School of Environmental Studies, Kolkata

About School of Environmental Studies, Kolkata

The School of Environmental Studies (SOES) is part of Jadavpur University and is self-funded. Neither does it seek aid from international agencies nor look for funds from government bodies. Also, we do not accept any donation. We sell our expertise. The school runs on the money it earns.
The purpose of this School is to highlight and try to solve the environmental problems affecting people. The School provides scientific information to common people, industry, local and central governments on some of the burning environmental problems (e.g. arsenic, fluoride groundwater contamination, metal toxicity from industrial effluents, urban air and water pollution etc.) and suggests the government on maintaining them.

School of Environmental Studies (SOES) is part of Jadavpur University and a self-funded institute. Neither it asks international aid agencies for any financial help nor it asks local or central government for fund. We do not also accept any donation. We sell our expertise. The school runs on the basis of money it earns.

The purpose of SOES is to highlight and make an approach to solve the environmental problems where people are affected. The School is providing scientific information to common people, industry, local and central government about some of the present environmental problems (e.g. arsenic, fluoride groundwater contamination, metal toxicity from industrial effluent, urban air and water pollution etc.) and suggesting government what steps to be taken to combat the situation.SOES also helps common peoples in various ways, e.g., free analysis of arsenic and fluoride in their hand tube-wells; providing financial assistances to boys and girls studying in school and colleges from affected families, advising many NGOs about the problem and helping them by free/cost prices for sample analysis, etc.

1. The School has attracted both national and international attention for their consistent research on arsenic menace in groundwater in India and Bangladesh.
2. Earned more than a few crores of Rupees by analyzing water, air and biological samples; selling expertise to industries; setting up environmental laboratories in other counties; providing consultancy; working for EIA; selling Video-cassettes, Ph.D. Thesis, Conference Proceedings. 10% -30% of this money was deducted by university as over-head and rest transferred by university to SOES account for its development.
3. Jadavpur University has agreed on the request made by SOES to accept Rs. 30 lacs for which university is paying an interest [@10% p.a.]. Also SOES gets interest from fixed deposits. In this way per year a part of the salary, fellowships for technical persons and research students are coming from the interest earned by deposited money.
4. School of Environmental Studies (SOES) jointly with Water Resource Engineering was the Eastern Regional Center for National Afforestation and Eco-Development Board, Government of India and received grant about 2.0 crores and paid 10% as overhead to Jadavpur University. So far SOES jointly published more than 30 Wasteland Management report from this project and conducted more than 40 Workshops involving common people.
5. SOES has been providing training to technical persons and earning money through this training (both national and international).
6. SOES is also helping many Research Institutions in Kolkata and all over India by analyzing water and biological samples for arsenic. In some cases at free of cost and in some cases against the cost of chemicals [Prince of Songkla University, Faculty of Medicine, Thailand (Shoko Oshikawa); All India Institute of Hygiene & Public Health, Kolkata (Prof. Arunava Mazumder); Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata (Dr. A. K. Giri); All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi (Dr. Sanjeev Lalwani); Defense Research & Development Organization, Ambernath (Dr. Kshipra Misra); School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata (Dr. Gurudas Podder); Public Health Engineering Department, Karnataka; Public Health Engineering Department, Karbi-Anglong, Assam etc.]
7. SOES is also working on Air-Pollution of Kolkata and industrial pollution in and around Kolkata. Time to time awareness among people about their environment was made by publishing popular articles in daily newspapers.
8. School of Environmental Studies has been working on fluoride groundwater contamination and sufferings of people in Birbhum district of West Bengal, Berhait district of Jharkhand and Karbi Anglong district of Assam. Hundreds of people are found suffering from dental and skeletal fluorosis.
9. SOES has stopped the students habit of writing on the walls of the University by providing 40 concrete poster stands (8’ x 3’) in the Jadavpur University campus and also SOES has made a garden in front of C.E.T. Canteen and sitting arrangements under many trees in the campus of Jadavpur University.

10. Six international conferences on arsenic problem of West Bengal-India and Bangladesh organized by SOES-JU Developing Countries Perspective on Health, Water, Environmental issues" in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 15-18, 2004 (jointly organized with Dhaka Community Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh) [6 6th international conference on “Safe Water and Safe Food Options in Arsenic Mitigation: Lesson Learnt” in Dhaka, Bangladesh on January 4-5, 2006 (jointly organized with Dhaka Community Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh).

School of Environmental Studies (SOES)
Jadavpur University
Kolkata-700 032
West Bengal,
India

Phone: (91 33) 24146233 / 24146760 (lab)
(91 33) 24121239 / 24142902 (res)

Fax: (91 33) 24146266 (lab)

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.soesju.org