To address the important issue of Environment ToxicityDr. Satinder Kaur Brar, Professor at the Institute of National Scientific Research (INRS), Quebec, 
Canada visited Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. She said that in India large scale urbanization, a consequence of rapid economic development is leading to the production of huge quantities of waste and sewage, posing serious environmental problems for their disposal. Urban waste water includes sewage sludge and effluents which are often disposed of on agricultural lands for irrigation or manuring purposes and create both opportunities and problems. Opportunities exist as sewage sludge and effluents from municipal origin are rich in organic matter and also contain appreciable amounts of major and micronutrients. However, untreated wastewater exerts negative 
externality effects on humans and ecological systems, which need to be identified and assessed. Dr.Brar holds expertise in the field of Environmental Toxicology with major focus on Evaluation and Remediation of Environmental Contamination. She is leading the research group on the Bioprocessing and Nano-Enzyme Formulation Facility (BANEFF) at INRS-ETE. She delivered a lecture on “Value Addition of Residuals and Advanced Decontamination” and discussed on her research work pertaining to the development of finished products (formulations) of wastewater and wastewater sludge based value-added bioproducts, such as enzymes, organic acids, platform chemicals, biocontrol agents, biopesticides, butanol and biohydrogen. She further explained how the waste products from fruit transformation industries were being utilized in paper and pulp industry, textiles and bioremediation in Canada. She discussed the prospects of collaboration between INRS and GADVASU on various related research projects and also a dire need for combined efforts by both the universities in analysing and mitigating the potential harmful effects of the prevalent and emerging contaminants. Further research in this area could help to overcome the menace of drug and pesticide residues and drug resistance crippling the growth of developing nations.
Dr. Amarjit Singh, Placement-cum-Liaison Officer of the university coordinated the visit of Dr. Brar and apprised her about various facilities in the GADVASU. Dr. V.K. Dumka, Head Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology informed Dr Brar about the related research projects undergoing in the university and also coordinated the deliberations between GADVASU scientists and Dr Brar. Dr A.S. Nanda, Vice Chancellor, GADVASU emphasized the need for the optimal processing and utilization of the sewage water and sludge in the preparation of bioplastics, biofertilizers, biopesticides and biocontrol agents. He said that this collaboration may help in a long way in formulating advanced technologies for urban waste management which is a major problem of developing countries.
