Our Experience in Interviewing TNPCB

I am Abiraami of class IX.  And now I’m going to briefly explain about our interview to TNPCB. Prior to the interview, we planned to visit Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board. So we checked the internet and got the contacts. Our German sir then contacted TNPCB and fixed an appointment with Mr.Venkatachalam on Thursday 6^th February 2014. Then me and Nithya started to prepare questions with the help of German sir. And we also made a trial on how to interview, assuming german sir as Mr.Venkatachalam. Then on the day of interview, at morning 10 am we met German sir and Padma mam. We were a bit nervous, since TNPCB is a government office. So sir trained and taught us how to handle government officials and he also told us that we cannot expect anything whatever happens will be good and in the govt. Then Senya mam also joined us and  we went with her. We went there around 10:30 am, But unfortunately Mr.Venkatachalam was not present there as he was called by the minister. So we thought that german sir was right. We also expected that the interview will be canceled, but after waiting for nearly half an hour we met Mr. R.Kumar who was the additional chief Environment Engineer. Then we explained him about our project and asked him the below questions.

  

1       What will happen to CD's in future?

It does not make much sense to talk about disposal of CD's. CD's are fast disappearing from the scene and are being replaced by pen drives. So it will be more appropriate to talk about e waste management, than only about CD's.

2.       How does TNPCB oversea pollution control measures in Tamil Nadu?

The TNPCB overseas pollution control measures in Tamil Nadu. It has five regional officers and  it has 1 unit in all the  32 districts. Under each district there are other small units with smaller jurisdiction. It is the ultimate responsibility of the district officer to monitor all units in his area which cause pollution. The TNPCB has all the powers to handle the problem.

3.       Lack of awareness is one of the major problems in handling of CD's and other e waste. People are not aware of the harmful effects. Are there any awareness programs?

There is a separate directorate called the directorate of environment which conducts a lot of awareness programs. It encourages Eco clubs in schools and also gives financial assistance to these clubs to create awareness. During bhogi and other festivals where a lot of pollution is caused, the TNPCB monitors the level of air pollution, so that there is no difficulty for aircraft's to land in Chennai airport. The visibility during such festivals is greatly reduced on account of smoke.

4.       What is the major environmental problem in regard to CD's?

The problem with CD's is that it has got many harmful substances like chemical and heavy metals. If CD's are carelessly disposed off in the earth or thrown away, the chemicals (harmful substances) will enter the water bodies. Tamil Nadu is deficient in water and depends excessively on ground water. Therefore CD'S should not be disposed off carelessly.

5.       What is one of the major aim or goal of the TNPCB?

The TNPCB encourages “zero discharge” of pollutants. It would like zero waste to be generated and everything should be recycled so that there is no waste whatsoever.

6.     Does the TNPCB act alone or does it also seek the help of other agencies.  
      TNPCB acts alone but it also seeks helps from other departments of the government like the municipalities and corporation and other local bodies. It also works in with the police department and other agencies.

 7.  What is the biggest problem in handling e-waste?

One big problem of e-waste in India is lack of sufficient collection centers to bring all the e-waste to the disposal centers. The TNPCB would encourage setting up of and giving approval to the collection centers so that more such units can be established for collecting all the e-waste.

8.    Why is Tamil Nadu the second largest producer of e-waste?
      One reason why Tamil Nadu generates such as huge volume of e-waste is because of the large growth of IT industries. All these industries generate e-waste.

 9.  Is there any law which will regulate the production and disposal of e-waste?
      Very soon a law will be enforced which will make it mandatory for all units which generate e-waste to take it all back and reuse them. The rule is called   "E-WASTE MANAGEMENT AND HANDLING RULE 2011"    which is from a part of the"Environmental protection act”. This rule will apply to all producers and consumers involved in manufacture, sale, purchase of electrical and electronic equipment. This rule proposes collection centers, dismantling centers, and recycling centers. These centers shall be responsible for collecting e-waste and channelizing it for recycling and disposal. The collecting unit will have to collect the e-waste from the consumers.  The consumers have been given duties in this regard (i.e) sending the e-waste to the collection center.

10. Why is e-waste being categorized as a separate entity?Earlier e-waste was such a major issue, it was classified under the category of '' hazardous waste '' now that the problem is so vast e-waste have been categorized separately.

11. Can you please let us know any achievement of the TNPCB in this regard?

Liquid Pollution controlling system is established in Tirupur and Erode, since there are a lot of power loom industries in Tirupur and Erode, this is where these industries release lot of harmful chemicals into the water bodies. Here TNPCB plays a significant role in recycling the contaminated water into pure water (90 liters/1000 liters). 100% recycling is present in Tamil Nadu than other states. Conservation of water is used for other purposes.

We interviewed him for 30 minutes and we are very thankful to him that he answered all the questions and he was very kind enough that he offered us some lemon tea. Then we also took some photographs with him and gave him small memento,Later we came back to school and we discussed and compiled all the questions that we asked and the answers which were given by him. We had a very good experience interviewing him and we got a lot of information about e-waste and how to control pollution. 

                                                          THANK YOU
further details.

INTERVIEW WITH TAMIL NADU POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

Expert,
Additional Chief Environment Engineer,

TNPCB,

No. 76, Mount Road, Guindy, Chennai-600032, India.

 Mr. Kumar receiving the memento.

A group photo.