GUWAHATI, June 12 - Environ, an environmental management group recently organised a daylong workshop titled �Environmental hazards of electronic waste� under the �Digital India Initiative� at Arya Vidyapeeth College here.
The campaign about sensitisation on electronic waste aims to enhance awareness amongst stakeholders involved in e-waste management in ten urban areas, thereby encouraging environmentally sound recycling through collective effort of all relevant stakeholders in the e-waste value chain. The ten cities are Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Imphal, Indore, Kolkata, Moradabad, Panjim, Patna, Pondicherry and Ranchi.
The workshop was inaugurated by Dr Arup Mishra, Director, Assam Science Technology and Environment Council. The technical session was chaired by Dr Jnanashree Bora, former principal (IC), Arya Vidyapeeth College and a faculty at the USTM. Dr Mrinal Sarma, Principal of the host college presided over the inaugural session.
The objectives of the workshop were described by Dr Amarjyoti Kashyap, president of Environ. Dr Shantanu Dutta, scientist, Central Pollution Control Board Shillong; HN Pathak, Additional Manager, Amtron, Guwahati and Jahid Ahmed, senior consultant, State E-mission Team, IT Department, Government of Assam, also spoke on the occasion. Altogether 109 individuals, especially college teachers, took part in the workshop.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has embarked upon the awareness programme on environmental hazards of electronic waste under the �Digital India Initiative�. Environ has been selected as on-ground implementation partner for the city of Guwahati for implementation of different awareness generation programmes and workshops among schools, colleges, bulk consumers including corporate and government sectors, dealers and manufacturers.
Electronic waste is defined as waste consisting of electrical or electronic appliances. Many components of such equipment are toxic and non- biodegradable. Discarded electronic items consist of hazardous materials like lead, mercury, cadmium, barium, beryllium, brominated flame retardants etc., and their improper disposal is creating a potential threat to human health and environment.
