16 Sep :CFCs have been actively phased out since last month, 17 months ahead of schedule to protect ozone layer. Addressing a gathering celebrating 14th International Day for the Preservaiton of the Ozone Layer, Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Shri Namo Narain Meena termed this as credible achievement considering the challenges of meeting the residual requirements of CFCs within the country.
The most important and critical target of 85% reduction target of CTC production and consumption has also been achieved. Halons have already been phased out since 2003 in the country. Shri Meena further said the Government has taken adequate steps to ensure that all sectors that are still consuming CFCs have been provided with alternative ways to cope up with the prevailing situation. The 19th Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Montreal Protocol took a historic decision to advance the phase-out of Hydro ChloroFlurocarbons (HCFCs) from 2040 to 2030, India welcomed this decision as this will faster not only recovery of ozone layer but also reduce global warming.
Talking about success of Montreal Protocol, the Minister said the explicit financial arrangements set out for meeting the incremental costs of change in technology, transfer of technology to developing countries with voluntary contributions from developed countries, generally in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities is the main reason of the success. Besides this, availability of alternative taxes at resentment cost and fairly accurate knowledge about the extent of resources needed to address the problem are also reasons behind the success. Shri Meena appealed State Governments to play an important role by availing training and support provided under National CFC Consumption Phase-out Plan to meet immediate need of consumers.
Earlier the function started with ozone song. Children presented their viewpoint on Ozone Layer protection. Shri Vijai Sharma, secretary, Shri J.M. Mauskar, additional Secretary gave remarks on ozone protection. Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power delivered key note address. Shri V. K. Jain, Managing Director of M/s Gujarat fluro chemicals and Vice President of REGMA was also invited on this occasion. It was for the first time that a representative from industry which is following the protocol suggestions and developing alternative refrigerants talked about phase-out programme. The Minister administered ozone pledge. Poster, sticker and 10th edition of ‘the Montreal Protocol:India’s Success Story’ were released by the Minister. 43 children winners of Poster Competition, Painting Competition, Quiz on Ozone Science, Skit Competition, Model Making Competition and Slogan Writing Competition were presented Awards. These competitions were organized earlier on 5th September, 2008 where 469 children participated.
Five awards were also given away under Medini Puraskar Yojana of the Ministry for the year 2006. Shri Kuldeep Sharma has been awarded first prize of Rs. 31,000/- for his book ‘ Pradushan Kaise Kaise’. Shri Sharma has highlighted different pollutions and their fatal effects on human life and has offered options to control it. Prof. Madhusudan Tripathi has bagged second award of Rs. 25,000/- for his book ‘Paryavaran Shiksha’. The book emphasizes the importance of environmental education and its different facets.
Dr. Satish Kumar Sharma received third prize for his account on forest and wildlife management. It also shows how to meet management challenges with limited resources.
The fourth and last consolation prize under this scheme is shared by Shri Ravi Jadhav’s ‘Gungun’ and Shri Sanjiv Ahire’s ‘Vaneeton ki Fariyaden’. Gungun narrates the way for welfare of human race through medium of rivers, trees, mountains, animals and birds. ‘Vaneeton ki Kahani’ portrays the beautiful relations between man and environment through poetry.