Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is a policy document prepared by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. It has been prepared keeping in mind that India's economic need to tap its natural resources needs to be tempered with the need to maintain ecological balance.

The MoEF discussion paper on Himalayan glaciers studies the phenomenon of glaciations and glacier dynamics, a phenomenon that has attained significant attention in recent years, on account of the general belief that global warming and climate change is leading to fast degeneration of glaciers in the Himalayas. It is argued that this would, in the long run, have an adverse effect on the environment, climate and the water.

The document emphasises the need for taking prior environmental clearance in case of new projects or activities or expansion of already existing activities in accordance with the objectives of National Environment Policy that has approved by the Union Cabinet on 18th May, 2006 and the procedure specified in the notification, by the Central Government or the State or Union territory Level.

Bioremediation is emerging as an effective innovative technology for treatment of a wide variety of contaminants and is an invaluable tool box for wider application in the realm of environmental protection.

Bioremediation approach is currently applied to contain contaminants in soil, groundwater, surface water, and sediments including air. These technologies have become attractive alternatives to conventional clean-up technologies due to relatively low capital costs and their inherently aesthetic nature. 

It includes phytoremediation (plants) and rhizoremediation (plant and microbe interaction). Rhizoremediation, which is the most evolved process of bioremediation, involves the removal of specific contaminants from contaminated sites by mutual interaction of plant roots and suitable microbial flora. 

The report documents the existing knowledge for the benefit of regulators, who evaluate the quality of environment and for practitioners, who have to implement and evaluate remediation alternatives at a given contaminated site. It is expected to provide basic understanding of the bioremediation mechanisms to the reader. The technical descriptions provided in this document concentrate on the functioning mechanisms: phytosequestration, rhizodegradation, phytohydraulics, phytoextraction, phytodegradation, and phytovolatilization. 

The benefits of working with REDD and the need and benefits of getting more ambitious by accepting REDD+, which is about finding financial value for carbon stored in standing forests which therefore incentivises the positive elements of conservation is also elaborated here.

As per Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention, countries are required to develop the National Implementation Plan (NIP) of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) to demonstrate how the obligations under the Convention would be implemented. The Convention was adopted with the objective of protecting human health and the environment from POPs and came into force from April 2006 in India.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, which is the nodal ministry for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Stockholm Convention in India has prepared a NIP and has committed itself to its implementation subject to adequate assistance. It has had to harmonize the interests and stand points of different sectors involved and thereafter determine the position of the Indian government.

India understands that compliance with the obligations on Parties set out in the Convention will have a significant and positive influence not only on India‘s own chemicals management regime but also on the ultimate global success of the Convention. Since among the POPs only Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT) and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are used in the country the inventory concentrated on DDT storages and facilities where PCB-containing electrical equipment was found.

The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 1991 has been replaced recently in January 2011 by the latest CRZ notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

This deals with the Central Government’s order on “Uniform Protocol on Water Quality Monitoring Order” in June 2005 in exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Due to the deterioration of the river water quality, health and livelihood of the downstream people are being severely affected and concerns are raised time and again. 

The Ministry of Environment and Forests today notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. These Rules have been drafted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to ensure better conservation and management and to prevent degradation of existing wetlands in India.