Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to launch an intensive awareness campaign against pollution in all civic body areas.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the State Assembly House Committee on Environment on Tuesday. Speaker Surya Narayan Patro presided over the meeting.
Talking to the media after the meeting, member-secretary of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) Debidutta Biswal said the pollution in seven cities —Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Talcher, Balasore, Angul, Rourkela and Kalinganagar (Jajpur) — has reached alarming levels. Besides, nine riverbeds are also polluted with Gangua nullah in Bhubaneswar being the worst affected.
Biswal said the Speaker directed OPSCB and the departments concerned to launch a massive campaign in all civic body areas in the state to make the people aware of the hazards of pollution.
“Climate change, global warming, emission of carbon dioxide and release of toxic chemicals from factories and the rampant use of single-use plastics are the major factors of pollution. Unless the emission of carbon dioxide is brought to a minimum level, it will lead to global warming. Under such circumstances, our generation will manage to survive, but the next generation will be wiped out,” Biswal said quoting the Speaker.