Urban Eco-Park set up

Urban Eco-Park set up
Deccan Herald

BANGALORE, DEC. 8. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has set up an Urban Eco-Park, perhaps the largest in South-east Asia, to disseminate knowledge on environmental related issues to the common man.

The Senior Environmental Officer of the KSPCB, M.N. Jayaprakash, told The Hindu here today that the park was built on 2.43 hectares of land in the Peenya industrial area which was once used for illegal dumping of industrial waste. He said the park had about 150 varieties of plants, most of which were bio-indicators (the changes in environment are visible in their growth). They were grown using the treated industrial waste and sewage, he added.

An Environmental Training Institute (ETI) has been established in the park to provide training to target groups on ways to reduce pollution. The library at the ETI is being expanded to cater for the need of industries. The Web Centre will provide information on pollution. A common effluent treatment plant, which has a capacity of one lakh litres, has been set up with the help of industries in and around the area for demonstration.

Industries can approach the Technology Transfer Centre to test their effluents and identify the technology best suited to handle these. The centre helps industries and consultants find out how efficient the effluent units planned by them will prove to be. Mr. Jayaprakash said that a training course in maintenance of effluent treatment plants would be conducted.

A Recycle and Reuse Centre to treat and reuse industrial effluents within the park to irrigate plants has been set up. A demonstration plot enables the students and industries to experiment with treated effluents. "The entire organic waste generated within the park will be composted through vermiculture and reused as manure. The bio-indicators will be monitored, and any change in the plants caused by pollution will be identified," he said.