20% Power Deficit Likely Next Year
Inaugurating the Indo-US workshop on eco-friendly technologies for biomass conversion to energy and industrial chemicals at the Sri Venkateswara University here, the minister said a solution to this vexed problem will be found soon and alternative renewable energy resources such as biomass could be resorted to.
Touching upon the problem of waste management in urban areas, he said total urban waste generation had been predicted to go up to 310 million tonnes by the year 2010 from the present 217 million tonnes. Management of this accumulating waste had been giving sleepless nights to the administrators as only 20 per cent of the total waste generated was being currently treated.
One-third of these wastes could be treated, while another one-third could be recycled for utilisation, he said, and pointed out the need to create public awareness for achieving this goal. Calling for the need to encourage the private sector to participate in the water and waste treatment sectors to provide a clean and healthy environment, he said legal and procedural bottlenecks would be cleared soon.
Allowing the private sector in waste treatment sector would not only accentuate the progress towards a healthy society, but also create a large number of jobs in this sector, he said.
Delivering the key-note address, secretary to department of biotechnology Manju Sharma said the department in liaison with the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) will set up a centre for biodiversity in the country. Although 81 per cent of the total biodiversity exists in India, there has not been any concerted effort to systematise it, she said. She also said the department was also working on some programmes to evaluate the newer drugs being introduced inthe market for various diseases.
Stating that biocontrol and biofertilisers were the two major areas the department had been concentrating on, she said much progress had been achieved. An energy park was also inaugurated at the university campus. Vice-chancellor R Ramamurthy exchanged the MoU with the University of Florida and Florida Atlantic Universities to carry out workon biomass conversion to energy. /BODY>