Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)
Basin-level impact assessment study of the Lohit river - A study by WAPCOS & Ministry of Environment and Forests (2011)
In view of the number of hydro-electricity projects being commissioned on the free-flowing Lohit river and its tributaries, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) recommended the development of a basin-level impact assessment. This work was awarded to M/s Wapcos Limited, and the cost shared by the various project developers. Posted on 19 Mar, 2012 11:29 AM


Area map of the Lohit Basin

National action plan on climate change (NAPCC) and supporting mission documents (2008-11)
The NAPCC gives the direction which India needs to take, to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Posted on 24 Dec, 2011 11:46 PM

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) is a policy document prepared by the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. It has been prepared keeping in mind that India's economic need to tap its natural resources needs to be tempered with the need to maintain ecological balance.

Himalayan glaciers: A state-of-art review of glacial studies, glacial retreat and climate change – A MoEF discussion paper
The study presents interesting findings related to the glaciers in the Indian Himalayas. Posted on 30 Oct, 2011 09:02 PM

GlacierThe MoEF discussion paper on Himalayan glaciers studies the phenomenon of glaciations and glacier dynamics, a phenomenon that has attained significant attention in recent years, on account of the general belief that global warming and climate change is leading to fast degeneration of glaciers in the Himalayas. It is argued that this would, in the long run, have an adverse effect on the environment, climate and the water.

Environmental impact assessment - Notification and amendment (2006) - Ministry of Environment and Forests
This document published by the Ministry of Environment and Forests is a draft notification published in 2006 under sub-rule (3) of Rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 that imposes certain restrictions and prohibitions on new projects or activities, or on the expansion or modernisation of existing projects or activities based on their potential environmental impacts as indicated in the Schedule to the notification, being undertaken in any part of India.
Posted on 18 Jun, 2011 10:01 PM

The document emphasises the need for taking prior environmental clearance in case of new projects or activities or expansion of already existing activities in accordance with the objectives of National Environment Policy that has approved by the Union Cabinet on 18th May, 2006 and the procedure specified in the notification, by the Central Government or the State or Union territory Level.

Bioremediation, its applications to contaminated sites in India - A state of the art report by Ministry of Environment and Forests
This report by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) deals with the applications of bioremediation to contaminated sites in India. Posted on 17 May, 2011 12:42 PM

Cover Page Bioremediation is emerging as an effective innovative technology for treatment of a wide variety of contaminants and is an invaluable tool box for wider application in the realm of environmental protection.

Bioremediation approach is currently applied to contain contaminants in soil, groundwater, surface water, and sediments including air. These technologies have become attractive alternatives to conventional clean-up technologies due to relatively low capital costs and their inherently aesthetic nature. 

It includes phytoremediation (plants) and rhizoremediation (plant and microbe interaction). Rhizoremediation, which is the most evolved process of bioremediation, involves the removal of specific contaminants from contaminated sites by mutual interaction of plant roots and suitable microbial flora. 

The report documents the existing knowledge for the benefit of regulators, who evaluate the quality of environment and for practitioners, who have to implement and evaluate remediation alternatives at a given contaminated site. It is expected to provide basic understanding of the bioremediation mechanisms to the reader. The technical descriptions provided in this document concentrate on the functioning mechanisms: phytosequestration, rhizodegradation, phytohydraulics, phytoextraction, phytodegradation, and phytovolatilization. 

India's forests and REDD+ - A factsheet prepared by Ministry of Environment and Forests
The document explains another effort at climate change mitigation which is the concept of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) .
Posted on 28 Apr, 2011 04:29 PM

The benefits of working with REDD and the need and benefits of getting more ambitious by accepting REDD+, which is about finding financial value for carbon stored in standing forests which therefore incentivises the positive elements of conservation is also elaborated here.

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants – Draft National Implementation Plan by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (2011)
The NIP recognizes the central role of the national environmental and sustainable development policies to India's development and the need for attainment of Agenda 21 targets.
Posted on 14 Apr, 2011 07:35 AM

NIPAs per Article 7 of the Stockholm Convention, countries are required to develop the National Implementation Plan (NIP) of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) to demonstrate how the obligations under the Convention would be implemented. The Convention was adopted with the objective of protecting human health and the environment from POPs and came into force from April 2006 in India.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, which is the nodal ministry for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Stockholm Convention in India has prepared a NIP and has committed itself to its implementation subject to adequate assistance. It has had to harmonize the interests and stand points of different sectors involved and thereafter determine the position of the Indian government.

India understands that compliance with the obligations on Parties set out in the Convention will have a significant and positive influence not only on India‘s own chemicals management regime but also on the ultimate global success of the Convention. Since among the POPs only Dichloro Diphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT) and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are used in the country the inventory concentrated on DDT storages and facilities where PCB-containing electrical equipment was found.

Coastal Regulation Zone (2011) Notification, Island Protection Zone (2011) Notification and Traditional Coastal and Marine Fisherfolk (Protection of Rights) Act (2009) by the Ministry of Environment and Forests
For the first time an Island Protection Zone Notification (2011) is being notified and published covering Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
Posted on 11 Feb, 2011 09:22 PM

The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 1991 has been replaced recently in January 2011 by the latest CRZ notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

Uniform protocol on water quality monitoring by Ministry of Environment and Forests (2005)
Uniformity in procedure for water quality monitoring mechanism by all monitoring agencies, and agencies in order to draw water related Action Plans Posted on 13 Dec, 2010 07:32 PM

This deals with the Central Government’s order on “Uniform Protocol on Water Quality Monitoring Order” in June 2005 in exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Due to the deterioration of the river water quality, health and livelihood of the downstream people are being severely affected and concerns are raised time and again. 

The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 notified by the MoEF
Wetland Conservation and Management Rules ensure better management, conservation and prevention of degradation of existing wetlands
Posted on 04 Dec, 2010 01:01 PM


Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)The Ministry of Environment and Forests today notified the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. These Rules have been drafted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to ensure better conservation and management and to prevent degradation of existing wetlands in India.

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