Even as Delhi emerges as the most polluted city in the world, the environment ministry is contemplating emergency measures to combat the rising air pollution levels in the Capital.
Without elaborating on the measures, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said a contingency plan is being formulated to regulate air pollution levels in NCR. The state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also a part of the plan.
Highlighting the achievements of his ministry over the past year, the environment minister said the National Forest Policy was being revised to ensure improvement in forest quality while carving out provisions to enable tribals and forest dwellers to have a greater say in matters related to forests.
While claiming that forest stocking volume in the country had stabilised, Javadekar vowed to bring the number into positive figures from next year.
Javadekar asserted that the number of tigers in the country had breached the 2,226 mark and had risen to 2,400. "Lions also registered a 24 per cent growth while the number of rhinos has touched 2,889. The number of elephants in the country stands at 30, 000," he said.
According to the minister, the government had also decided to give a generous thought to animal welfare. After banning animals for use in circuses, the government would now start providing grants for gaushalas (cow shelters) and shelters for other animals, including stray dogs.
The government would also impart formal training to people in animal welfare by commencing new diploma and degree courses in the subject, the minister said.
The ministry will also review environmental norms for sand mining, stone crushing, brick kilns, etc in a bid to curb industrial pollution. Javadekar said his ministry was also exploring the idea to use satellites to ascertain the deposition of sand in water bodies like rivers and channels.
The environment ministry will also work on a bill, which has been circulated for public consultation, with provisions of higher penalties, to rein in violators of environmental conditions.
Javadekar said the ministry had made the process of obtaining environment clearances simpler while adding that about 3,200 proposals of various projects were submitted during the NDA's oneyear rule. "While 505 were approved, 721 were awarded terms of reference (TOR)," he added.
When asked to comment on the ongoing stifle against NGos, especially Greenpeace India, Javadekar said: "We value NGO participation. We recently held a meeting with 125 organisations. No single NGO has a monopoly."
