance, helping in accessing funds in the form of grants, loans, adoption of environmental practices that would help in improving the profitability of the industries, improving environmental compliance standards and providing appropriate training services.

Sri Subrata Ghosh, Chief Engineer discussed about the process technology and associated environmental impacts of the Target Sector i.e. Sponge Iron in details focussing on the environmental problems faced by the sector and the guidelines issued by the State Board from time to time to improve the ambient air quality in the vicinity of Sponge Iron Industries.

Sri Pradeep Rawat of FOSMI suggested that in the name of ECAC, the term “environmental compliance” should be replaced by “environmental improvement” which will impart a more positive approach to the whole initiative. He emphasised the fact that training needs of the staff at WBPCB is required to be identified. He also added that through his network of industries, his organisation will contribute towards sector specific technological inputs and carrying out awareness programmes. Sri A. K. Mukherjee of BCCI emphasised how ECAC can work on a single window basis providing solutions to environmental problems of the industries and how the success stories can be used as Case Studies to create awareness amongst the industries. Ms. Haimanti Poddar of ICC mentioned about the various training programmes offered by their organisation also agreed to share their resource persons and their findings on certain sector specific surveys to contribute to the knowledge base of ECAC.

Sri Arijit Banerjee, Sr. Environment Officer, Department of Environment suggested that process re-engineering with the help of collective wisdom of the academia along with feedback from the industry can be used to modify the approach towards environmental compliance in the State.

Prof. B. N. Dutta and Prof. M. K. Sanyal representing Bengal Engineering & Science University (BESU) said that their University is offering a large number of courses including full time Masters level courses and refresher courses, so they can contribute by developing Training Modules for ECAC and also by imparting training. Moreover, they can offer technical services in areas of their expertise as they are already associated with WBPCB in certain projects. Sri Tapas Majumdar of Industry Institute Partnership Cell (IIPC), Jadavpur University explained that they can associate with ECAC in providing technical support to industry entrepreneurs through their R& D activities, training programmes and in offering testing facilities in their laboratories. Dr. K. M. Agarwal of IISWBM added that their institute can partner with ECAC in areas like Information Collection and Dissemination, Digitising the information with the help of their management graduates, provide technical assistance and by offering MDPs to industry personnel. They are already into such collaborative activities with ADB and Dept. of Forest.

Prof. Aloke Mookherjea while addressing the strategic partners pointed out that apart from web based support, there is need for 'manual' assistance to the industries especially the small and medium sector in the form of brochures and guidelines for best practices. He suggested that Institution of Engineers which is a large Forum of Engineers should be also included as a strategic partner in this endeavour. He added that emphasis should be given to mould the appropriate technology to fit the required purpose and environmental monitoring should be a significant activity. He also pointed out that the basis of assessing the expertise of vendors and procedure for short-listing of vendors should be identified and adequate expertise on data mining and data management needs to be developed. He emphasised that the Centre must aim towards 'pollution prevention' through appropriate Environmental Performance Indicators e.g. Dow Jones Sustainability Index should be used to benchmark industries against global performance standards. He concluded his address by stating that in the long run, the Centre should strive for self sufficiency.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Dipak Chakraborty requested all the strategic partners to prepare a brief write up outlining their scope of work, explaining their role and how each of them can contribute gainfully towards achieving the aims, goals and objectives of ECAC. The meeting ended with vote of thanks from the Member Secretary, WBPCB.