Mrudul Godbole
25-06-2010, 11:06 PM
Sharing the news about the green circuit benches in the Financial Express.
Location for green circuit benches to be decided soon
Chennai: The ministry of environment & forests will soon shortlist locations for four circuit benches of the proposed green tribunal after the formal drafting of rules and regulations for the national green tribunal, said JM Mauskar, additional secretary, ministry of environment & forests (MoEF). He was speaking at the sidelines of an event regarding the setting up of a national centre for sustainable coastal management.
After the Green Tribunal Bill 2009 was passed, it was decided to set up a national green tribunal head in Bhopal to try matters concerning pollution issues like industrial, automobile and river water which come under environment, biodiversity and forest conservation acts.
Mauskar said the venue of other circuit benches would be decided once the green bench’s mandate in disputes related to various environmental and forest issues is drafted. Speaking to FE, Mauskar, while talking about the need for a separate remote sensing satellite to monitor the degradation of forest resources, said talks ISRO are on to launch such a satellite. “The Indian communication satellites are already doing the job of gathering of vital data on environmental and forest resources,” he said.
V Kasturirangan, former ISRO chairman, said there is need to build an indigenous satellite to measure greenhouse gas emissions in the country. “We need to launch our own satellite to study environmental issues like coastal degradation and forest fires without relying on data from foreign satellites,” he said.
A declaration was earlier signed between the national centre for sustainable coastal management and Anna university for a Rs 166-crore consortium, with Chennai as the hub. Various universities in coastals state, including Calcutta University, Berhampur University (Orissa), Andhra University, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Madras School of Economics, Pondicherry University, CESS (Kerala), NIT Suratkal (Karnataka), Goa University, University of Mumbai and Bhavnagar University signed the declaration and joined the consortium.
“The linkage with coastal communities is especially important because often, in our country, research is divorced from field-level conditions and challenges. The consortium should also link up with the best institutions in the world and train a whole new generation of researchers in this area. After an extensive process of public consultations and feedback, the MoEF is now finalising the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2010. We are also launching 3 integrated coastal zone management projects worth Rs 300 crore, Rs 200 crore and Rs 300 crore in West Bengal, Orissa and Gujarat, respectively. For the first time, the Survey of India has been tasked with the responsibility of delineating a hazard line along 7,500 km of India’s coast”, said Jairam Ramesh, minister of state, environment and forest.
The consortium’s charter includes preparing immediate preventive and remedial action, wherever possible using existing knowledge, resources, plans and processes for the conservation and protection of the coastal environment and safeguarding the livelihood of local communities which depend upon resources from coastal and marine areas. The charter also aims to promote access and undertake high-quality targeted research in coastal and marine area management, facilitate the transfer of technology and information and collect, compile and disseminate information on coastal and marine environment management through networking among states and institutions.
Link - http://www.financialexpress.com/news/location-for-green-circuit-benches-to-be-decided-soon/637200/1
Location for green circuit benches to be decided soon
Chennai: The ministry of environment & forests will soon shortlist locations for four circuit benches of the proposed green tribunal after the formal drafting of rules and regulations for the national green tribunal, said JM Mauskar, additional secretary, ministry of environment & forests (MoEF). He was speaking at the sidelines of an event regarding the setting up of a national centre for sustainable coastal management.
After the Green Tribunal Bill 2009 was passed, it was decided to set up a national green tribunal head in Bhopal to try matters concerning pollution issues like industrial, automobile and river water which come under environment, biodiversity and forest conservation acts.
Mauskar said the venue of other circuit benches would be decided once the green bench’s mandate in disputes related to various environmental and forest issues is drafted. Speaking to FE, Mauskar, while talking about the need for a separate remote sensing satellite to monitor the degradation of forest resources, said talks ISRO are on to launch such a satellite. “The Indian communication satellites are already doing the job of gathering of vital data on environmental and forest resources,” he said.
V Kasturirangan, former ISRO chairman, said there is need to build an indigenous satellite to measure greenhouse gas emissions in the country. “We need to launch our own satellite to study environmental issues like coastal degradation and forest fires without relying on data from foreign satellites,” he said.
A declaration was earlier signed between the national centre for sustainable coastal management and Anna university for a Rs 166-crore consortium, with Chennai as the hub. Various universities in coastals state, including Calcutta University, Berhampur University (Orissa), Andhra University, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, Madras School of Economics, Pondicherry University, CESS (Kerala), NIT Suratkal (Karnataka), Goa University, University of Mumbai and Bhavnagar University signed the declaration and joined the consortium.
“The linkage with coastal communities is especially important because often, in our country, research is divorced from field-level conditions and challenges. The consortium should also link up with the best institutions in the world and train a whole new generation of researchers in this area. After an extensive process of public consultations and feedback, the MoEF is now finalising the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2010. We are also launching 3 integrated coastal zone management projects worth Rs 300 crore, Rs 200 crore and Rs 300 crore in West Bengal, Orissa and Gujarat, respectively. For the first time, the Survey of India has been tasked with the responsibility of delineating a hazard line along 7,500 km of India’s coast”, said Jairam Ramesh, minister of state, environment and forest.
The consortium’s charter includes preparing immediate preventive and remedial action, wherever possible using existing knowledge, resources, plans and processes for the conservation and protection of the coastal environment and safeguarding the livelihood of local communities which depend upon resources from coastal and marine areas. The charter also aims to promote access and undertake high-quality targeted research in coastal and marine area management, facilitate the transfer of technology and information and collect, compile and disseminate information on coastal and marine environment management through networking among states and institutions.
Link - http://www.financialexpress.com/news/location-for-green-circuit-benches-to-be-decided-soon/637200/1