•CHAPTER 9: INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
•Environmental Issues and concerns, integrated wi th all aspects of development will play a
•significant role in the economy and society. The necessary institutional framework needs to
•be created, building on the existing systems, to meet future needs. Some recommendations
•in this regard are given below :
9.1 Environment Research Institute – A national research institution sponsored by the
•MoEF&CC needs to be established, whic h will act as the premier research and
•innovation centre in the field of environmen t sciences. This stat e-of-the-art research
•institution would sponsor regular degree/ di ploma/ post graduate courses on various
•aspects of environment sciences and applicab le practices, including standard-setting;
•as well as short-term courses on specific to pics. This institute would also act as the
•apex technical advisory national agency on all matters relating to management of the
•environment, and will coordinate with other designated national laboratories in the
•field of environment management.
•It is also recommended that MoEF& CC may identify a number of technical
•institutions, including some IITs, private and public engineering colleges, as well as
•laboratories of the CSIR and other agencies nationally, to act as technical reference
•agencies on specific areas relating to air, water pollution and related areas. This will
•assist in identifying technical certificatio n requirements in the pr ocess of monitoring
•the implementation of approval conditions, and verifying emission/ discharge levels
•by industries; would also facilitate in prov iding credible and acceptable evidence in
•the course of prosecuting defaulters.
•Recommendation:-
(i)Establish a National Environment Research Institute, through an Act of
Parliament.
•(ii) Identify specific technical institutions / universities in India to act as technical
•advisors to the proposed NEMA/ SEMA and other environmental enforcement
•agencies, to provide credible technica l back-stopping for management of the
environment.
9.2 Creation of a new All India Serv ice – Indian Environment Service – Issues relating to
•the management of the environment are acquiring increasing significance.
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•‘Environment’ will play a large role in th e overall governance paradigm. The public
•sector, including the Central and State Gove rnments, and various other quasi-official
•bodies, such as corporations, municipal bo ards, enforcement agencies, as well as the
•industrial sectors will require reliable expertis e of a high order in the management of
•environmental issues. Current approval sy stems and monitoring mechanism function
•in a quasi-amateurish manner, leading to sub-optimal management of environmental
issues.
•It is now proposed that a new Indian Enviro nment Service be created, as an All India
•Service, which will act as an expert group to man positions in this field in the public
•and quasi-governmental sectors over the next decades. It is suggested that an expert
•committee may examine the entry qualificatio ns and other details, preferably for
•recruitment through open competition in consultation with the MoEF&CC, the DoPT
•and UPSC.
•Recommendation: An Indian Environment Service ma y be created, as an All India
•Service, based on qualifications and othe r details prescribed by MoEF&CC/ DoPT/
UPSC.
9.3 Expertise in the Indian Forest Service – The Indian Forest Se rvice (IFS) enjoys a good
•reputation and has managed the forest wealth of India reasonably well. However,
•the issues of forest management are no more generalist in nature. It is
•recommended that existing members of the IF S, particularly in the junior levels be
•encouraged to specialise in specific areas of forestry (such as forest conservation,
•protection, harvesting and sale of forest produce; extension forestry, joint forest
•management, grassland and watershed ma nagement and eco-development outside
•reserve forest; wildlife management including all its aspects; and research, training/
•working plans, technical support to agro a nd farm forestry). Noting that issues of
•environment are now to be seen holistically to include forest, wildlife as well as air/
•water and other pollution issues, the traini ng and work experience of the Indian
•Forest cadre may also now be designed to include familiarisation and work
•experience of the totality of environmental management.
•Recommendation:- The Indian Forest Service may encourage specialisation in
•various aspects of forestry and wildlif e management, among the members of the
•service, as well as familiarity with all aspects of management of environment.
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
9.4 Need for enhancing the quality of forest co ver, and periodical review of quality of
•forest management – The Committee during its visit to various States had occasion
•to discuss the quality of forest cover in depart mental forests, as it obtains today. On
•the basis of cursory research and hearsay ev idence, it may not be fair to come to a
•conclusion; however, the feeling appears inescapable that the existing area under
•forest cover is not managed in an optimal fashion. Apart from much evidence that
•poachers and other intruders are not dealt wi th effectively, there appears to be no
•in-built incentive for improvement of quality of forest management in the country.
•While this may not be interpreted as adve rse comments on the work of the Ministry,
•or the State Governments, or the forest services, the Committee wishes to highlight
•the need for greater focus on quality improvement in forest management.
•The primary focus of the Department appear s to be to increase the Departmental
•forest area, and bring it to th e level of 33% of total landmass. This is laudable. But
•the equally important aspects of improvemen t in quality of forest cover, including
•biodiversity, have been lost sight of. In the operation of the State Forest
•Corporations, a significant current focus appe ars to be ‘profitability’ of operations,
•essentially relating to choice of quick yiel ding species, without adequate diversity,
•which may not have optimal long-term benefits.
•It has also been noticed that there is li ttle technical interaction between the forest
•department in most States and the adjoining rural communities to provide advice and
•technology for the improvement in the quality of social forestry, as well as in ‘Joint
•Forest Management’. Lack of imaginative, collaborative efforts is costing the country
dear.This is a serious gap that need s to be filled. The interface between the
•Department and the adjoining communities appears to be, from the Department’s
•point of view, one of ‘peaceful coexistenc e’. Department needs to actively engage
•itself in social forestry, overall contributing to the quality of forest cover in the
country.
•The issue of repeated forest fires in nearly every region is a serious matter. It does
•not appear clear that these have been addressed adequate ly in terms of prevention,
•control, management and puni shment; the forest authorities seem to have no
•accountability in this regard.
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•The feeling has persisted that there is in adequate specialisation in the forestry
•services, to meet the diverse requirement s for today and tomorrow. While prima
•facie the Committee may appear to be stra ying far beyond its brief, and even its
•competence to raise these issues may be questioned, the Committee feels that it is
•their duty to bring attention of these matters to the appropriate authorities.
•Recommendation:- The MoEF&CC may like to unde rtake a comprehensive review
•of departmental forest management policie s, practices and proc edures, to initiate
•wide-ranging improvements and reforms. Th is preferably should not be an internal
•exercise, and should include independent knowledgeable experts from India and
•abroad, as well as qualified researchers.
9.5 Issue of new Notification to replace the EIA Notification, 2006 - over the past 8 years
•more than 150 circulars, O ffice Memoranda and amendments have been issued by
•the MoEF&CC to provide clarity on the various aspects of the assessment process,
•m a k i n g i t d i f f i cu l t t o t a k e a n a ccu r a t e comprehensive view on the current position.
•These notifications may now be summarised in a new notification, rationalising and
•updating all these, to provide one single updated comprehensive set of directions.
•The Committee could have attempted this work except for paucity of time; besides,
•such an exercise would have to await the decision of MoEF&CC on the
•recommendations of this Committee; thereaft er, also taking into account ELMA, the
•MoEF&CC may arrange to consolidate the pr esent position within the next three
months.Any new circulars thereafter or regulations or amendments, unless found
•imperatively urgent, may be issued or revised only once a year, at a specified period.
•Recommendation:- MoEF&CC may consolid ate all existing Notifications/ circulars/
•instructions into one comprehensive set of instructions. Amendments or additions
•may normally be done only once a year. (Naturally, this will depend on decisions
•taken by Government on the recommendations of this Committee)
9.6 Legal Reforms – The Committee has elsewhere (Chapter 8) recommended the
•enactment of a new ‘Environment Laws (Management) Act’. Ideally, if there had
•been time, the Committee would have also recommended detailed revisions to the
•existing Water and Air related Acts.
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•After decisions are taken on the structur e based on the recommendations of the
•Committee, it is recommended that the Wa ter Act, 1974, The WC Act, 1977, The Air
•Act, 1981 may be subsumed into the EP Act, 1986. All the enabling provisions of the
•amalgamated Acts could be incorporated in EP Act, 1986. This task could be
•accomplished through a special committee within 3 months.
•For the present, it is not envisaged that forest/ wildlife related acts need to be
•integrated with the revamped Environment Protection Act.
•Recommendation:- The MoEF&CC may arrange to revamp the EP Act, by inducting
•relevant provisions of the Water Act, 1977 and the Air Act, 1981 ; the latter two could
•be repealed, when the revamped EP Act, 1986 comes into force. This exercise may
•be done keeping in view the provisions of the proposed Environment Management
Act.
9.7 Environment Reconstruction Fund – An ERF may be created as a public fund,
•managed directly by the Ministry or the pr oposed NEMA. This Fund shall receive its
•inflow from a variety of sources, includi ng from water cess, air pollution cess,
•proposed vehicle pollution surcharge, proposed surcharge on units discharging
•effluents; environmental reconstruction cost from project proponents; fees for
•various services rendered by agencies including process fees etc.; as well as other
•levies, also including penalties and punitive fines on polluters and offenders.
•The Fund, referred to in the proposed ELMA, will be primarily ploughed back into the
•management of the environment – in particular in items like development of
•database, research in setting of standards, compensating or sponsoring research
•projects through the participating national laboratories and institutions; and also for
•education of the public on environmental related matters, and so on. A Board to
•administer the Fund may be established by the MoEF&CC.
•Recommendation:- Create an Environment Reconstruction Fund for facilitating
•research, standard setting, education and related matters.
9.8 Repositioning federal relationship in the matters of environmental management –
•The existing constitutional arrangement in the matters of environment and forests is
•tilted towards federal governance. Forest a nd wildlife are subjects in Concurrent List
•whereas Environment is a residual matter an d is within the competence only of
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•Parliament for legislation. There are a fe w apparent inconsistencies in this regard,
•even though the subject of environment falls within the purview of the Centre.
•Environmental conservation and concer ns for integrating environment into
•development strategies are policy re quirements, but the instruments for
•implementation are few and ineffective. The main issues today relate to
•enforcement and implementation. The Co mmittee recommends delineation of the
•following roles for the three levels of Government in policy formulation,
•implementation and enforcement. These are referred to in Chapter 7, and
•summarised below :-
a.Union Government – The primary responsibility of the Central Government
•should remain legislation in the field of environment along with the
•administration of environment manage ment laws prescribing for standard
•setting for pollution levels, project appr ovals, administration of Environmental
•Reconstruction Fund, research a nd development for enhancement of
•environmental quality, environmentally sustainable technology hunting,
•supporting and sponsoring pollution control methods at local levels,
•environmental policy formulation. All the development and central sector
•projects must have an environmenta l component to undertake environmental
•mitigation measures on the similar lines as Special Component Plan or Tribal
•Sub-Plan or North-Eastern Region existi ng today. Every Ministry of GoI where
•relevant needs to have an Internal Envi ronment Division (IED) to scrutinise the
•programmes and schemes from environmental management point of view.
b.State Governments would be closely associated with the functioning of the
•State Environment Management Authority (SEMA), which will act as the
•implementing arm of the State Gove rnment’s policies in the field of
environment.SEMA would be vested with all the requisite powers under ELMA.
•The Body should be professionalised by way of recruitment of relevant types of
•manpower in sufficient number. The SE MA should be empo wered to levy and
•collect the charges for environmenta l services proportionate to the
•environmental reconstruction necessity. There should be a special legal cell in
•SEMA, trained in evidence collection and prosecution for the violation cases in
•environmental laws. There should be provision for apportionment of central
•Environmental Reconstruction Fund to SEMA. SEMA would be the designated
•agency for monitoring of the functioning of all units and verifying the
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•compliance of all conditions imposed, in re spect of all units, including A, B & C.
•SEMA has a significant role in monitoring the continuing fulfilment of the
•conditions imposed at the time of appr oval; the State Government would be
•closely associated with this process and g i v e d i r e c t i o n s f r o m t i m e t o t i m e .
•SEMA should equip itself to be able to provide professional advice to industry in
•respect of better environmental practice s and technology replacement. SEMA
•should identify and induct latest tec hnology in monitoring of conditions
•imposed on individual units.
•The State Government is expected to s upervise the functioning of SEMA in so
•far as monitoring, as well as processing penal actions against transgression of
conditions.Apart from overall control over garbage collection and pollution
•control in urban and semi-urban areas, the State Government is expected to
•guide the SEMA to ensure effective implementation of the monitoring process.
c.Local Government – District Collector/ District Magistrate should be declared
•as District Environmental Manager. Every district must have an
•environmental management plan. Th ere should be a capacity building
•programme for local bodies including municipalities and Panchayats.
•Recommendation: a) While overall responsibility vests with the Ministry, it is
•expected that the State Governments and the local bodies will play an effective role
•in management of the environment.
•b) The Governments should provide dedicated budgetary support for
•environmental programmes as a part of each development project in all the
sectors.
9.9 The Central database - NEMA should develop a cent ral database through capturing,
•collating, classifying the inventories for ge o - r e f e r e n c e d m a s t e r d a t a b a s e . T h e
•reliance on geo-referenced database captured through satellite imagery for
•topography, hydrological features, vegetation, settlement patterns, and related other
•elements having a scientifically driven ex ercise will aid in effective environmental
•management including project clearances in a transparent, accountable matter,
•relying upon scientific principles, and shar ply reducing delay. NEMA should utilise
•the database to delineate the specific loca tions and areas in the country to preclude
•environmental clearances in ‘no go’ area or inviolate areas at the inception stage
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
itself.The real-time database on air emission and water quality which is being
•collected through hundreds of stations could be integrated with this platform. This
•database will also help EIA study and help preparation of EMPs in a more reliable
manner.Simultaneously, the pollution mitigation measures will become more
•effective through a strong monitoring mech anism. The database will usher in the
•benefit of reliable and factual data, will re duce the scope for fudging data by
•consultants, will quicken decisions, will help pre-designate inviolate areas, will assist
•in studies of carrying capacity of each loca tion from the pollution load point of view;
•and not the least, a location specific emi ssion and effluent standards will also be
•developed utilising this data along with dyna mic real time monitoring systems. The
•database will be under the control of NEMA with, FSI or any other nodal agency
•nominated as custodian to coordinate wi th other organisations like NRSC, M/o Earth
•Sciences, NIC etc. for compilation and regular update. There should be a cost
•parameter for data mining and accessibility from the centre which will provide for the
•cost of regular updation in terms of technology and manpower.
•Recommendation: There is urgent need for creation of a comprehensive database,
•using all instruments available, on an on-g oing basis, in respect of all parameters
•relating to environment.
9.10 Environmental mapping - Development strategies have to be part of environmental
conservation.Policy formulation must take note of this postulate. The country needs
•to grow in terms of economic services prov isioning through multiple models in the
•fields of agriculture, manufacturing and services. There is a necessity to sponsor
•environmental reconstruction progra mmes concurrently with development
programmes.
•In furtherance of these, the Committe e recommends that there should be a
•environmental mapping of the country through geo-referenced satellite imagery,
•realtime data collection on pollution emissi ons, and on-field direct physical collection
•of data. These maps should be used as a primary tool to delineate the inviolate or
•‘no go’ areas for development projects in the matter of utmost importance of
•environmental conservation and should incl ude forest cover areas of more than 70%
•density, wildlife protected areas, eco-sens itive zones, biodiversity hotspots and
•ecologically fragile zones. The delineation of the last two categories require on the
•spot verification. The environmental maps should aim at ‘carrying capacity’ studies
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•of pollution load of each area in totality as well as the carrying capacity of rivers in
•terms of damming and hydro-power genera tion capacities. A strategic impact
•analysis of the projects need to be undertaken. A separate and independent
•assessment for mining activities along with its ecological impact should be part of the
•environmental mapping to suggest the extent of permissibility in view of the fact that
•many of the mining areas are co-terminal wi th forest areas. Strategic environmental
•impact study of various regions of the co untry should be carried out to prepare a
•master document to assess the existing pollu tion load and permissibility for further
•location of economic activities in the zone.
•Recommendation: Environmental mapping of the co untry, using technology, should
•be undertaken as an on-going process.
9.11 Environmental reconstruction cost – Each development project must indicate the
•extent of environmental degradation, reconstruction programmes and the indicative
•cost thereto. This amount should be bo rne by the development projects beyond a
•specific size as a part of project life cycle and to be realised as a cess or a tax or a levy.
•The proceeds of this fund should be de voted to reconstruction and regeneration
•programmes in the local areas. The developm ent projects should have the option of
•executing such programmes under the supervision of a responsible designated
•authority and/ or, alternatively financial credit programmes should be developed as a
•traded commodity to provide flexibilit y and encourage environment friendly
•technology incorporation.
•Recommendation: Identification & recovery of environmental reconstruction cost
•relating to each potentially polluting unit should be in-built in the appraisal process.
9.12 Project consultants - The central database availabl e with NEMA can be used on
•payment basis, by the project proponents in preparation of EIA report/ EMP through
•the accredited consultants. The process of enlisting of such consultants should be
•revamped exhaustively and NEMA should de velop objective parameters to enlist and
•empanel the consultants in a manner to focus upon the competence, technical
•knowhow and expertise and experience for such empanelment. The present system
•of borrowing the list from Quality Council of India and National Accreditation Board
•for Education and Training (NABET) is ma rred with multiple controversies. Even
•exceptionally high quality research and educ ation institutions often do not qualify to
•be enlisted as consultants in the current pr ocess. Any misrepresentation of facts or
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•furnishing of incorrect data or inform ation by the consultants in any of the
•documents in the approval process of the projects will make consultants and project
•proponent both liable for prosecution, including black-listing of such consultants from
•having any engagement or transaction with Governments for a period of 10 years,
•including the Directors and employees of th e consultant company and/ or partners
•and employees in consultant firms. A similar debarment provision need to be
•considered upon any outsourced independent professional having association in
•document preparation found fabricat e d o r h a v i n g i n c o r r e c t d a t a o r
•misrepresentation of data.
•Recommendation: The system of empanelment of ‘consultants’ needs to be
reworked.
9.13 Generation of awareness of ecology and environment among the general public –
•The Indian tradition worships nature, and ou r scriptures are replete with references
•to the need to respect the environment. The theme of forest or green cover is
•repeatedly seen in the Vedas and Upanishads.
•The Committee feels that considering the im portant role that environment will play
•in the future, the children of the country who represent the future generations
•should be familiarised with issues relating to environment, interwoven into the
•school curriculum, in a manner that gene rates interest, communicates information
•and fosters responsibility. The Committee noted that in many States, ‘Eco Clubs’
•have been established, through private initiative of schools, often with the support of
•the State Government. The MoEF&CC may consider ways of expanding this
•movement, to provide inter-connectivity be tween schools within and among States,
•to create national awareness on the issue, much as the Prime Minister now is
•sponsoring the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’. Competitions, TV programmes on nature
•and other innovative suggestions like ‘green schools’ and the like may be encouraged.
•Recommendation : A ‘green awareness’ prog ramme need to be sponsored,
•including interweaving issues relating to environment in the primary and secondary
•school curriculum.
9.14 Environmental Remediation of polluted sites – In the process of development there
•are many spaces which have been ecologica lly degraded. Effective legal framework
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•and institutional mechanism should be put in place with financing tie-up to provide
•remediation of such sites. The enabling pr ovisions should be inserted in EP Act
•empowering Government to generate funds through levy/ cess and take over such
•polluted sites to carry out cl eaning exercises directly/ through State Government or
•local body in PPP mode or in associ ation with industry associations. The
•environmental reconstruction cost for new projects mu st incorporate a component
•for remediation. The regional developmen t policies for industrial development and
•manufacturing zones must be modified to include institutions and finance for
•remediation of sites – land, air and water.
•Recommendation: MoEF&CC should prepare regional plan for carrying out
•remediation of polluted sites in consul tation with the State Governments and
•enabling provisions should be incorporated in EP Act for financing the remediation
task.
9.15 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) – India has an urban population of 377 million which
•constitutes 31% of the country’s population. Indian urban system network comprises
•7935 towns out of which 4041 are stat utory towns having local municipal
administration.The number of class-1 to wns having population of more than one
•lakh is 468, housing 70% of India’s urban population. In the pyramidical urban
•concentration there are 53 cities accountin g for 42.6% of Indian urban population.
•Three most urbanised States are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
•The city landscape has become replete wi th the agglomeration of waste sites.
•Urbanisation generates solid waste from industrial, household and institutional
•consumption patterns; majority of residue ma terial are toxic in nature which causes
•health problems. Solid waste generation and accumulation in an urban area is an
•outcome of concentrated settlement pattern s without commensurate infrastructure.
•Unplanned cities lacking sewerage and wa ste disposal add to the accumulation of
•solid waste. Inefficient and weak city admi nistrations lack finances, technology and
•manpower to keep cities clean. The cities in our country have a sizeable presence of
•slums, informal sector and poor, illiterate migrants. The morphological characteristics
•of slums lead to generation of solid wa ste and prohibit/ restrict waste handling
mechanism.
•Safe disposal of city solid waste (Munici pal Solid Waste-MSW) has become a major
•challenge for urban administration in our country. Municipal Solid Wastes
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
•(Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 noti fied under EP Act, 1986 is the sole legal
•instrument prescribing responsibilities a nd procedures for safe disposal of the
•municipal wastes. The rules require the resp ective municipal authority to establish
•infrastructure development for collection, storage, segregation, transportation and
•process of MSW. Simultaneously, the ov erarching responsibility has been vested
•with State Governments, CPCB and SPCB having been empowered to ensure the
•compliance of standards in the matters of impact of MSW on ground water, ambient
•air, lechete and compost quality. Solid wa ste in municipal areas mainly comprises
•plastic waste, bio-medical waste. CPCB has reported a generation of 1.33 MT of MSW
•per day in Indian urban areas in the ye ar 2012-13 out of which only 91,000 TPD was
•collected and 25,884 TPD was treated. In a ddition, approximately 4.16 lakh kg per
•day of bio-medical waste generation is also reported in 2012, majority of which is in
•urban areas.
•Indian city administrations have deployed multiple approaches and strategies to
•regulate, control and safe disposal of solid waste. These include collection,
•separation, recycle and reuse, incineration , landfills among others. The issues MSW
•handling is faced with include near-absen ce of segregation of the wastes which
•hampers recycling and reuse; absence of ap propriate methods and infrastructure for
•collection, gaps in PPP models; financial weakness of municipal bodies; paucity of
•appropriate land parcels for land filling am ong others. There are few functional
•successful models in some towns where the financial tie-up for collection and
•segregation has provided financial returns.
•The Committee considers MSW as a loomin g catastrophe contributing to urban
decay.It is recommended th at following strategies should be put in place in this
•subject matter:
i.Urban local bodies should be empowere d to levy cess for collection of solid
•waste from all the sources in their administrative limit.
ii.Urban local bodies should be empowered to levy fines in case of violation of the
•rules prescribed/ standard specified.
iii.Enabling provisions in State Government legislation for municipal
•administration should be amended fo r devolving/ budgetary grant to urban
•local bodies for the management of solid waste.
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
iv.Policy instruments should be put in plac e for incentivising generation of green
•power from municipal waste; for subsidy on waste compost; and utilisation of
•MSW as a fuel in cement and steel plants.
v.The focus on MSW should be heightened, to be integrated with health
•concerns; every hospital must have an institutional set up for bio-medical waste
handling.
vi.Rag-pickers and the informal contractual system operational in urban areas
•should be integrated in solid waste handling system.
vii.Regulations should be framed for strict compliance of bio-medical waste
•segregation and safe disposal by placing the responsibility on the generator.
viii.Extended generator responsibility should be prescribed for all the institutions in
•the urban areas, strict penal provision for violations.
ix.A systematic ‘green rating’ of 53 million-plus cities needs to be undertaken over
•the next year or so, through competent na tional agencies. A target needs to be
•set to reach, say 20% of current levels of solid waste, over a 3 year period,
•which should be the goal for which the m unicipal bodies should work on; to be
•monitored by State Governments. A system of rewards and punishment,
•including accountability of the Chief Exec utive of the municipal authority needs
•to be built into the system.
x.The responsibility and accountability of State Governments should be
•incorporated in the handling rules for coordinating the efforts of urban local
•bodies, locating and approving the landfill sites.
xi.The accountability of urban local bodies is required to be elaborated in handling
•of MSW and municipal laws need to be amended to keep local bodies
•responsible for this purpose. The prov isions for appropriate action against
•urban local bodies who fail in the performa nce of keeping city clean should also
•be prescribed in the law.
•Recommendation: Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management has not been given
•requisite attention hitherto. New systems and procedures for handling MSW need to
•be in place early, for effective manageme nt of MSW and with accountability. Cities
•s h o u l d s et a t a r g et o f r ea ch i n g 2 0 % o f cu r r en t l ev el s i n 3 yea r s t i m e t o w o r k o u t a
•mitigation plan.
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•Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India
9.16 Air Pollution-Vehicular emission – Air pollution and its resultant impact in India could
•be broadly attributed to the emissions from vehicular, industrial and domestic
sources.India's urban air quality ranks amon gst the world's worst. On discussion
•with National Environment Engineering Research Institute and other technical
•agencies, the Committee understood that currently somewhere between 65 to 70%
•of the air pollution in metropolitan cities are attributable to motor vehicles. The
•informal estimates also did not envisage any reduction, despite Euro-III, Bharat-IV
•norms being introduced – the assumption is that any benefit out of the newer
•technologies will be more than offset by the rapidly increasing population of
•motorised vehicles.
•The Committee notes that air pollution in cities cannot be effectively addressed,
•without dealing with the issue of emission from motor vehicles. Noting that the
•overall policy initiatives taken in this re gard have been inadequate, the Committee
•urges a new set of effective initiatives to be brought in place. Most policy decisions
•in this regard would fall outside the ambit of the MoEF&CC; however, the Ministry is
•required to have a say on these issues. A concerted effort from different Ministries
•would be required in this regard. Thes e need to include major new emphasis on
•public transportation to curb rapid increa se of private motor vehicles, a revised
•system of taxation to inhibit increase in vehicle population, improved management of
•urban traffic including zones where strong ‘e ntry fees’ are to be imposed (like many
•cities of the world), and also effective po licies for reduction of vehicle emission and
•monitoring thereof.
•Recommendation: Noting that vehicle emissions are the major cause of deterioration
•of air quality in urban areas, a concerted multi-pronged effort needs to be launched
•to not only to contain it, but to improve the situation in relatively short time.
9.17 Application of science and technology – Science has been a companion in the quest
•of mankind’s advancement and growth. Over centuries the application of science and
•innovative technology has been used as a tool for expansion of resource base.
•However, except stand-alone scientific methods and applications, available
•technology is often not currently applied in the management of natural resources like
•forest and ecosystem services. The Commi ttee lays high stress on high value geo-
•referenced database captured through satellite imagery and analysed by IT
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•applications which should be put to use for scientific management of forest and
environment.
i.The outdated practice of using cadastral maps should be replaced by GIS maps
•in forest, wildlife and environment administration, as mentioned elsewhere.
ii.IT-enabled services should be deployed to analyse the multi-layer data captured
•through satellite imagery for relief & topography, hydrology including
•underground water resources, soil charac teristics, vegetation patterns,
•agronomic practices, settlement patterns, transport network, coast lines, state
•of the purity of air and others.
iii.Objective decision making should be ba sed on technology-aided tools that are
•value-neutral to maintain the ecological pristinity and fragility of eco-sensitive
•zones and ‘no go’ area by super-imposi n g s u c h g e o - r e f e r e n c e d m a p s i n t h e
•matters of environmental governance.
iv.Use of technology, and latest equipmen t on an on-going basis to monitor
•emission/ pollution levels from individual units, rather than solely depending on
•field level local inspections.
v.An efficient and responsive decision ma king should put a mechanism in place
•that provides for inflow of information and data including application for
•project approval and resources for appraisa l of projects for effective and faster
•decision making.
vi.Where pollution parameters of individua l units are required to be monitored,
•the use of self-driven tamper-free technolo gy is required to be put in place for
•capturing emission and discharge levels for rectification, recuperation and penal
•action where required.
vii.Use of technology in managing protected areas for wildlife.
viii.Restoration and remediation of critica lly polluted areas and environmentally
•degraded sites should rely upon mo dern technology-aided process to
•continuously ensure reduction in emission and discharge level in air, water and
•land as well as monitoring of the improvement made in the state of
environment.
•While recommending the use of tec hnology in the management of the
•environment, it may also be useful to remember that use of science and
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•technology needs to be done with appr opriate discretion and care; the role of
•human intervention and application of expertise cannot always be dispensed
with.It is thus, of utmost importance to create a cadre of experts in forestry/
•wildlife/ air/ water pollution, and other re l e v a n t a r e a s , t o m a n a g e t h i s s e c t o r
•which will be of vital importance in the future. The NEMA and SEMA referred to
•earlier should be encouraged to use latest technology wherever feasible,
•particularly in monitoring of conditions imposed.
•The Committee also would like to sound a note of caution that while utilising
•science and technology their limitations as well as the need for appropriate
•human intervention should not be lost si ght of. The potential consequences of
•mindless use of science and technology could possibly be illustrated by referring
•to the potential for medium/ long-ter m adverse affects through unprepared
•introduction of Genetically Modified (GM) food crops. While other Ministries
•naturally would aggressively push for early field trials and induction, the role of
•the MoEF&CC may have to be one of be ing a Devil’s Advocate to advise due
caution.Noting that Europe does not pe rmit field trials, and that the average
•Indian farm is of very small size (which could lead to severe adverse impact on
•biodiversity through gene-flow) also noting that there are no independent
•expert agencies in the country, perh aps the MoEF&CC may ask for greater
•assurance in respect of potential adverse effects in the medium and long run.
•This is not to argue that use of science or technology should be limited; more to
•highlight the fact that appropriate caution needs to be taken.
•Recommendation: Use of science and technology, wherever possible and
•appropriate should be encouraged; approv al and enforcement agency should use
•latest technology to the maximum possible.
9.18 Coastal Regulation Zone – There is much confusion am ong the general public as well
•as the entrepreneurs about the actual dema rcation/ line of the CRZ, which is based
•on the concept of HTL (High Tide Line), w h i c h v a r i e s f r o m t i m e t o t i m e . T h e
•Committee understands that the Ministry has appointed a competent technical group
•to examine the matter, and recommend the delineation of an appropriate
•demarcation line, which identifies th e CRZ, unambiguously. The Committee
•recommends that this task should be done early, and once the CRZ line is notionally
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•identified, incorporate this information in the GIS information system, so that no
•ambiguity persists on individual cases.
•Recommendation: The MoEF&CC may finalise the CRZ demarcation, and bring it into
•public domain to pre-empt ambiguity.
9.19.1 Mining operations – The Committee notes that increase d pace of mining for every
•mineral is inevitable with the growth aspi rations of the country, as also that most
•mining sites are located in forest belts. The effort should be to minimise the damage to
•the environment, contain the adverse effe cts, and wherever possible re-forest and
•bring back the green in a planned manner in mining areas. Some suggestions are made
•below:-
i.A Perspective Coal Plan, updated over time needs to be prepared for the coal
•mining sector. The Plan would address the evacuation of coal through
•environmentally sustainable mechanisms which should take into account the
•recuperation and reconstruction of degraded mine areas. The mine
•development plans should have staggered phasing for design of infrastructure
•for evacuation of coal along with re covery of mined area to be greened
simultaneously.This strategy should aim at reconstruction and rejuvenation of
•the land in a sustainable manner.
ii.The mine development plan should have an afforestation component and for
•this purpose the mining should be carried out in phases – each of these should
•not be for more than 5 years.
iii.The operational mine plan should be drawn providing for open spaces for
•dumping over-burden removed in the mining process which should be
•afforested with forest crop of the next exploitation phase of the mine, to be
•repeated with each phase.
iv.A special cell in NEMA would, with appr opriate expertise deal with mining cases
•of all minerals, to facilitate early en vironment clearance with appropriate
remediation.
9.19.2 Regular reliable power supply is of critical importan ce to national development,
•power projects need speedy appraisal, and clearance where warranted. These need
•to be examined on a fast-track basis, without compromising environmental
considerations.
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•Recommendation: In view of the key role played by the power sector, as also mining
•of various minerals in national developm ent, NEMA may have a suitable cell, with
•specialisation, to speedily deal with enviro nmental approvals in these sectors, with
•due regard to environmental considerations.
9.20 Trained manpower development – From the information received, the Committee
•notes that most industries, including th ose which have potential for air/ water
•pollution, do not in most cases, have tec hnically qualified personnel to manage their
•pollution control equipment, and to monitor internally that the committed pollution
•levels are not breached. It is proposed that every type of industry, to be specified,
•should employ technically qualified polluti on control/ management of pollution
•control equipment personnel, for their internal supervision and maintenance
purposes.NEMA/ SEMA shall prescribe the qualifications in different relevant fields.
•Recommendation: All specified type of units would employ fully qualified technical
•personnel to manage their pollution contro l/ management equipment, and to keep
•the emission levels within prescribed limits.
9.21 Incentives for compliant units – Currently there is no incentive for industrial units
•which fulfil the norms or achieve results bette r than the stipulated norms. There is a
•provision of rebate in water cess for such units though this is not substantial. Further,
•many Boards have initiated various sche mes to promote compliance, but these are
•not linked to financial incentives – there is no effective mechanism in place that
•motivates industry to strive for continual improvement. Much as non-compliant units
•are to be penalised, those that perform well need to be financially incentivised.
•There is also need to look into technical avenues like load based standards and
•assimilative-capacity-based standards in stead of concentration-based national
standards.This will imply a paradigm shif t in the tenet of po llution control from
•present ‘Command and Control’ to Market Ba sed Instruments like ‘Cap & Trade’. This
•concept can also enhance ov erall compliance at lower cost, inducting economic
•instruments in environmental management. MoEF&CC may formulate a scheme for
•incentivising ‘green projects’.
•Recommendation: MoEF&CC may consider reworking standard-setting and revising a
•system of financial penalties and rewards to proceed to a market-related incentive
•system, which encourages ‘green projects’.
•*****
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