The Hindu : National : Draft National Environment Policy released

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 30, 2004

National

National

Draft National Environment Policy released

By Our Staff Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 29. The draft National Environment Policy, released by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, recommends bringing in regulatory reforms, enhancing and conserving environmental resources and setting up of environmental standards. Adoption of standardised management systems and promoting environmental certification and indicators are other highlights of the draft policy that has been released for consultation.

The draft National Environment Policy (NEP) touches upon the key environmental challenges facing the country, the objectives of the environment policy, strategic themes for intervention, broad indications of the legislative and institutional development intended to accomplish strategic themes and mechanism for implementation and review.

Challenges

Drawing attention to the environmental challenges that the country faces, the policy points out that these mainly related to environmental degradation and poverty. These challenges are intrinsically connected to the state of environmental resources, such as land, water, air and their flora and fauna.

Another major set of challenges arises from emerging global environmental concerns such as climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and biodiversity loss.

The draft policy seeks to achieve the objectives of conservation of critical environmental resources, livelihood security for the poor, integration of environmental concerns in economic and social development, efficiency in environmental resource use, environmental governance and enhancement of resources for environmental conservation.

Regulatory regimes

Stating that the regulatory regimes for environmental conservation comprises a legislative framework, and a set of regulatory institutions, the draft NEP observes that inadequacies in each have resulted in accelerated environmental degradation on the one hand, and long delays and high transaction costs in developmental projects on the other.

The policy, therefore, calls for identifying emerging areas for new legislative framework, reviewing the existing legislation to develop synergies among other relevant statutes and regulations, and ensuring accountability.

In order to make the environment and forest clearance processes more effective, the policy seeks to encourage regulatory authorities to institutionalise regional and cumulative environmental impact assessments to ensure that environmental concerns are addressed at the planning stage itself and further seeks to lay down that no further regularisation of encroachment on forest should be permitted.

The policy also recommends revisiting the coastal regulation zone notifications to make the approach to coastal environmental regulation more holistic and ensure protection to coastal ecological systems, coastal waters and the vulnerability of some coastal areas to potential sea level rise.

Heritage sites

On the `heritage sites' it states that several of them may be held to possess `incomparable values' that could be impacted by pollution, or may face threats of inundation or conversion by development projects.

It says that heritage sites would merit stricter standards and particular attention should be paid to monitoring and enforcement of environmental standards in their case.

Impacts on designated heritage sites must be considered at the stage of developing the terms of reference for environmental impact assessment of projects, it says while calling for legal recognition to the traditional rights of forest dwelling tribes.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National

News Update

Stories in this Section

4 held for assault on Nikhil Wagle

Manmohan Singh makes `a good beginning' in 100 days

Editors Guild demands security for journalists

Media commission under consideration: Jaipal Reddy

Draft National Environment Policy released

Sustaining the peace process

Differences with UDF partners led to resignation

A dictionary sensitive to gender

Investors looking towards Gujarat: Modi

Plea to pursue plan for regional Benches of Supreme Court

TV channel staff attacked

Details of Quattrocchi account sought

Aiyar brushes aside Sena's agitation