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Environmental Information System (ENVIS)
The Ministry of Environment and Forests began to
implement the Environmental Information System (ENVIS)
by the end of the 6th Five Year Plan as a Plan Scheme
for environmental information collection, collation,
storage, retrieval and dissemination to policy planners,
decision makers, scientists and environmentalists,
researchers, academicians and other stakeholders.
The mission of ENVIS is to provide access to and
enhance the use of environment-related information
in the country; advance the understanding of different
environment-related issues; and indirectly serve
the needs of public and private decisionmaking.
ENVIS is a decentralized computerized network database
system consisting of the focal point located in
the Ministry and a chain of network partners, known
as ENVIS Centres, located in organizations/institutions
throughout the country.
Presently, the ENVIS network consists of 78
ENVIS Centres apart from the focal point located
at the Ministry of Environment and Forests, out
of which, 30 ENVIS Centres are in State Government
Departments dealing with the Status of Environment
and related issues of the concerned State Government
and the remaining 48 Centres have been set up on
various environmental disciplines covering air pollution,
water pollution, noise pollution, biodiversity,
solid waste management, ecology and ecosystems,
environmental education, NGOs, media and parliament,
coastal ecosystem, clean technology, etc.
The broad objectives of ENVIS are:
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1. |
Long-term
objectives :
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to build up
a repository and dissemination centre in Environmental
Science and Engineering |
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to gear up the modern
technologies of acquisition, processing, storage,
retrieval and dissemination of information of
environmental nature |
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to support and promote
research, development and innovation in environmental
information technology |
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| 2. |
Short-term objectives: |
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to provide
national environmental information service relevant
to present needs and capable of development
to meet the future needs of the users, originators,
processors and disseminators of information |
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to build up storage, retrieval
and dissemination capabilities with the ultimate
objectives of disseminating information speedily
to the users |
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to promote, national and
international cooperation and liaison for exchange
of environment-related information |
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to promote, support and
assist education and personnel training programmes
designed to enhance environmental information
processing and utilisation capabilities |
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to promote exchange of
information amongst developing countries |
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| The responsibilities
of ENVIS Centres are: |
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building up a good collection
of books, reports and journals in the particular
subject area of environment |
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establishment of linkages
with all information sources in the particular
subject area of environment |
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responding to user queries |
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establishment of a data
bank on some selected parameters relating to
the subject area |
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coordination with the
Focal Point for supplying relevant, adequate
and timely information to the users |
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helping the Focal Point
in gradually building up an inventory of information
material available at the Centre; identification
of information gaps in the specified subject
areas and action to fill these gaps |
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bringing out newsletters/publications
in their subject area for wide dissemination |
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