School with a view
The School of Environmental Sciences (SES), at the Jadavpur University, Calcutta, has established itself rapidly since its inception in 1989. D Chakravarti, the School's mentor, says, "Every institution in India should be self-sufficient. The SES almost earns its livelihood." By consultation and providing solution to environmental problems, in the last 6 years, the School has payed the university more than Rs 10 lakhs as overhead charges.
Chakravarti ensures that employees are assessed every 5 years and all the posts are renewable. The School's thrust area is pollution studies and planning. Chakravarti sums up the findings: "It is a grim situation. A city built for 1 million now accomodates more than 7 million." In a recent memorundum, the SES has proposed seting up several satellite towns.
The SES has surveyed Calcutta's 11,516 factories including 40 lead smelter factories. Picnic Gardens houses 27 lead factories, gravely affecting more than 200,000 local inhabitants. A recent SES study blamed a factory for producing the chemical Paris Green, on grounds that arsenic wich was found in its waste, severely contaminated the locality's ground water. The factory was pressurised to build a pipeline for waste management.
For analysing numerous water samples free of cost, the SES has spent over Rs 15 lakh and devised a filter for de-arsenicizing ground water. The School also aims to create public awareness to counter pollution menace in the city.
Related Content
- National multidimensional poverty index: a progress review 2023
- Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000–2022: special focus on gender
- Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene, 2019 update
- Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding running of a petrol pump near a school, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, 27/02/2023
- Strong systems and sound investments: evidence on and key insights into accelerating progress on sanitation, drinking-water and hygiene- the UN-Water global analysis and assessment of sanitation and drinking-water (GLAAS) 2022 report
- The power of education to end child marriage