Government’s Role
1) Directorate of Environment and Climate change Before taking any kind of action we need a plan and for any kind of plan we need data.
For the same Punjab government has formulated a committee whose role would be to keep a tab on the particulates released into the atmosphere of Punjab whether due to industries, stubble burning, vehicles or construction sites. This step would help produce an independent platform for environment related problems and would help implement projects by PSCST (Punjab State Council for Science and Technology).
2) Management of Agricultural Waste
Government has issued a policy of utilization and management of agricultural waste, especially in the case of paddy straw. Burning of Paddy Straw being the reason for the deadly smog in the months of October-January has become a must to tackle with. The
Policy has been formulated by the state government so that this open burning can be reduced and farmers can get handsome amount of money for their paddy straw which
could be used as a non-conventional source of energy.
Paddy Straw is capable of producing Methane with a rate of 200-340 m3/tonne of biomass. For the extraction of methane, a full-fledged bio-methanation plant has been set up to generate power up by M/s Sampurn Agri. Ventures Pvt. Ltd. at Fazilka and is
been producing this bio-gas since February, 2015.
3) Deal with NEWAY Engineers
The government of Punjab has signed a Rs 10,000 crore deal with NEWAY Engineers
MSW based in Chennai to convert the stubble generated to bio-energy. Under this the company will make 400 processing plants which will be operational before next harvesting season.
4) Cycle lanes
To reduce the stress on environment from vehicular pollution Punjab government promoted the idea of cycles for which it covered most of Amritsar with cycle lanes.
Role of NGOs
Civil Society also has to contribute towards the environment conservation by strengthening the local institutions and government policies with its own innovation and ideas . Non-Government Organizations play a very crucial role in the betterment of the society as a whole.
1) Raising Awareness/ Campaigning
Most important point for any kind of public activity is to inform the public about the activity or the program. NGOs carry out human Rally, organize competitions, seminars and talks to make the public aware about the current situation in the outer world.
ECO-SIKH a Ludhiana based NGO currently working on environmental issues organizes ‘Sikh Environment Day’ every year with people planting saplings, radio programs broadcasting environmental messages, ragis singing green gurbanis, people
cooking organic (or kind-to- the-environment) food, gurdwaras discussing green energy and implementing green energy solutions, schools giving green lessons, organising Green Nagar Kirtans, and so much else.
2) Monitoring and reporting of Environment
N.G. O’s aggressively monitor the current environment situation. This allows these organizations to complement the work of the government and work with the respective authorities. Therefore, these organisations also encourage active community
participation. The N.G. O’s like All India Pingalwara Charitable Society also have newsletters and magazines which publish the current situations and enable the concerned body to act accordingly.
3) Providing Education and Training
N.G. O’s carry out many enlightening drives in their vicinity and hence the educate the common man. They also carry out training and workshops to teach the common people
about conservation of environment. N.G. O’s and societies like Paryavaran Welfare Society (Thapar University) are also involved in numerous plantation drives.
4) Partnerships between Government and NGOs
Many a times government and N.G. O’s have done projects together giving fascinating
results. Hence, such partnerships are always encouraged. Some countries allow N.G.O’s participation in developing regional and national policies and plans. For example, in Thailand, the 1992 Environment Act gives the work on environmental management to
environmental N.G. O’s and encourages people’s participation.
Our Role as Students
We as students of Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology understand our responsibility towards the conservation of the environment around us. For the same we have carried out many programs and have created societies in order to do our level best
in fields of public welfare and environment conservation.
1) Paryavaran Welfare Society
Paryavaran Welfare Society is an environmental society of Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology. This society carries out many plantation drives on and outside the campus. Paryavaran Welfare Society in collaboration with Podar
International school, Patiala carried out Tree Plantation drive at Podar International School on 5th October 2017.
2) Pratigya Society
Pratigya was started in 2005 as a student society by a group of few students under the leadership of Dr. Seema Bawa (former DoSA and Professor, CSED). One of the co-founder of society was Mr. Rajanvir Singh Kanpur who is now serving as an IAS officer after securing AIR-93 in Civil Services Examination-2011.
Purpose:
a. Remove illiteracy.
b. Providing children of 4 th class employees of Thapar University with the maximum amount of exposure.
c. Increase their interaction with the world.
“Education is the key to an enlightened mind. Enlightened mind is the necessity for a clean environment” - Shivam Panwar.
3) Thapar Satellite Program
Being from an Engineering College it our responsibility to contribute towards the society in terms of science and technology and therefore we came up with ‘ThapSat’.
ThapSat is the Student Satellite Program of Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, aims to design and develop a Nano-satellite capable of monitoring the environmental greenhouse gases present in the Punjab region. The primary objective of this satellite will be to study IR Spectrum of Punjab Region contributing towards the Greenhouse Effect.
The completed nanosatellite of the project will be launched by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), under its “Academic Institute Satellites” program.
The mission launch is planned for 2020.