Indo-US tie-up to reduce mercury contamination

Renewal of partnership between India and the US on environment protection for another five years may see some breakthrough in reducing mercury contamination in the country.

A working group was set up by the industry here on Tuesday to check mercury contamination under the joint leadership of United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) and India's environment ministry.

Mercury pollution has been an unregulated terrain in India. Every year, hundreds of tonnes of mercury is imported into the country, which the environment activists term as 'dumping' of the silvery chemical.

USEPA administrator Stephen L Johnson said, "At present, we are facing environmental challenges that have to be dealt with new approaches. USEPA would partner with Indian industrial sector on this front, by sharing our experiences of reducing mercury contamination and to stop the element from drifting into environment."

While the Union environment ministry has been criticised for not regulating mercury, secretary Prodipto Ghosh hinted at progress in the future. He said the MoU with USEPA was an agreement for partnership in 17 distinct sectors and its provisions would enable a better industry partnership in the projects taken up.

According to Johnson, the agreement would encourage joint work in air and water quality, toxic chemicals, waste and management of environmental agencies.

The Ficci working group on mercury will evolve strategies to reduce mercury in clinics and hospital gadgets through the use of new technologies developed in the US, Ficci secretary general Dr Amit Mitra said.

The working group comprising experts and medical institutions associated with Ficci, along with other related industry bodies, would evolve an action plan to use safer and more accurate instruments than the conventional ones using mercury.

According to Toxics Link, an NGO working against toxic contamination, while all the developed nations are phasing out the element, in India the reverse is happening with around 150 tonnes of the element imported every year to make different medical and electrical equipment.

"Even after repeated requests, the government seems to be indifferent to the danger. We do not have any kind of legislation or regulation, which would control the import of mercury or check the contamination," said Toxics Link associate director Satish Sinha.