NGT forms committee to frame policy to protect submerging islands in India
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday formed a committee to study the impact of sea level rise on islands and to protect them from submergence, erosion, saline ingression, flooding and other adverse environmental aspects. The order was passed in case registered suo motu by the NGT, based on an article published in the ‘The Hindu’, titled ‘India's sinking islands’. The article, reported that multiple islands along the Indian Coast, as well as some islands in rivers, were susceptible to erosion and submergence.
A bench of chairperson, Justice Sheo Kumar Singh, judicial member, Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi, and expert member, Professor A Senthil Veil noted that India's average temperature had risen by around 0.63° Celsius between 1901 and 2021, as per a response from the Ministry of Earth Sciences. The NGT noted that the rise in temperature has resulted in the melting of glaciers, rise in sea levels, changing precipitation patterns, and increasing tendency of weather and climate extremes on a global scale.
"This rise in temperature is largely on account of greenhouse gases induced warming, partially offset by anthropogenic aerosols," the tribunal noted. In view of the same, the tribunal has now constituted a committee comprising the Directors of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) at Goa, the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management at Chennai, the National Institute of Ocean Technology at Chennai and the Survey of India, Dehradun.
The committee has been instructed to study the impact of the rise in sea levels on islands and to frame a policy with measures to protect the islands.
It highlighted that one of the primary factors contributing to the submergence of these islands was sea level rise, which is a consequence of global warming. This rise in sea levels led to the intrusion of saline water into the agricultural and drinking water sources on these islands, the report further stated. The committee tasked with studying the issue has been ordered to submit its report to the tribunal within three months’ time. (NGT Order, Bar and Bench, Live Law)
Maharashtra introduces green hydrogen policy
In order to boost renewable energy projects in the state, the Maharashtra state cabinet gave approval to the Green Hydrogen Policy to promote renewable energy and green hydrogen projects. The state cabinet also approved Rs. 8,562 crore for the implementation of this policy.
Maharashtra has become the first state of the country to introduce the green hydrogen policy. India had recently announced the National Green Hydrogen Mission, that aimed at producing five million tonnes of green hydrogen annually in the country by 2023. This policy was formulated, recognising the potential of green hydrogen and related products in the state as well.
The policy will provide incentives to projects that procure renewable energy through open access, from in-state or out-of-state power distribution companies, power exchanges, for self-consumption. Green hydrogen and related production projects will be registered with the Energy Office.
As per the policy, 50% and 60% concession will be given in transmission charges and wheeling charges respectively for the next ten years from the time of project implementation.
Standalone and hybrid power plants will be given 100% concession in power tariff for the next 10 years and 15 years respectively and will also be exempted from cross subsidy and surcharge.
“Apart from this, as per the package scheme of incentives 2019, a subsidy of Rs 50 per kg will be given for blending green hydrogen into gas for 5 years. Also, the first 20 green hydrogen refueling stations will be given 30% capital cost subsidy up to a maximum of Rs 4.50 crore. The first 500 green hydrogen based fuel cell passenger vehicles will be given a capital cost subsidy of up to Rs 60 lakh per vehicle, subject to a 30% capital cost subsidy.
Land earmarked for green hydrogen projects will be fully exempted from local body tax, non-agricultural tax and stamp duty. (The Times of India, The Indian Express)
Panel notes that Delhi’s Dwarka rainwater system is polluting water table
A joint inspection by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) appointed expert committee comprising the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has found that the rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems installed in the residential societies in Dwarka are ill-maintained and are causing groundwater contamination in over a dozen societies,
According to a report submitted by the committee to NGT earlier this week, the team inspected all 354 of Dwarka’s Cooperative Group Housing Societies (CGHS). The committee then collected water samples from RWH structures at 235 societies and found high ammoniacal nitrogen and high total dissolved solids (TDS) in 180 of them. The report said during the inspection, the team found common pipelines for the RWH system and wastewater.
Ammoniacal nitrogen is a measure for the amount of ammonia in the water. It is a toxic pollutant often found in landfill leachate and in waste products.
The committee has also asked DJB to withdraw the rebate from such societies where the rainwater structures were not functional or only partially functional.
A 10% rebate on the water bill is given to properties with an RWH system. It is also mandatory for government buildings in Delhi to install RWH. However, the maintenance of these structures has been a longstanding problem.
“The RWH systems were found as per design of the Delhi Jal Board/ Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) but common pipelines for rooftop rainwater harvesting structure and other wastewater including washing area and floor washing area were found connected. As a result, the common pipeline may be contaminating the groundwater in the form of Ammonical Nitrogen and TDS,” the report said. (The Hindustan Times)
Parliamentary committee endorses the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill, 2023
A Parliamentary Committee, set up to examine controversial proposed amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, has endorsed the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 that is expected to be tabled in Parliament ahead of the monsoon session on July 20.
The Bill seeks to amend the pivotal 1980 law which was enacted to ensure that India’s forest land is not diverted for non-forestry purposes. The Act empowers the Centre to require that any forest land diverted for non-forestry purposes be duly compensated. It also extends its remit to land which is not officially classified as ‘forest’ in State or Central government records.
While the Act has been amended several times in the last few decades — mostly in the spirit of bringing larger tracts of forest-like land under State protection — the latest set of amendments specifically encourage the practice of cultivating plantations on non-forest land that could, over time, increase tree cover, act as a carbon sink, and aid India’s ambition of being ‘net zero’ in terms of emissions by 2070. The amendments would also remove the 1980 Act’s restrictions on creating infrastructure that would aid national security and create livelihood opportunities for those living on the periphery of forests.
The report notes that objections were raised to various aspects of the Bill, including complaints that the proposed amendments “diluted” the Supreme Court’s 1996 judgement in the Godavarman case that extended protection to wide tracts of forests, even if they were not recorded as forests. The Environment Ministry refuted this point and argued that provisions in the Bill guarded against such situations.
Construction of highways, hydel power projects and other such projects in geographically sensitive areas within 100 km of international borders or the Line of Control will no longer require a forest clearance.
The amendments were only introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 2023 but a draft copy has been in the public domain, for comment, since June 2022. This has invited opposition from multiple quarters, including some north-eastern States and several environmental groups who said that the amendments removed Central protection from vast tracts of so-called ‘deemed forest’ (forested areas not officially recorded as ‘forests’) and would permit activities such as tourism in these areas, compromising their integrity.
Meghalaya High Court stops more felling of trees for the Shillong-Dawki Road Project
The High Court (HC) of Meghalaya recently stopped further felling of trees in Shillong for the Shillong-Dawki Road Project till all procedures have been cleared. The HC directed that further felling of trees for the purpose of package I of the road should not be carried out till such time that the work under it is awarded to a contractor and the contractor is able to take up the construction unimpeded, including near the observatory of the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG).
The Shillong-Dawki Road Project under Japanese funding is divided into five packages. The PIL filed by Kaustav Paul pertains to felling of trees in Shillong as part of package I of the entire project. According to the status report filed by the state, the technical evaluation of bids is under process and the work for the first package has not yet been allotted after the previous contractor abandoned the project.
Even if the contractor were to be appointed, it is evident that IIG is unwilling to part with any land and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd is of the opinion that it is not possible to change the alignment at this stage to avoid any land being taken from the observatory of IIG. Thus, in effect, even if the contractor were to be appointed, till IIG relents, work under package I cannot be undertaken, noted the HC.
As far as the other packages are concerned, there are many other problems with the landowners and though some work in the undisputed areas has been carried on, it does not appear that any of the packages is ready for work being taken up or the requisite work being delivered, the order added. (India Environment Portal)
This is a roundup of important policy matters from July 1 - July 15, 2023.
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