Tamil Nadu gets tough on e-waste

R Jai Krishna






CHENNAI: With Tamil Nadu becoming a major hub for IT and ITES sector, the State
Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) is to formulate policies to prevent the threat

of e-waste

management, which would be submitted to the State Government for

incorporating them into the new IT policy.






Addressing a workshop on one-day workshop on 'E-waste Management' held here on
Tuesday, K A Mathew, chairperson of TNPCB, said that though e-waste dumping was

not huge in the city, but at the same time, it could be a serious threat in the

immediate future, as there are no measures undertaken to curb it.






“Chennai's growth as an IT industry hub will soon pose problems of e-waste
generation and e-waste dumping. We have to find out ways to prevent this and

also to manage e-waste. India has increasingly become an e-waste dump-yard for

Western countries, especially the US. We do not have any laws at present to

fight this,” he said.






The TNPCB chief opined that the threat of highly toxic electronic waste
(e-waste) was not just related to the IT sector, all electronic and electrical

goods, including mobile phones were major sources of e-waste.






“The suggestions and formulae presented at the workshop would be compiled and
submitted before the government, to be incorporated in the new IT policy to be

announced by the Tamil Nadu Government shortly,” he said adding that the TNPCB

was not a law-making body, and they would be offering suggestions to the

Government, which will have to frame laws to prevent such environmental hazards.






Talking at the inaugural function of the workshop, Viswanath Shegonker, Tamil
Nadu Environment secretary, said the State Government would be alerted to

incorporate the suggestions of the environmental experts, especially those who

have been working in the field of e-waste management.






“The increase in use of electronic goods will definitely generate more e-waste.
A new legislation will only be a solution for e-waste management,” he said.






C Chandramouli, IT secretary, Tamil Nadu, and T Sekar, Member Secretary, TNPCB,
also took part in the inaugural.






Several papers on e-waste generation and management were presented in the
workshop.






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