Experts have underscored the need for effective strategies to contain the long-lasting effects of persistent organic pollutants (POP).
They also called for an all-India mitigation project in this regard at a workshop on ‘Review and update of national strategies for persistent organic pollutants management’ held at the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST).
Sharad P. Kale, former scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, highlighted the need to consider waste management as an “individual responsibility.”
CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute Principal Scientist A. Ramesh Kumar, stressed the need for stronger public awareness about POPs and the ways to reduce them.
CSIR-NIIST director C. Anandharamakrishnan presided. Kerala State Pollution Control Board Chairman K.P. Sudheer explained the toxic nature of POPs and their capacity to serve negative effects on a prolonged basis. This necessitated its mitigation at the national level.
Central Pollution Control Board (Bangalore Zonal Centre) Director J. Chandrababu, Sukumar Devotta, former director of CSIR-NEERI, CSIR-
NIIST Head (Environmental Toxicology Division) C. Kesavachandran, Senior Scientist K.P. Prathish spoke.
The workshop was held as part of a project funded by Global Environment Facility-United Nations Environment Programme (GEF-UNEP) on the Review and Update of the NIP for the Stockholm Convention for POPs in India.
