The Government has said
that its focus over the next three years will be on compliance of rules and
laws. Addressing a press conference here today on the new initiatives and
efforts of the Government over the last two years, Minister of State
(Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash
Javadekar, said that the highlights of the initiatives include – increase in
forest cover, better pollution monitoring and control, 2000 approvals unlocking
Rs. 10 lakh crore of investment and a job potential of 10 lakh, reducing
project approval period from 600 to 190 days through standardization,
decentralization, transparent processes and policy decisions and protecting
India’s interest at COP 21 in Paris.
Emphasising the
Government’s forest initiatives, Shri Javadekar said that the policy for
incentivizing tree cover outside forest, corridor protection, water and fodder
augmentation in Protected Areas (PAs) and new schemes like urban forest and
School Nursery are some of the efforts to increase forest cover. He said that
the forest cover is about 21 per cent, but the target is 33 per cent, which
will be possible only by increasing the tree cover outside forest area. The
Minister said that special efforts are being made to avoid animal-human
conflict. The filing of 6 patents by Institutes of Forest Research, 655 new
flora discoveries and 115 new fauna discoveries were some of the other major
initiatives on forest, Shri Javadekar added.
Recounting some of the
initiatives on pollution, the Environment Minister underlined the adoption of a
scientific formula to review Comprehensive Environment Pollution Index (CEPI)
and re-categorisation of industries on the basis of pollution load. He said
that his Ministry is promoting Ease of Doing Responsible Business. The
Minister also pointed to the revamping of Waste Management Rules as another
major initiative.
Highlighting the coastal
initiatives, Shri Javadekar said that mangroves have increased by 100 sq km and
detailed high-resolution coastal map and High Tide Line (HTL) drawn with
high-resolution technology and low-flying survey are some of the efforts made
by the government.
He underlined the proactive
and constructive leadership role played by India at COP 21 and in particular,
pointed to the creation of an additional carbon sink of 2.5 billion tonnes.
The Minister said that our
mandate is to maintain balance and protect the five elements that comprise the
Universe. He also made a reference to the active public participation in
activities organized by the Ministry, such as ‘Chintan Shivir’ and people visiting
Climate Express in large numbers.
An 11-minute film on the
new initiatives and efforts of the Ministry was also screened on the occasion.
New Initiatives
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HK