-The Indian Express In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on whether the number of lakes has declined substantially across the country over recent years, MoEFCC Prakash Javadekar said rapid urbanisation, development activities and anthropogenic pressures have stressed water bodies. Over Rs 1,000 crore has been released for the conservation of 157 wetlands in the country under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Eco-systems (NPCA), Union Minister...

-India.Mongabay.com * In its latest decision, the Indian government’s ministry of environment has come out with an order to help a certain category of mining projects avoid public hearing while seeking environment clearance. * This decision is mainly for projects which were granted environment clearance under environmental impact assessment notification 1994 after a public hearing was conducted. * But experts note that public hearings should be understood as a critical tool for good...

-Article-14.com In 2018, India diluted environmental safeguards when it ‘standardised’ or made simpler permissions for industry by expert panels. Now, as the government pushes the use of dirtier domestic coal by power plants, further dilution is underway, increasing health risks and imperilling the environment New Delhi: Standardised conditions will be “monitorable”. They will bring “uniformity”. They will help in “expediting the process of environmental clearance without compromising environmental norms”. These are claims the ministry of...

-The Indian Express The plan lists a number of immediate, medium and long- term measures that need to be taken over five years to manage and restore the trans-boundary lake shared between Haryana and Delhi, which lies southwest of the capital. An expert committee set up by the Delhi government has prepared an environmental management plan for Najafgarh lake on directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The plan lists a number...

-Down to Earth The environment ministry on February 22 wrote to all states, seeking their views on the matter, according to documents Does granting Forest clearance to an agency lead to its name entering land title records? The Union environment ministry recently asked this to all states and Union territories. The letter dated February 22, 2021 from Assistant Inspector General of Forests Suneet Bhardwaj came on the back of repeated requests by the...