New Delhi, July 24 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Sunday said a major challenge ahead is to put in place a legal and regulatory framework which is effective in protecting the environment, but without bringing back the hated license permit raj of the pre-1991 period.
"We also hope to establish an independent regulator - the National Environment Appraisal and Monitoring Authority soon. This authority could lead to a complete change in the process of granting environmental clearances. Staffed by dedicated professionals, it will work on a full time basis to evolve better and more objective standards of scrutiny," a Prime Minister's office release quoted Dr. Singh, as saying speaking at a seminar on 'Global Environment and Disaster Management: Law and Society' in New Delhi.
"I must also mention that but for the enduring wisdom of our judiciary, we would not have the bulk of what we proudly call 'environmental jurisprudence'. The nineties witnessed remarkable changes in India. Rapid growth and industrialization were underway as a result of the newly liberalized economy. At times like this, many nations might have chosen to bear silently the depletion of the nation's natural resources as the cost of doing business but we did not compromise on these concerns," he added.
Dr. Singh said any discussion on the environment would be incomplete if we in India do not look inwards to our own cultural heritage and local practices.
"Our people have coped with adversities of nature by nurturing practices that were environmentally wise and sound. We have looked upon Nature as a source of nurture rather than a dark force to be conquered and bent to our will. Today, we have a great deal of understanding from global experience and best practices in environmental management. We need to complement this understanding with our own Indian way of looking at nature to get the most acceptable outcomes," he added.
The Prime Minister further said sustainable development has been accepted widely as the strategy that marries the aspirations for growth and development with preservation of the environment.
"In the last four years our government has formulated a national agenda for environmental protection to meet the challenges of disaster management and climate change. We have a target for greening 10 million hectares of forest land to increase incomes of the poor through a national Green India Mission. Action for generating over 20,000 MW of solar energy by the year 2020 is underway. Our mission for enhanced energy efficiency will reduce substantially need for capacity addition," said Dr. Singh.
"Our mission for sustainable habitat will develop standards for green buildings which we intend to make integral to our municipal laws. Our missions on sustainable agriculture and water conservation will increase productivity of dry land agriculture as well as increase efficiency of water use. All these steps will cumulatively lead us to a low carbon growth path. These are steps that we have decided to take on our own as responsible global citizens. We are not waiting for an international consensus to evolve through ongoing negotiations on global climate change," he added.
Dr. Singh said the government has accelerated its efforts in recent years to enhance the capability to manage disasters.
"The enactment of the Disaster Management Act in 2005 enabled the setting up of institutional mechanisms for disaster preparedness and mitigation. We have also tried to share our expertise and experience with the other countries of the world. As a signatory to the International Charter on Space and Major Charters, India extends its space capabilities to acquire data of the location of disasters anywhere on the globe and share the same with the affected country or countries on a priority basis," said Dr. Singh.
"We also provide training in disaster management to personnel of other countries, especially those in our neighbourhood," he added. (ANI)
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