THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

BHUBANESWAR, OCTOBER 8, 2026

The Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) on Thursday unveiled an ambitious technology-driven roadmap for environmental protection, with plans to establish a state-of-the-art command-and-control centre, deploy robotic systems for water-quality assessment and transform its coastal ecosystem facility at Paradeep into a Centre of Excellence.

The decisions were taken at the 135th meeting of the OSPCB board held at Lok Seva Bhawan here, chaired by Chief Secretary Anu Garg and attended by Member Secretary Manoj V Nair and senior officials.

Emphasising the need to modernise environmental governance, Garg said the Centre for Management of Coastal Ecosystem (CMCE) at Paradeep should evolve beyond a conventional laboratory into an integrated hub of science, data and technology dedicated to protecting Odisha's coastal environment.

As part of efforts to strengthen real-time monitoring and enforcement, the board decided to establish a modern Command-and-Control Centre at the OSPCB headquarters in Nayapalli, Bhubaneswar.

The proposed centre will integrate field information, water sample analyses and laboratory data to facilitate faster assessment and decision-making on pollution-related issues.

The pollution control board will also deploy advanced robotic technology to assess water quality in rivers, ponds, estuaries and coastal waters, while drones will be used for comprehensive field surveillance, according to the decisions taken at the meeting.

The board also approved plans for new regional office buildings at Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Kalinganagar, Bhubaneswar, Keonjhar and Sambalpur. The proposed buildings will incorporate green features such as solar power, rainwater harvesting and vermicomposting.

Turning its attention to industrial sustainability, the OSPCB proposed creation of an Odisha Fly Ash Atlas that will provide an integrated picture of fly ash generation, availability and demand across the state.

Research initiatives focusing on the bio-stabilisation and bio-transformation of fly ash will also be undertaken in collaboration with premier academic institutions, with the aim of converting industrial waste into useful resources, including for sustainable agricultural applications.

The board also stressed the need to strengthen public participation in environmental governance. Garg called for citizen annual reports to be made simpler, highly visual and data-driven so that people can easily understand the state's environmental performance.

To promote environmental awareness among younger generations, the OSPCB will distribute interactive comic books and e-comic books among school and college students.

Concluding the meeting, Garg said the OSPCB must emerge as a true symbol of care and responsibility towards the environment and stressed the need for coordinated efforts to build a transparent, scientific and citizen-centric governance framework.