“The number of cases related to environmental issues pending in the Supreme Court of India is around 110 and 3573 in the National Green Tribunal.

The Government has enacted the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977; the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 etc. to regulate the matters related to environmental degradation. Besides the Government has notified The Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016; Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018; Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules 2016; Solid Waste Management Rules 2016; Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules 2016; E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016; E-Waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018; Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016; Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2016; Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2017; Hazardous and other Wastes (Management & Trans-boundary Movement) Amendment Rules, 2018.  Further, Eco-Sensitive Zones are being established by the Government around the Protected Areas like national parks and wildlife sanctuaries to serve as buffer regions, ensuring balance between local economic growth and conservation imperatives. To mitigate pollution from industries, norms related to emissions and effluents from various industrial sectors have been notified, besides general standards.  Online monitoring of industrial pollution through 24x7 Continuous Emission/ Effluent has been established in over 2700 industries of 17 categories. Online monitoring of industrial pollution in River Ganga is also established in over 700 industries. Coastal Zone Regulatory Authority has been established to take care of pollution abatement around the coastal areas for their sustainable development.  The Environmental Clearance, CRZ Clearance and the Forest Clearance processes are also intended to protect the environment.

The impact of the measures taken has been mitigation of environmental problems as against business as usual scenario”.

This information was given by Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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HK/IA