Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony of Central Laboratory, 21st Nov 2004

November 21, 2004 was unique day for the MPCB. On this auspicious day Shri. Sharad Pawar, Hon. Minister for Agriculture and Food Technology laid down a foundation stone for the proposed building of the Central Laboratory at Mahape, Navi Mumbai. It was a sparkling event in which Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri. R.R. Patil was the Chief Guest and Chairman was Shri. Ganesh Naik, Minister of Environment, Government of Maharashtra. The State Minister for Environment, Shri. Ravindra Patil along with Shri. Sunil Tatkare, Minister for Agriculture and Food Supplies, Shri. Nakul Patil, Chairman CIDCO were the Guests of Honour. The ceremony was attended by employees of the board and numerous prominent personalities from all walks of life. The Honorable guests first visited the exhibition which acted as a show case of the various activities in the field of environmental protection and pollution control. Later on the main function started with a traditional Nandee by a cultural group from Pune and Shahir Vithal Umap sent a patriotic wave in the audience by his Powada and Maharashtra Geet. The show compared by Shri. Sudhir Gadgil, well known TV personality and host of Mahacharcha on Doordarshan. He was accompanied by another theatre and film personality Miss. Sharvari Jamenees. While addressing the large gathering Shri. Sharad Pawar, Hon. Minister for Agriculture and Food Technology laid emphasis on the balance of environmental protection and industrial growth. “The industrial growth in the state has polluted the valuable water resources and common man is paying the cost of this development. We have to balance our activities and also protect the nature for the next generations,” commented Shri. Pawar Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri. R.R. Patil hoped that the building of the Central Laboratory will be completed soon. “Maharashtra is a leading state as far as industrial sector is concerned now let’s be concerned about pollution control and also make the state pollution free. The State Government will support all the positive initiatives taken by the MPCB for curbing pollution in the State,” remarked Shri. R.R. Patil. Shri. Ganesh Naik, Minister of Environment, Government of Maharashtra and Principal Secretary Shri. B.P. Panday also spoke on the occasion. Central Laboratory’s new facility is a need of the day. It is essential to handle the ever increasing demand for the analysis of Air, Water and Solid Waste etc. It will fulfill long-lasting demand of having a separate facility for this type of work. At the moment Central Laboratory’s building at CIDCO Bhavan in Navi Mumbai along with regional laboratories at other regional offices does this type of analysis. But ever increasing demand for such type of testing is putting pressure on the existing infrastructure. The proposed ‘state of the art’ laboratory at Mahape costing around Rs. 8 Crores, will definitely help MPCB, in the long run.