Policies, Laws and Regulations

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.  

This document from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) site is divided into the following chapters:

Chapter 1: Preliminary

• Short title, extent and commencement
• Definitions

This document from the International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC) site is divided into the following sections:

This document from the International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC) site is divided into the following chapters:

The Kerala Ground Water (Control and Regulation) Act (2002) As per this Act, the Government may, if satisfied on the recommendation of the Authority, that it is necessary in the public interest to regulate the extraction of use of groundwater of any area, declare by notification, such area as notified.

This paper published in the Law, Environment and Development Journal aims at understanding the experience of implementation of the groundwater legislation act in the state of Maharashtra, which is among the few state

This policy report on arsenic contamination of groundwater resources by the World Bank presents the findings of a study undertaken by the World Bank in 2005, t

This report by the Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh,  provides information on Neeru Meeru, a water conservation and poverty alleviation inititaive undertaken by the governemnt of  Andhra Pradesh.

This paper published by the International Environmental Law Research Centre briefly describes the geography and the socio-economic background of Plachimada, and analyses the legal and institutional framework applicable to the case,

This paper published in the Economic and Political Weekly describes the case of river Khari in Gujarat, which faced increasing amount of pollution due to the discharge of industrial effluents in the river and the efforts made  to solve the pollution problem.

The phenomenon of pollution started in the 1970s when Naroda, Odhav, Vatva and Narol on the eastern periphery of Ahmedabad city were promoted by the government. While there were zones for industries according to the type of waste generated, environmental considerations were overlooked and no provision was made for the safe disposal of industrial effluents. Most of the factories in the industrial estates were water intensive and all of them discharged effluents into the nearby Kharicut canal, which flows into the Khari river, a tributary of the Sabarmati. As the canal remained dry throughout the year, the government ignored its (mis)use.