The National Green Tribunal has directed for an intensive survey of the Kali, Krishna and Hindon rivers in western Uttar Pradesh. The tribunal has also ordered inspection of 316 industries which are allegedly polluting the water bodies. A committee comprising officials from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), state pollution control board and UP Jal Nigam have also been constituted to jointly inspect and carry out the survey of rivers and groundwater in six districts in the western part of the state.
The Maharashtra government has given nod to a climate-resilient agriculture project worth Rs 4,000 crore. The project that will be partially funded by the World Bank will roll out in 2018-19 and continue until 2023-24. The scheme will cover both small- and medium-scale farmers and aims to improve soil quality, develop foodgrain varieties which can sustain climate variations and effect necessary changes in the crop pattern as per the availability of water in a particular region.
The Forest Advisory Committee of the environment ministry has given stage-one clearance for the acquisition of 1,513 hectares of forest land for the Sita Rama Lift Irrigation project in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district in Telangana. The project envisages to irrigate 6.74 lakh acres of ayacut and stabilise existing ayacut of 3.45 lakh acres under other projects. The project also proposes to divert 70.40 TMC ft Godavari water to provide water for irrigation for command area, minor irrigation tanks and for some existing and proposed irrigation schemes.
The National Green Tribunal has ordered to constitute a six-member committee to identify the movement path of elephants from the nearby forest to Deepor Beel and vice versa. The committee will also take a look at the extent to which the railway tracks have encroached upon such corridors or paths in these areas and make proposals to be taken up by the Railways for permanent mitigation measures, such as underpass or overbridge, to offset such encroachments.
As part of its measures to control air pollution, the environment ministry has banned the import of pet coke for trading purposes in Delhi and neighbouring states--Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The ministry has also notified the dos and don'ts for the sale and use of pet coke in cement plants and other end-user industrial units, including refineries. Also, the court has expanded the ban to furnace oil and has allowed a time of one year to the thermal power plants to shift from furnace oil to light diesel oil.
This is a roundup of important policy matters from January 16 - 22, 2018. Also, read the news this week.