Parliamentary panel to visit Bengaluru, Goa next week

Members of a standing committee of Parliament will be visiting Karnataka and Goa next week to discuss important issues related to environment and forests with NGOs and other stake-holders.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment and Forests will be in Bengaluru on February 4-5 and in Goa on February 6-7. The panel is headed by Congress MP and former Union minister Ashwani Kumar.
The committee will go through the environmental status of Karnataka, including Bengaluru, and Goa, according to an official note.
"The committee will study status of air and water quality, waste management, management of hazardous & bio-medical waste, plastic waste and e-waste of industries in both States," it said.

The compliance status, number of industrial units under red, orange and green categories, capacity of sewage treatment plants, status of vehicular pollution and other aspects will also be studied by the Parliamentary body.
The Pollution Control Boards of the respective states have been asked to provide relevant data.

In Bengaluru, the panel will hold discussion with representatives of NGOs, civil society organisations, experts and other stakeholders on "The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015" and environmental issues of Bengaluru in participial and Karnataka in general. The panel will have similar discussion in Goa, too.
The committee will meet representatives of Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and officials from Karnataka Government on the Bill. It will also visit ISRO Satellite Centre, Bengaluru, and discuss functioning of the organisation with authorities there.

The House panel will visit National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research in Vasco town, about 25km from here.