“I have written to the Finance Minister very recently that we need to have a joint mechanism between the Ministry of Environment and Forest and the Ministry of Finance so that the customs department becomes much more sensitive to this area," Mr. Ramesh said in the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour.
Replying to a supplementary that whether India's ports are equipped to check the hazardous materials, the Minister said, "...the honest answer is no" and asserted that procedures at the ports will be tightened to bring about a greater control on the import of hazardous waste.
He, however, said that India has a strong set of hazardous wastes management rules but their implementation needs to be strengthened especially at the port level to ensure that such material was not dumped in the country.
Read the full report in the Hindu here.
Also, watch NDTV's report on the subject here.
