APCB-Aaranyak launches ‘Pollution Abating Schools in Guwahati’

way2barak, Nov 1: Aaranyak, one of the region’s leading environmental organizations has initiated the project “Pollution Abating Schools in Guwahati”, with support of the Assam Pollution Control Board.

The inception workshop of this initiative was organised on October 31, at the conference hall of Assam Pollution Control Board (APCB). Delivering the inaugural speech, Dr. G K Misra, Member Secretary of the Assam Pollution Control Board highlighted the need of civic participation in environmental conservation and pollution abatement.

Dr. Misra said that APCB likely to expand the support to more schools based on the result of this pilot initiative. “Pollution Abatement Schools in Guwahati”, marking a new step towards abating pollution in Guwahati City, he said.

The programme is part of an umbrella scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, aimed at curbing environmental pollution.

He also appreciated the students’ curiosity and explained several simple yet impactful steps that young people can adopt to minimize pollution in their daily lives.

 He formally launched the programme and expressed his enthusiasm to continue collaborating with Aaranyak in future initiatives aimed at environmental conservation and education.

“Aaranyak has been providing necessary guidance to the new generation of the NE region to usher a new era of ecological security,” said Jayanta Kumar Pathak, Assistant Director of Environment Education and Capacity Building (EECB) division of Aaranyak while presenting about the pollution abating initiative.

Pathak also acknowledge the active support of Samagra Shiksha Assam to the environmental and sustainability education initiative led by the Aaranyak aiming to engage school students in environmental stewardship aligning with the Mission LiFE.

Dr Simanta Kalita, Senior Consultant at Aaranyak while highlighting detailed roadmap for Pollution Abatement Schools also presented some key findings of KAP study carried out among students on Pollution Abatement.

The KAP study was conducted recently by the Environment Education and Capacity Building Division (EECBD) of Aaranyak in some schools in Guwahati.

Kanteswar Kalita, Senior Planning & Research Officer, APCB, in his welcome address emphasized the need to inculcate positive behavioural changes among students through experiential learning in daily life.

He appreciated Aaranyak’s consistent efforts in nurturing responsible young minds and fostering community participation to drive collective action and create a sustainable impact in nature conservation and environmental protection.

The workshop was attended by the representative of students, teachers, research scholars, official of Dakshin Beltola High School, Aaranyak and APCB. The workshop was moderated and coordinated by Geetashree Sharma and Tikendrajit Gogoi of Aaranyak along Dr Kakoli Das Kalita.