BHUBANESWAR: The Coastal Environmental Monitoring Nodal Centre (CEMC) located in Paradip is set to be upgraded into a Centre of Excellence aimed at bolstering coastal environmental research and monitoring efforts.

This initiative was confirmed during the 135th Board meeting of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB), which took place at Lok Seva Bhawan. Chief Secretary Anu Garg, who chaired the meeting, emphasized that the CEMC should evolve beyond being merely a laboratory, instead becoming a comprehensive center focused on science, data, and technology dedicated to coastal environmental preservation.

To enhance the state’s environmental monitoring capabilities, the meeting also addressed plans for constructing office facilities in Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Kalinga Nagar, Bhubaneswar, Keonjhar, and Sambalpur, as well as modernizing the laboratory in Patia.

Additionally, the establishment of a command and control center at the OSPCB headquarters in Nayapalli was discussed, aimed at improving environmental monitoring and making it more data-oriented.

Other topics included expanding water sample collection and monitoring through robotic technologies and implementing air quality monitoring using drones.