Environmental Awareness and Public Participation

Environmental awareness is to understand the fragility of environment and the importance of its protection. Promoting environmental awareness is an easy way to become an environmental steward and participate in creating a brighter future for coming generations. Environmental campaign has become an important tool to achieve effective compliance of various pollution control norms. Large scale public involvement can strengthen environment movements for the sake of implementation of environment-friendly rules and regulations by the government machinery in much better way to have the most desired results. Considering the above, the TNPCB has conducted various types of environmental awareness programmes every year on the following occasions.

Vinayagar Chathurthi Festival

Awareness programmes are conducted through the Collectors in all the district headquarters and towns not to use plaster of paris and paints to make the Vinayagar idols. The Board also monitors water quality of the identified water bodies before and after immersion of idols in specified locations.

Deepavali Festival

As a part of the awareness campaign to inform the public about the health effects caused by air and noise pollution, due to bursting of crackers continuously, special awareness and monitoring programmes were conducted by TNPCB during Deepavali in November 2015 along with monitoring of noise level and air quality in cities and major towns in Tamil Nadu. Awareness programmes are conducted not to burst crackers from 10 PM to 6 AM and also not to burst crackers creating sound more than 125 decibel (average). The noise level and the ambient air quality surveys were conducted during Pre-Deepavali and Deepavali days in Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Vellore, Salem, Hosur, Tiruppur, Dindigul and Cuddalore.

Bhogi Festival

Board conducted awareness programmes during Bhogi Festival Januaray 2016 not to burn the waste materials such waste tyres, tubes, plastic materials, cloths etc in open palces. A special ambient air quality survey on pre-bhogi and bhogi days were conducted in Chennai at 15 places viz., Kathiwakkam, Manali, Thillai Nagar (Kollathur), Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru Vi.Ka. Nagar, Ambattur, Anna Nagar, Besant Nagar, Thiyagaraya Nagar, Perungudi, Karambakkam, Meenambakkam, Kodambakkam and Shozinganallur.

Karthigai Mahadeepam Festival

The Plastic Awareness campaign was conducted every year in Thiruvannamalai Town during the Karthigai Mahadeepam Festival held in November 2015. In order to encourage the people to avoid plastic carry bags and use alternate like cloth bag, paper bags, jute bags, TNPCB conducted a programme by giving coupons to the people who brings cloth bag, jute bags and select the winners by lucky draw and give gold and silver coins. This has created huge awareness among the people.

Mahamaham Festival

TNPCB has conducted extensive awareness programme during the Mahamaham Festival in January 2016. "Maasilla Mahamaham" rally was conducted on 7.1.2016 in Kumbakonam in which more than 1000 school students participated. Workshop on "Clean Kumbakonam" was conducted on 22.1.2016 in which more than 500 school students participated. On 2.2.2016, plastic awareness rally was conducted in which more than 1000 college students participated. On 3.2.2016, human chain was conducted with a theme of "Clean Kumbakonam", in which more than 1500 school students participated. The Board has also participated in the Special Exhibition conducted for Mahamaham Festival.

Government Exhibitions

TNPCB actively participates in the Government Exhibitions conducted every year at Island Grounds in Chennai and in the District Head Quarters by providing stall and exhibits models on Effluent Treatment Plant, Air Pollution Control Measures, Solid Waste Management and other information on Environmental Protection. In 2015-16, TNPCB participated in the Government Exhibitions held in Island Grounds and in Tiruvannamalai, Trichy, Thanjavur, Nagercoil. Large number of Students and People have visited the stalls and benefited. In Theni District, TNPCB installed a stall in the Vaigai Peruvizha festival for creation of environmental awareness to the people.