Headlines
Land bill in sync with environment: PM
New Delhi, April 6
Seeking to scotch "lies"
about the controversial land acquisition bill, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday declared that it rather synergized India's growth
imperative with the need to protect the environment as tribal and forest
land has been kept out of its purview.
Inaugurating state
environment and forest ministers' conference here, Modi said environment
protection and development can go "hand in hand" but expressed
disappointment that "lies" were being floated around in this regard.
Giving
the example of the land bill, he said: "The provisions of the bill do
not touch tribal and forest land. But serious misconceptions and lies
are being spread about it."
He urged those spreading such "lies"
to desist from doing so and added that their attempts to "misguide
society are harming the nation".
The two-day conference, also
attended by union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, seeks to focus
on issues of air pollution and confer better techniques of solid waste
management and sewage water treatment.
It will also discuss the
recommendations of a report by a high-level committee, headed by former
cabinet secretary T.S.R. Subramanian. The committee recommended that
country's green laws be reviewed.
Reflecting on the union
environment ministry's expectations from the meet, Javadekar said he
hoped all states would partner with the central government in its effort
to protect the environment.
"We have planned for quite an
intensive interaction on all important issues of forest and environment
conservation. We will definitely have a good, working outcome,"
Javadekar told IANS.
Modi also said India was ready to take the
lead in fight against climate change but "people who lecture us on
environment and the use of cleaner energy don't give us nuclear fuel
(for clean energy)".
"These are double standards," he said, adding that India has to take lead in thinking of ways to protect the environment.
"We
must think of traditional methods to tackle environmental issues. There
can be green solutions in our age-old traditions," he said.
The
prime minister sought to clear the "wrong impression" of India that it
was not serious on environmental issues, saying the country had a
culture in which the environment was equal to the divine.
Modi
urged urban bodies to focus on solid waste management with programmes to
generate wealth from it, adding that such authorities could recycle
waste water and send it to farmers, who in turn would make use of it and
provide other services like growing organic vegetables, which would
make life easier for all.
The prime minister, who was presented a
report on the status of tigers in India, expressed satisfaction on the
increase in their number, adding that it reflects "India's commitment to
respect for nature".
He also released a "Standard Terms of
Reference for Environment Impact Analysis", which was described by
Javadekar as a step towards ensuring "ease of doing business".
Modi
also launched a National Air Quality Index, which will enable people
across India to track the quality of air they breathe with the click of a
button.
Available on the ministry's website after the launch in
10 cities in the first phase, the colour-coded index indicating air
quality will provide real-time data detailing the level of pollution in a
given city.