Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday the NDA government in the past 15 months had done more to demarcate eco-sensitive zones than the previous UPA regime could do in its eight-year rule since the 2006 Supreme Court judgment came out.
Terming it as a major reform in environmental governance, he said, “This will ensure that the confusion pertaining to ESZ demarcation is put to an end.”
In December, 2006, the Supreme Court had ordered all States and Union Territories for sending proposals to the MoEF for demarcation of ESZs. The court also said that in case no ESZ proposal is sent, ESZ of 10 km shall apply around Protected Areas (PAs). However, in the past eight years only about 15 notifications have been issued. The NDA government, since coming to power, has since reviewed 113 proposals for ESZ demarcation, approving 176 proposals in the process. Draft notifications have been issued in 31 cases, and final notifications have been issued in 32 cases. The proposals submitted by the State governments were sent to Wildlife Institute of India for assessment.
The purpose of declaring an Eco-Sensitive Zone is to create a buffer zone, where activities will be regulated to protect areas demarcated as Protected Areas.
The entire exercise has been completed in two States, Sikkim and Goa. The Minister is also planning a visit to the Andaman and Nicobar islands in September to study the demarcation of eco-sensitive zones there.
India and INDCsOn the question of India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) submissions ahead of the Paris climate change summit, Mr. Javadekar said that there were considerable differences between India and other countries on the question of differentiation as regards responsibility, and financing climate action, and in order to resolve these the French government had started the Paris informer, which will help avoid delays.
