Green Ashcon 2019, was inaugurated at VNIT auditorium, in the city on Friday. Â S S Hussain, IAS (Retd), ex-chairman JNPT, was the chief guest. Ex- CEO, CREDAI-MCHI, Ashish Jaiswal, chairman, Maharashtra State Mining Corporation Limited, Vishram Jamdar, Chairman VNIT, S Ramamoorthy, IAS, managing director, Maharashtra State Mining Corporation Limited, Sudhir Paliwal, expert member MS Fly Ash Council , Dr Pramod Padole , Director VNIT , Purshottam Jadhav from MahaGenco were the guests.
Hussain said the conference was important with regard to nature conservation its name ‘Green Ashcon’ itself suggests that the grey ash will now be utilised to keep nature green. We have been witnessing a rise in ocean levels, untimely rains, extreme temperatures, and climatic changes. This is all due to excess pollution contributed by various sources. Maharashtra is the first state to make policy on fly ash, which was further considered by the Central government. Maximum utilisation of fly ash will help to serve as a solution to pollution problems.
Paliwal while sharing his inputs said this is the second year we are organising this conference. The objective is to tie up with an academic institution is to spread awareness on this topic. Union minister Nitin Gadkari too has been taking interest in fly ash utilisation and its promotion. He further said it is recommended to grow Laxmitaru plant in the areas, which have abundant fly ash.  MahaGenco has planted 14,000 such plants. Moreover, the oil extracted from the plant can be used as biofuel.
Earlier, a technical exhibition was inaugurated by the guests. The exhibition showcased various materials used in constructions and roads building made from fly ash.
Dr Indu Muzumdar conducted the programme. In the technical session, Paliwal gave a presentation on ‘Current Scenario and Maharashtra State fly Ash policy’ followed by ‘MahaGenco Fly Ash policy and initiative taken by Mahagenco to achieve 100% fly ash utilization’ by Purshottam Jadhav.
