Encouraged by the use of plastic in road laying in Tamil Nadu, the Centre is mulling a national level policy on its usage on roads.
“Using plastic in laying roads will increase the life of roads. We have to prepare a national level policy on this. We are talking over this,” Environment and Forests Minister, Mr Jayanthi Natarajan, told reporters on the sidelines of the seventh national meet of State biodiversity boards here. Chennai Corporation earlier this month had launched a programme to use plastic in laying roads, an idea developed by a Chemistry Professor in a Madurai-based engineering college.
The Minister stressed the importance of common man's participation in conserving biodiversity and protecting the environment and suggested that people look at car pooling, preferring public transport and smart usage of electricity as they are interlinked with the environment. To a query on mining leases being given by the Government, she said, “We have been and are absolutely determined and committed that our forest resources, the integrity of our land is not harmed at all. And therefore we have very strict rules in place. When applications for mines are made only after e anxious considerations are made, a mining lease is given.”
Asked about the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report, she said it has been circulated to all Chief Ministers of areas covered by the report. “Their views are very important. The Environment Ministry will take a view on it and then the report will be available to the public in our website.”
The WGEEP, in its report, designated the entire hill range as an Ecologically Sensitive Area. It classified the 142 taluks in the Western Ghats boundary into Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) 1, 2 and 3. The Minister said her ministry has constituted the WGEEP to assess the current status of ecology of Western Ghats region in view of the environmental sensitivity and ecological significance of the region.