Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

The Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha on April 1, 2022.
The Bill seeks to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources, and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

Need of the bill

India’s increasing activities in the Antarctic- India’s research stations include Maitri, Bharati, etc.

lack of domestic legislation have forced India to be circumscribed by International Law.

Enforcement of Antarctic treaty-India is a signatory to the Antarctic treaty

Extending jurisdiction of Indian courts-currently, there is no recourse for crimes committed during any In-
dian expedition, including crimes against the environment.

Prohibited Activities: The antarctic bill 2022 prohibits certain activities including
• Introduction of non-sterile soil.
• discharge of garbage, plastic, or other substance into the sea which is harmful to the marine environment.
• nuclear explosion or disposal of radioactive wastes.

Establishes a ‘Committee on Antarctic Governance and Environmental Protection.’

Central committee will be chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

10 members included from the defense, external affairs, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, and
National Security Council.