According to a report, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of developing a national programme for the management of chemicals and chemical waste with the help of the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), UNDP and a Swiss government agency.
The move must be welcomed. Unchecked use of chemicals and chemical waste in this country has been wreaking havoc with the public health and environment. Aside from some less known chemicals the use of pesticides and herbicides is rampant. And most people, especially those living in the rural areas, who handle such chemicals on a regular basis, are unaware of the risks involved in unprotected use and storage of hazardous chemicals.
This problem, though, is relatively easier to address through sustained awareness campaigns, while the crying need for strict regulation of dangerous chemicals' transportation may prove to be difficult. The more troublesome issue is that of unchecked disposal of toxic chemical waste.
As it is, ISO requirements under the WTO regulatory regime require safe disposal of hazardous solid waste and effluents. Hence the industries that are engaged in export activity have been following the necessary guidelines for the safe disposal of waste. The challenge comes from the industries that cater for the local market, and find themselves under no great compulsion to act in a spirit of social responsibility.
They have been freely disposing of toxic waste in the open, letting it seep into the ground to pollute the soil and the water table underneath, and to find its way into drinking water as well as the food chain. The attitude, in fact, is not peculiar to this country. There have been a number of instances in the developed countries, too, wherein toxic industrial waste was dumped surreptitiously without a care for the harm it could cause to human health.
It was only when civil society groups started to uncover such dumps and raise the issue with their governments that the situation started to change for the better. The point of this example is that the majority of the pullulating industries will undertake socially responsible plans only when they feel pressured to do so, and know that they can be caught and punished for adopting wrong practices.
Which places a special responsibility on the relevant agencies to put in place the necessary regulatory mechanism. By now, technologies for the treatment of toxic waste are readily available. Those engaged in activities that produce toxic chemical waste must be required to employ the same.
There should be no leeway for anyone on the pretext of non-affordability on grounds of costs. Indeed, some of the anti-pollution technologies are expensive and burdensome for smaller industries, but they can get around the problem by joining hands with others in the field to form common waste disposal facilities.
As a matter of fact, some people have already adopted that approach, but countless others remain unmoved and unconcerned. It is hoped that the EPA, which now has the assistance of important international agencies for the task, will formulate and implement an effective plan for the management of chemicals and chemical wastes.