Roping in little ones to fight pollution

KOLKATA: It took a simple reminder from his school-going son on the hazards of smoking to prompt father Anindya Das to discard the butt for life. Similarly, it was his little one''s explanation on the hazards of plastic carrybags that proved successful in weaning away Sudip Guin, a factory worker, from carrying vegetables in a plastic packet.
Creating such environmental awareness among people, especially school children across the state are the NGOs roped in by the West Bengal Pollution Control Board."We have 150 enlisted NGOs to act as a facilitator in conveying our environment related campaigns to a wider audience," said WBPCB member secretary S.K. Sarkar.
Enlisted in April 2004, the NGOs have been roped in to spread awareness about various environment issues — ranging from ban of plastic carrybags, air pollution, water pollution, sound pollution to tree felling, sanitation and disposal of waste, among several others.
While the WBPCB, on its part, organised a workshop to train the NGO members on matters related to environmental laws, important environment issues and ways to initiate efforts towards creating an awareness, the NGOs have begun implementing the knowhows in their respective field.
"We have begun spreading the message on the hazards of plastic waste, water pollution and importance of tree plantation through posters, talks and drawing competitions among school children," said assistant co-ordinator of Gana Unnayan Parshad Dilip Ghosh. At their Rajarhat branch, they have begun imparting training on several such issues and also roped in the women folk through it''s ladies wing to generate awareness among the families at large.
Moreover, the state pollution control board has included 3,000 schools this year to create an understanding of the environment-related issues from the very beginning. The schools conduct awareness campaigns through an Eco Club, said Sarkar.