Authority to force environmental laws to be set up
August 19th, 2009 - 9:43 pm ICT by IANSChennai, Aug 19 (IANS) The central government will soon set up a national authority to enforce environmental laws, minister Jairam Ramesh said Wednesday.
“At the state environment and forest ministers’ meeting yesterday (Tuesday) in Delhi, there was a broad agreement on this aspect. We need an institutional set-up to enforce environmental laws and impose penalty for non-compliance,” Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh told reporters.
Ramesh said the government will circulate a discussion paper on the National Environmental Protection Authority (NEPA).
Earlier, speaking at a meeting on Management of Agro Biodiversity Hotspots in an Era of Climate Change, the minister said around 21 percent of the country’s geographical area is under forest cover.
“Of that, two percent is high density and 10 percent medium density forest area. The remaining is degraded forest cover,” he said.
The consultation meeting was organised by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.
Ramesh said the challenge was to cut the degraded forest cover area and also improve the medium forest cover.
- Bill for environment agency in monsoon session - Mar 16, 2010
- Jairam insists on more forest cover for India - Jun 05, 2011
- Declare Sawantwadi-Dodamarg 'eco-sensitive', government urged - Jan 20, 2011
- Forest clearance for SAIL Chiria iron mines in Jharkhand - Feb 09, 2011
- Ramesh says guilty of condoning many environmental violations - May 06, 2011
- India moves ahead with conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity - Feb 10, 2011
- Environment regulator proposal up for debate - Sep 17, 2009
- Bio-piracy is biggest concern, says Jairam Ramesh - Sep 06, 2010
- Stop work on Andhra power plant: Environment ministry - Mar 02, 2011
- Kashmir's green cover halved in 30 years - Oct 09, 2011
- Jayanthi praises Ramesh - Jul 21, 2011
- Coal ministry included in environment appraisal of power projects - Jul 09, 2010
- Subansiri Hydro Power Project to come up only after environmental considerations: Jairam - Sep 11, 2010
- States with lots of forests may be paid for it - Jul 09, 2009
- Forest, tree cover increasing, says Ramesh - Nov 29, 2010
Tags: biodiversity hotspots, central government, climate change, discussion paper, environmental laws, environmental protection authority, forest area, forest cover, forest ministers, forests, geographical area, high density, jairam ramesh, medium density, medium forest, minister of state, ministers meeting, research foundation, state environment, swaminathan
