General Development & Control Regulations to protect environment

Daily News & Analysis , Friday, May 21, 2010
Correspondent : Kapil Dave / DNA
The Gujarat state government, which had earlier come up with the idea of special climate change department to make serious efforts for the protection of the environment, is now planning to come out with environment-specific holistic General Development & Control Regulations (GDCRs) for all kinds of building and construction development in the state.

Highly-placed sources in the state government said, "As the state government is very keen on promoting the green cause and creating better urban environment, it has been decided to come out with holistic environment GDCRs with a legal back-up. At present, there are miscellaneous GDCRs, for ground water recharge, tree plantation etc, but there are no holistic environment GDCRs. Due to lack of uniform guidelines or GDCRs and serious legal lacuna, implementation of these GDCRs are very limited in actual practice. The government is very keen on promoting the use of solar, wind and other alternate green energies. At present, there are no regulations or guidelines for this. So, the state government has decided to come out with new holistic environment-centric GDCRs which include all aspects of environment protection and conservation."

The sources said that various government departments are being asked to give their suggestions on the issue. The state forest & environment department has suggested to make it mandatory for all new buildings (residential, commercial and government property) to provide for solar power generation, rainwater harvesting and for "urban greening", i.e. make it mandatory to have at least one tree per 100 sq ft of construction.

The state assembly's Estimates Committee had noticed during its field study that the state government's orders for tackling water scarcity and environment conservation had been ignored by urban local bodies (ULBs). It had also noticed that ULBs were not properly undertaking tree plantations as per the city GDCRs.

Therefore, the committee had suggested to the government to create a separate system at all ULBs which will ensure action for ground water recharge, effect water harvesting and ensure tree plantation as per the GDCRs. Considering the suggestions made by the committee and other climate change initiatives the state government has decided to come out with new holistic environment-specific GDCRs.

 
SOURCE : http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_general-development-and-control-regulations-to-protect-environment_1385269
 


Back to pevious page



The NetworkAbout Us  |  Our Partners  |  Concepts   
Resources :  Databases  |  Publications  |  Media Guide  |  Suggested Links
Happenings :  News  |  Events  |  Opinion Polls  |  Case Studies
Contact :  Guest Book  |  FAQs |  Email Us