ENVIRONMETAL LEGISLATIONS

THE ENVIRONMENT Protection Act of 1986 (EPA)

 Some Notifications issued under this Act are-

DISPOSAL OF FLY ASH NOTIFICATION (1999):

 Its main objective is to conserve the top soil, protect the environment & prevent the dumping & disposal of fly ash discharged from lignite-based power plants. The salient feature of this notification is that no person within a radius of 50 KM from a Coal or lignite power plant shall manufacture clay bricks or titles without mixing at least 25% of ash with soil on a weight-to-weight basis. For the thermal power plants the utilization of the fly ash would be as follows:

• Every Coal or lignite based power plant shall make available ash for at least ten years from the date of publication of the above notification without any payment or any other consideration, for the purpose of manufacturing ash based products such as Concrete blocks, bricks, panels or any other material or for construction of roads, embankments, dams, dykes or for any other construction activity.
•  Every Coal or lignite based thermal power plant commissioned subject to environmental clearance conditions stipulating the submission of an action plan for full utilization of fly ash shall, within a period of nine years from the publication of this notification, phase out the dumping & disposal of fly ash on landing accordance with the plan.

ENVIRONMETAL LEGISLATIONS

THE ENVIRONMENT Protection Act of 1986 (EPA)

                                                                           The Constitutional provisions are backed by a number of legislations-act & rules enacted by the Parliament or the state legislatures e.g. The Environmental Protection Act of 1986 (EPA).

                            The Environment Protection Act of 1986 came force soon after Bhopal Gas Tragedy & is considered umbrella legislation as it fills many lacunae in the existing environmental legislations. Thereafter a large number of environmental legislations came into existence as the problems began arising. For example, in recent past the use of CNG for public transport vehicles has been made mandatory to improve the air pollution problem of Delhi.

                           This Act is an umbrella legislation designed to provide a framework for the co-ordination of central & state authorities established under the Water (Prevention & control) Act, 1974 & Air (Prevention & Control) Act, 1981. Under this Act, the central government is empowered to take measures necessary to protect & improve the quality of the Environment by setting standards for emissions and discharges; regulating the location of industries; management of hazardous wastes, & protection of public health & welfare.

ENVIRONMETAL LEGISLATIONS

Constitutional Provisions:-

                                             Originally, India constitution did not contain any direct provisions regarding environmental protection. It was only after the United Nations Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm, that the Indian constitution was amended to include protection of the environment as constitutional mandate. The constitution (42^nd amended) act of 1976 has made it fundamental duty to protect and improve the natural environment by introducing clause (g) to article 15A, which thus read, as,

     “It shall be duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers & wildlife & have compassion for living creatures”. 

GREEN PRODUCTS GO ON HOLD IN HARD ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITION-1

In August, Lloyd Alter came up against the limits of his environmental convictions when he had to replace the leaky roof on his house in Toronto.

     “For years, I said I would install a reflective metal roof,” because it helps to reduce heat and lower energy costs during the summer, said Alter, an architect who writes about design for Treehugger, a sustainability-focused website. But “when push came to shove”, he said, “I bought asphalt (one which costs almost half of the metal roof & from a petroleum-based material)”.

      It is the kind of reality check that many eco-conscious consumers face these days. And like Alter, most have resorted to cutting their spending on a variety of items, particularly green products, which typically cost more than their non-green counterparts and can be difficult to justify, or even afford, when budget are tight.

      In a bad economy, what used to seem essential can quickly become optional. At the same time, what was merely fashionable can become a matter of necessity.

BY-STEVEN KURUTZ      

POOR WATER MANAGEMENT UNDER NREGS

Edition-3


As a result of it, construction of new structures in the upper catchments produces negative effects downstream, in the form of reduced flows into tanks and reservoirs (Bachelor et al., 2002; Kumar et al., 2008). It is important to mention here that none of the small river basins in the country are gauged (Kumar et al., 2006), with the result that there are no official data on their runoff generation potential. Decentralized water harvesting efforts at the village level, which are un-coordinated at the level of the large watersheds or the river basin, therefore result in over-appropriation of surface water from catchments.
AS TELL IN THE GREAT INDIAN DREAM

POOR WATER MANAGEMENT UNDER NREGS

Edition-2

Implementing water management works under NREGA, on the scale envisaged, has posed major challenges. Corruption in the implementation is rampant. Till March

2001, some 1,138 complaints related to irregularities in implementation of NREGA activities were received, with maximum reported cases from the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Field evidences suggested that spending on some of the water management works has not only been inadequate, but also unwise. For instance, ponds have been dug in areas with scanty rainfall, without conceptualization of factors such as catchments area & sources of recharging (NCAER-PIF, 2009). As matter of fact, residual catchments are hard to find in naturally water scarce regions, where already a large number of small and large water impounding structures exists, including those which are traditional and modern. The flows generated from the natural catchments are already committed for the small & large reservoirs downstream (Kumar et al., 2008).

AS TELL IN The Great Indian Dream

POOR WATER MANAGEMENT UNDER NREGS

Edition-1

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).

Works related to water & soil conservation afforestation & land development are given top priority under the NREGS. The water management (WM) works specifically includes: a) Water conservation & Water harvesting, b) Drought proofing, c) Irrigation canals, d) Provision of irrigation facility to land owned by households belonging to SC/ST or to land of the beneficiaries of land reforms/Indira Awas Yojana/BPL families, e) Renovation of traditional water bodies, f) land development, & g) Flood-Control & protection works (Government of India, 2008). During the three-year time period (2006-07 to 2008-09) more than 31.44 lac water management related works have been completed with a total expenditure of 35.9 thousand crore (Sharma 2009). Of this maximum number of works was undertaken on water conservation & water harvesting.

                            The type of water management (WM) activities for which work can be funded (e.g. Water conservation, land development, afforestation, provision of irrigation systems or flood control) are prone to being taken over by wealthier sections of society.