Kathmandu, Mar. 9:Industrialists, environment experts and government officials today discussed the ways of reducing the amount of industrial wastes through adoption of eco-friendly measures in the industrial institutions and simultaneously maintaining affordability of the produces.

Addressing Cleaner Production (CP) promotion seminar, Minister for Industry Omkar Prasad Shrestha said that the government is committed to enforce laws and regulations to mitigate adverse industrial impact on environment. Minister of State for Population and Environment Bhakta Bahadur Balayar, on the other hand, said that the government would create such circumstances where the “cleanest and greenest” industries come most strongly.

“CP is a win, win, win situation where everyone gains a lot,” Indian expert Dr. PK Gupta said. Describing CP as management, economic, environmental and quality improvement tool, he emphasised that solution to the polluting industries should come from within the industries themselves. “Solution should emerge from the within the process of finding sustainable answer to the polluting industries,” he said.

Thai expert Mandar Paranis also echoed the India’s claim about CP being the answer to many environmental grievances caused by the industrialisation. He, however, said that CP was not a technological magic that would heal all the negative impact on environment. “CP is change on management practices and change in thinking rather than a magic,” he said.

Representing the industrialists and business community Divakar Golchha said that government should go in partnership with the private sector in shaping out the environment regulations. He further emphasised on wise selection of technology and systematic implementation of pollution checking regulations to avoid complications. “The new environment measures should be sustainable and cost effective, otherwise their enactment will only hamper the industrialisation process,” Golchha said.

Charge D’Affair at the Royal Danish Embassy Lars Hormann said that implementing environment protection regulation is “not an easy task”. “For their proper implementation, political will is important but it should also be backed up my public concern and change in their attitude,” he said.

Under the assistance of Danish co-operation agency DANIDA, the government initiated the five-year Environment Sector Programme Support (ESPS) since September 1999 with the aim strengthening the overall environmental management of brown sector. The ESPS sources claim the programme intends to support prevention, minimisation and control of environmental pollution emanating from industrial and urban development without hampering the development process and economic growth.