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South Delhi unaware of e-waste hazards: Survey
The environmental hazards of
e-waste — electronic items that have been disposed of — have become a serious
concern for South Delhi areas which seem to generate more of such trash than
other parts of the Capital, according to a survey.
A survey conducted by students of
Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Science, Dwarka has revealed that South Delhi
residents are the least aware of proper e-waste disposal practices, despite
being among the top users of high-end electronic devices.
The survey — with three
parameters being consumption, usage and e-waste awareness — showed that 83.6
per cent population of South Delhi was either ‘unaware’ or ‘doubtful’ about the
environmental hazards.
Another survey carried out by the
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) puts Delhi among the top 10 cities
generating e-waste. As per estimates, Delhi produces around 15,000 tonne per
year.
The report was discussed in a
two-day national seminar on inefficient implementation of e-waste management
and its threats to health and environment of the country at the Bhaskaracharya
College of Applied Science on Thursday. It emphasised the need to create
awareness through producer-consumer sensitization of the issue.
BC Sabata, senior scientist,
Department of Environment and Forest of Delhi Government, said the Government
had brought in regulations to stop e-waste dumping but that was not of much
help since the general public is largely ignorant about such issues. “In Delhi
we have set-up 180 eco clubs in schools which can further facilitate as
supporting centres for e-waste management, starting with the awareness aspect.
People discard gadgets and sell it to local scrap dealers without knowing where
it’s going and what effects it can have on environment,” he said.
He also added that the Government
was holding talks with the University Grants Commission for seeking to include
environment-related issues in the courses. Satish Sinha, the associate director
of Toxics Link, a non-profit environmental organisation, said the aim of Government
regulations was to give a proper framework for disposal of e-waste.
“When hazardous waste rules and
municipal waste rules were made in India, they took time in implementation.
Similar could be the case with e-waste regulation. The failure in implementation
of rules is due to lack of proper infrastructure. There are gaps between the
stakeholders two of which are the Central Board of Pollution Control and State
Board of Pollution Control,” he added.
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