After Kashmir floods, construction on river beds under scanner

NEW DELHI: The government is planning to strengthen regulation mechanism for diesel vehicles to check vehicular pollution and toying with an idea to regulate “river beds” through an institution to prevent the kind of disaster that struck Jammu & Kashmir.
Union environment and forests minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday referred to the idea of “river regulation board” while expressing his views on causes behind the current disaster in Jammu & Kashmir.
“River beds in Jammu & Kashmir witnessed lot of constructions over the years. It was certainly a recipe for disaster if you had constructed hotels and homes on river beds. Such activities need to be regulated and we may explore the possibility of setting up river regulation board not only in J&K but also in other states to keep eye on vulnerable zones along the river beds and natural routes”, said Javadekar.
Asked for a timeline, he told reporters that the concept of river regulation board was just an idea and he needed to discuss it with stakeholders. “At present, relief and rehabilitation is the prime concern”, he said.
Amid criticism of showing too much rush to grant green clearances, Javadekar said his ministry was doing due diligence before taking any decision and it would, in fact, make environmental norms “more stringent and practical” keeping in mind enormity of the problem and issues involved.
Besides bringing out strict green norms for industries, the ministry, he said, would also strengthen regulations for diesel vehicles.
Noting that vehicular pollution has more than doubled in the past two decades, he said the government was making “additional norms” for vehicles to bring down carbon emission. “Why are diesel norms lower than the petrol norms?” he asked, observing that the price difference between diesel and petrol has come down in the market-based mechanism.
“Now we can also prepare the higher stringent norms for diesel vehicles also. We can do ... we must do. I think that is the model for ensuring growth with sustainability,” he said.
Earlier during the day, the minister sought to dispel the impression that the government was taking decision without caring for green norms and emphasised that his ministry would “go ahead with the rules and ensure 100 per cent compliance”.
“The stakeholders would be consulted in the process so as to ensure complete compliance once the norms are laid down", said the minister while delivering his address at the ninth 'Sustainable and Inclusive solutions Summit', organized by CII.
His remarks may be seen in the context of the ministry’s recent decision to set up a panel to review all environmental laws. The mandate of this panel is to suggest necessary changes in the green laws, keeping in mind the developmental goal of the new government.
Referring to the revision of norms related to the cement industry undertaken recently, he said that these norms were implemented taking into account the concerns of the industry.
Elaborating on it further, Javadekar said that the cooperation of the industry stakeholders was critical in the context of monitoring, evaluation and implementation of environmental norms. This would enable the government to implement “eco friendly and growth friendly” policies, he added.
He also insisted that his ministry has taken a number of measures in the past three months to not only ensure speedy clearances of crucial infrastructure and defence-related projects but also to bring transparency by launching online mechanism in the decision making processes.
Lamenting that “we contaminate everything”, he said 80 per cent of the sewage treatment plants set up in various industrial units were “non-functional”. He also pulled up certain industrial houses for making operational their sewage treatment plants only when government officials go to inspect them.