Nagpur: Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan on Friday said that air pollution in big Indian cities was a major threat to future generations.
Speaking on the occasion of Environment Day at CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in Nagpur, he said, "Air pollution in metropolitan cities is a major threat to the future generations."
CSIR-NEERI should deploy its Mobile Emission Monitoring and Control Laboratory (MEMCL) (which he flagged off), in other big cities apart from Nagpur, the minister said.
MEMCL would conduct surveys for a year and this data would be used to propose effective solutions to air pollution, according to the NEERI release.
Harsh Vardhan also said that people should become "responsible consumers" and instead of chasing "instant" and junk foods, they should bear in mind their real needs.
"We must join the growing world community of safety and environment-conscious consumers who are aware of the cradle-to-grave implications of the production of whatever they buy," he said.
Vardhan also hailed CSIR-NEERI "the gold standard" among institutions across the world. "The world is threatened by climate change and the entire human civilisation as we know it is on the brink of extinction. It is up to our scientists to save us and CSIR-NEERI is one of those foundations at the forefront of the search for solutions," he said.
He laid the foundation stone of a Technology Park, which envisages utilisation of municipal solid waste and organic biomass as raw material for bio-fuels.
Waste management is one of the key priorities of the Narendra Modi government's environment policy, the minister said.
Maharashtra Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was also present on this occasion.
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