Dr.

Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation

University

PROJECT ON
“GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE TO PROTECT
ENVIRONMENT”

SUBMITTED TO
Ms. Sushmita Rajput

SUBMITTED BY :

JAI SINGH

Roll Number

28

Semester 4, Batch 2018-19

 CONTENTS

Sr. no. Topic Page no. Sign

1 Introduction 4
2 Provision of environment Law in India 4
3 Law’s after independence 1947 4
4 The main Act for environment protection in 5
India
5 Air pollution 6
6 Compensatory Afforestation bill 2016 6
7 River conservation 7
8 Forest conservation 9
9 National Green Tribunal 9
10 Solar and renewable energy 10
11 Namami Gange Programme 11
12 Green Skill Development programe 11
13 Toilets before temples 12
14 Conclusion 12
15 bibliography 13
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I am thankful to Ms. Sushmita Rajput for allotting me the topic

““GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT” she has been very kind in

providing inputs for this work, by way of suggestions and materials.

I would also like to thank my dear colleagues and friends in the University, who have helped me

with ideas about this work. Last, but not the least I thank the University Administration for

equipping the University with such good library and internet facilities, without which, no doubt

this work would not have taken the shape in correct time.

JAI SINGH

ROLLNO. 28
INTRODUCTION
Environment

The environment has been defined as that outer physical and biological system in which man and
other organisms live as a whole. Human environment consists of both physical environment and
biological environment. Physical environment covers land, water and air. Biological
environment includes plants, animals and other organisms.

‘Environment’ defined under the Environmental Protection Act, 1986, ‘Environment’ includes
Water, air and land and the inter-relationship which exists among and between, water, air, land,
and human beings, other living creatures, plants, microorganisms and property.[1]

The term environment has been derived from the term ‘environ’, which means ‘to surround’
Thus, etymologically environment means ‘surrounding conditions, circumstances affecting
people’s life.[2]

Provision of Environmental Law In India

Apart from international laws, every country has enacted laws regarding environment protection,
pollution control etc. In India, there are several acts for environment protection that says
protection of environment is the duty of government.

Laws after Independence (1947)

The Indian Constitution, as adopted in 1950, did not deal with that the subject of environment or
prevention and control of pollution as such (until 1976 Amendment). The post independent
Indian approach was centered on economic development and poverty alleviation and not on
resource conservation.

The year 1972 was a landmark in the field of environment, when United Nations Conference on
the Human Environment was held at Stockholm (Sweden) from 5th to 16th June, in which
"Declaration on the Human Environment" was adopted. This may be considered as the beginning
of environment movement in the world.

In India a separate ministry namely The Department of Environment was established in 1980 to
ensure a healthy environment for the country.

The main acts for environment protection in India are as follows:-

1. The Forest Conservation Act, 1980

2. The Prevention of Air and Water Pollution, 1974, 1981 (The Central Pollution Control Board)
(CPCB) was constituted under this act.
3. The Air Prevention and Control of Pollution, 1981.
4. The Atomic Energy Act. 1982.
5. The Environmental Protection Act, 1986. (It came into force soon after the Bhopal Gas
Tragedy)
6. The Environmental Conservation Act. 1989.
7. The National Environmental Tribunal, 1995.
8. National Environmental Appellate Authority Act, 1997.
9. National Environment Management Act (NEMA), 1998
10. Handling and Management of Hazardous Waste Rule in 1989.
11. The Public Liability Insurance Act (Rules and Amendment), 1992.
12. The Biomedical Waste Management and Handling Rules, 1998.
13. The Environment (Siting for Industrial Projects) Rules, 1999.
14. The Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000.
15. The Ozone Depleting Substance (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000.
16. The Biological Diversity Act 2002.
Over the years, India has taken several measures to control pollution, maintain ecological
balance despite rapid industrialisation, increase the forest area in the country and keep rivers
clean. Here’s an overview of major government initiatives collated from various government and
official sources.

Air Pollution
Notification of National Ambient Air Quality Standards 2009, envisaging 12 pollutants
Implementation of Bharat Stage IV norms in the 63 selected cities and Bharat Stage III norms in
rest of the country

National Air Quality index was launched by the Prime Minister in April, 2015 starting with 10
cities
Cheap & Clean – How Solar Power May Shape The Future of Modern India

Setting up of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality

Introduction of cleaner/alternate fuel like CNG, LPG etc. and promotion of public transport
network including Metro

Creation of infrastructure for industrial pollution control incorporating cleaner production

processes, setting up of common pollution control facilities

Clean India Mission (Swatch Bharat Abhiyan) has been launched

CAMPA
Compensatory Afforestation Bill, 2016
The enactment of the Compensatory Afforestation Act, 2016 has is aimed at ending ad-hocism
and help the Centre and State governments utilise funds in a planned manner.

It will facilitate make available more than Rs 6,000 crore per annum to the states and union
territories (UTs) for conservation, protection, improvement and expansion of forest and wildlife
resources of the country.
According to the government, availability of these amounts will not only help the states and UTs,
and local communities, to ensure better management of their forest resources but will also result
in creation of more than 15 crore man-days of direct employment.

A major part of these amounts will be used to restock and improve quality of degraded forests,
which constitutes more than 40 percent of the total forest cover of the country.

The Act provides for establishment of a permanent institutional framework at the Central at each
State and Union territory to ensure utilization of these funds in an expeditious and transparent
manner.

It provides for transfer of 90 percent of the accumulated amounts, which presently is of the order
of Rs 40,000 crore (excluding about Rs 2,000 crore of interest already accrued on amounts
presently being kept as fixed deposits) to the States for creation and maintenance of
compensatory afforestation and execution of other activities for conservation, protection,
improvement and expansion of forest and wildlife resources of the country.

All fresh amounts to be realised by the States in lieu of forest land to be diverted for non-forest
purpose will be deposited directly into the funds to be created under public account of the
respective State.

The remaining 10 percent, retained at the national level, will be used for monitoring and
evaluation of activities to be undertaken by the states, UTs and the Centre from these funds and
to provide, research and technical support to the states so as to ensure that these amounts are
used in the technically best possible manner.

Central Government while according prior approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
for diversion of forest land for non-forest purpose stipulates conditions to the effect that the State
Government shall realize funds from the user agency for compensatory afforestation, catchment
area treatment plan, wildlife management plan etc. to mitigate impact of diversion of forest land.

In most of the States, funds received from the user-agencies were deposited in consolidated fund
as revenue receipts which were made available to the Forest Department through budgetary
provisions.
The Central Government in exercise of powers conferred under Section 3 (3) of the Environment
(Protection) Act, 1986 constituted Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning
Authority (CAMPA).

However, the CAMPA could not be operationalized, until the Bill’s passage in Parliament in
2016.

River Conservation
The Water Resources Information System (WRIS) database developed by Central Water
Commission along with Indian Space Research Organisation includes 15,615 numbers of
identified rivers/streams in the country.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in association with the State Pollution Control
Boards is monitoring the water quality of rivers in the country on a regular basis.

According to a report published by CPCB in February, 2015, 302 polluted river stretches have
been identified on 275 rivers based on Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) level in rivers, a
key indicator of organic pollution.

Various rivers have been identified under the programmes of National River Conservation Plan
(NRCP) and NGRBA (National Ganga River Basin Authority) for implementation of projects on
cost sharing basis between Central and State Governments.

The NGRBA programme along with work of Ganga and its tributaries has been transferred to
Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation from August 2014.

Currently, NRCP (excluding Ganga and its tributaries) has covered polluted stretches of 31 rivers
in 75 towns spread over 14 States involving a sanctioned cost of Rs 4,517.82 crore.

As of November 2016, an amount of Rs 2,056.58 crore has been released to various State
Governments for implementation of various pollution abatement schemes and a treatment
capacity of 2373 million litres per day (mld) has been created under NRCP (excluding Ganga
and its tributaries).
The National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) in the Ministry of Environment, Forests
and Climate Change is implementing the centrally sponsored schemes of (NRCP) and National
Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco¬systems (NPCA) for conservation of rivers, lakes and
wetlands in the country.

Forest Conservation
The National Afforestation Programme (NAP) is the flagship scheme under the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

According to the India State of Forest Report-2013, the total forest cover in the country is
697,898 square kilometers, which is 21.23 percent of the total geographical area of the country.
There is a net increase of 5871 square kilometers in the forest cover of the country as compared
with India State of Forest Report-2011. It is also a fact that the density of population has
increased in the State of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.

In order to increase the forest and tree cover and improve the quality of existing forest,
afforestation in the country is taken up under various centrally sponsored schemes such as NAP,
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Integrated
Watershed Management Programme (IWMP), National Bamboo Mission (NBM) and under
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) among
others.

The National Afforestation Programme (NAP) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests is a
100 percent centrally sponsored scheme for afforestation and tree plantation and eco-restoration
of degraded forests and adjoining areas in the country.

The Scheme is being implemented through a decentralized mechanism of State Forest

Development Agency (SFDA), Forest Development Agency (FDA) and Joint Forest
Management Committees (JFMCs) at village levels.

National Green Tribunal

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) was established on October 18, 2010 under the National
Green Tribunal Act 2010.
It has been set up for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental
protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any
legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons
and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes
involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal is not bound by the procedure laid down under
the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but is guided by principles of natural justice.

The Tribunal's dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters is aimed at providing speedy

environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.

The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally
within 6 months of filing of the same.

Solar And Renewable Energy

The government has launched the LED project, where the government is replacing the lighting
load of the country with LEDs, will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by the tune of 80
million tonnes per annum and the economically prudent project will help the consumer save
around Rs 40,000 crore in electricity bills annually.

India is trying to move from a highly thermal power generation dependent economy towards
renewable energy, the Minister said. The solar power programme has been scaled up from a 20
GW target to 100 GW by 2022 and put together all the renewable energy sources, including the
large hydro projects, India will have 225 GW of renewable and clean energy sources by 2022.

The government is looking to process every litre of water that comes out of the mines in the
country so that clean drinking water may be provided to all the people living in the area as well
as be used to rejuvenate rivers and underground water table.

For thermal power plants, the government has made it mandatory for any waste water processing
unit in the 50 km radius of the plant to compulsorily use the waste water discharged from the
plant and the recycled water would have to be compulsorily used by the thermal power plant so
that the clean water is available to serve the people living around the plant.
Conversion of India's vehicles to electrical vehicles has a potential to save fossil fuels worth
about USD 100 billion annually, which in turn would save the country precious foreign
exchange, prevent the dependence on imported petroleum products and reduce the pollution in
cities by 80-90 percent.

Namami Gange Programme Narendra Modi took the over as the Prime
Minister of India in 2014. And in June that year, recognising the cultural and environmental
importance of the river Ganga, the ‘Namami Gange Programme’ was approved by the union
government. The Centre allocated a total of Rs 20,000 crore to conserve and rejuvenate the river.
While there had been a number of other programmes to improve the state of river Ganga, the
Modi-led government stated that it was approaching the problem differently. It involved the
people living on the banks of the river, and helped them attain sustainable livelihoods and feel
the impact first-hand. It also roped in grass-root level institutions, including urban local bodies
and Panchayati Raj institutions, to work for the same. Key achievements of include creating
sewerage treatment capacity, river front development and surface cleaning. The programme is
being implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) at the national level and
State Program Management Groups (SPMGs) at the state level. Moreover, 63 sewerage
management projects are implemented in  Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and
West Bengal.

Green Skill Development Programme Moving away from technical or

industrial skills, the Green Skill Development Programme was launched in June 2017 by the
Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.  ‘Green skills’ refers to those that
contribute to preserve and restore environment and create a sustainable future. Hence, the
programme focuses on developing skills among the youth in the environment and forest sector.
During the pilot phase, the ministry introduced courses for biodiversity conservationists and
para-taxonomists for three months at 10 different locations.  In May 2018, during the launch of
the GSDP mobile app, Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Harsh
Vardhan, said that 2.25 lakh people will be employed through GSDP by next year, and about five
lakh people by 2021. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan The national cleanliness drive - Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan - is perhaps the most popular campaign relating to environment that the Modi
government pulled off. Launched on Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary on October 2, 2014,
the movement had people coming out to clean the roads across India. Photographs of Modi
sweeping the streets became quite a sensation for some time, as he kickstarted the first
cleanliness drive.
Toilets before temples  While running his candidature for the Prime Minister’s
post in 2013, Narendra Modi, while addressing around 7,000 students in Delhi, had said that he
wants to build toilets before temples.  After that, ‘Pehle shauchalaya, phir devalaya’ became a
popular slogan.  Implemented as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, the government claims to
have built over nine crore household toilets and 32 states or Union Territories have been declared
open defecation-free since October 2, 2014.

Conclusion
In India, the concern for environmental protection has not only been raised to the status of
fundamental law of the land, but it is also wedded with human rights approach and it is now well
established that, it is the basic human right of every individual to live in pollution free
environment with full human dignity.

It is high time that the general public, public entities, state and central government realize the
damage, which our developmental process has made to the living environment.

For the success of the local government laws relating to the environment it is essential to create a
sense of civic consciousness and public hygiene in the use of municipal services like roads,
public places, drainage etc. Strict enforcement of the provisions of law also is needed. Law is a
strong medium to compel the citizens to observe cleanliness and thereby to combat pollution.
Environmental protection laws in India need a new orientation in the modern context.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1) https://yourstory.com

2) Wikipedia.com