the Union ministry of environment and forests is preparing an elaborate national environmental management system to cope with challenges of the new millennium. The National Cleaner Production Centre (ncpc) , a wing of the National Productivity Council (npc), has already submitted an action plan and listed priorities, which would serve as the basis for the final blueprint, S P Chandak, director, ncpc said. The system is expected to be ready by the end of December.

According to conservative estimates, environmental degradation costs the country around Rs 40,000 crore annually, a good 4.5 per cent of the gross domestic product. The system, Chandak said, would provide guidelines for implementation and creation of administrative road maps for sectoral actions required for prevention and control of eco-degradation. Besides minimising losses due to pollution, the broad World Trade Organisation commitments also prompted the government to lay down a national environment-issues limited.