PUNE: In a bid to prevent illegal dumping and unloading of hazardous waste on fringe areas in the state, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) is gearing up to step into e-governance.

Of the 11 regional offices of the board in the state, in the initial phase, Pune regional office will be the first to implement e-governance in the next few months. Following it, all regional offices will switch to e-governance," P K Mirashe, Pune regional officer, MPCB, said. The process of preparing the base for e-governance has been on since the last two years and is nearing completion now, he added.

The electronic consignment note system or e-Tracking of hazardous waste will help preventing illegal dumping and unloading of hazardous waste on fringe areas. The move is aimed at curbing such practises, Khandare said.

"The movement of every consignment of hazardous waste from a generator to a carrier to a facility provider is tracked by means of an internet-based electronic submission of consignment note system known as e-Tracking," said Sanjay Khandare, member secretary, MPCB. The central web-server for the same will be installed at the Mumbai office, he added.

Earlier, the consignment of waste, instead of unloading at the common waste facility at Ranjangaon, was used to be emptied anywhere in between the routes. It was practically impossible to keep a track of these consignments upto their destined site.

"This e-Tracking will enable us to keep track of their movement till they reach the real site. And any aberration will land the generator and carrier in trouble," said Mirashe.

Elaborating on the modalities, Ajay Deshpande, Mumbai regional officer of the MPCB said, "Trucks carrying industrial waste will be given bar-codes, that will be pasted on it. These trucks can either be owned by generators themselves or by a transport agency approved by the MPCB."

This will help in tracking the movement of an authorised bar-coded truck sitting at the office via internet-based electronic submission of consignment note system," he added.

All new and existing industrial waste generators will have to register with the MPCB to receive the user ID and password to log into the e-Tracking system, Deshpande said. "With its electronic data transfer upgrades, this system will lead the way as a state-of-the-art tool for hazardous waste tracking and compliance monitoring."

Similarly, the web-server will also help in fulfilling as well as keeping a track of all the formalities required for starting an industrial unit online. "Two types of permission, consent to establish and consent to operate, need to be sought from the MPCB to start an industrial unit. The existing manual method consumes lots of time and energy," Mirashe said.

Using e-Tracking of files, the person, who wants to start an industrial unit, can fill the forms online, submit it and get either an approval or refusal online. He needs not frequent the office every now and then to fulfil the formalities.

Since the entire work processes would be digitalised, it will allow for data to be transferred and shared electronically via internet between all offices and authorities. "Even authorities can get to know each others and keep a track of what one is up to at the click of the mouse, Mirashe said.