In this issue we shall examine the following
1. Number of Protected areas in the country
3.The Indira Pritadarshini Vriksha Mitra Awards (IPVM)
4.National Ganga river Basin Authority
5. SPVs as mode of implementation
6.GIS Mapping
7.Compendium of Technologies
8.State River Conservation Authorities
1.There are 661 Protected Areas in the country which cover around 4.8% geographical area. There are 99 National Parks, 515 Wildlife sanctuaries, 43 Conservation Reserves and 4 Community Reserves in the country.
2.The Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra (IPVM) Awards are given in recognition of the pioneering and innovative contribution made by the individuals and institutions in the field of afforestation/ or wasteland development.
The IPVM awards were instituted in 1986 and are given annually. The activities deciding the awards are establishing decentralized nurseries; tree planting on wastelands/farm land; awareness- raising, motivations and extension work; involving the rural poor/ tribal / cooperatives in Afforestation and tree planting; setting up grass-roots level institutions like the Tree Growers’ Cooperative; and social fencing of community woodlots and pasture lands. IPVM Awards, given in 12 categories till 2006, are now given in 4 categories namely individuals including Government servants, Joint Forests Management Committee (JFMC),Institutions / organizations under Government ,and Non –Governmental Institutions /Organizations. In each category, only one award is given. Cash prize of Rs. 2.5 lakhs along with medallion and citation is given for each category. The awards are given on the basis of innovative efforts and outstanding work in Afforestation, with special reference to wastelands development and involvement of the people.
3. Features,Functions and Preparatory steps of National Ganga River Basin Authority
Key Features of the New Approach of NGRBA
River Basin will be the unit of planning and management. This is an internationally accepted strategy for integrated management of rivers. Accordingly, a new institutional mechanism in the form of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) will spearhead river conservation efforts at the national level. Implementation will be by the State Agencies and Urban Local Bodies.
The minimum ecological flows for the entire Ganga will be determined through modeling exercises. NGRBA will take appropriate measures in cooperation with the States to regulate water abstraction for marinating minimum ecological flows in the river.
• Attention would also be paid to the restoration of living parts of the river ecosystem for its holistic treatment to enable conservation of species like dolphin, turtles, fishes and other native and endangered species in their river.
Key Functions of the NGRBA
• The NGRBA would be responsible for addressing the problem of pollution in Ganga in a holistic and comprehensive manner. This will include water quality minimum ecological flows, sustainable access and other issues relevant to river ecology and management.
• The NGRBA will not only be regulatory body but will also have developmental role in terms of planning & monitoring of the river conservation activities and ensuring that necessary resources are available.
The NGRBA would work for maintaining the water quality of the river Ganga upto the acceptable standards. The pollution abetment activities will be taken up through the existing implementation mechanisms in the States and also through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) at the pollution hotspots.
• The NGRBA will ensure minimum ecological flow in the Ganga by regulating water abstraction and by promoting water storage projects.
• The NGRBA will plan and monitoring programmes for clanging of Ganga and its tributaries. To begin with, it will concentrate on Ganga main stem.
The NGRBA would draw upon professional expertise within and outside the
Priority Action plan for pollution hotspots: one of the priority functions of the Authority is to implementation river conservation works at pollution hotspots. These activities should commence even as the comprehensive basin management plan is under preparation. MoEF has requested the concerned State Governments to prepare action plans for comprehensively tackling the problem of pollution in the Ganga at the hotspots locations, such as Hardiwar, Varansani, Ahmadabad, Kanpur, Patna and Howrah. These plans are awaited.
4. SPVs as mode of implementation: the process of consolations with State Government and Urban Local Bodies has been started to discuss he feasibility of having SPVs in the river clearing sector and to evolve the necessary modalities viz. Contractual arrangements, concessions agreements, etc. A meeting was organized on 16th June 2009 with the representatives of the State Governments and the Heads of the Urban Local Bodies as a brainstorming session to begin the process of identifying appropriate locations and the types of river conservation infrastructure where SPVs would be feasible. A presentation was made by IL&FS. State Governments & ULBs have been requested to formulate proposals for implementing this concept on a pilot basis.
5. GIS Mapping: The National Information Centre (NIC0 has been entrusted with the work of GIS based mapping of the entire Ganga Basin. This work has already commenced. This will help the users to view and update maps and tabular data relating to pollution abetment works, water quality etc. and analyze the data for monitoring and effective decision making.
6. Memoranda of Agreement with States: the National Institute of Urban Affairs has prepared a modal Memorandum of Agreement which would link flow of funds to achievement of milestones such as measurable improvements in water quality indicators, implementation of pre determined reform measures and provision s for O&M.
7. Compendium of Technologies: A Compendium of the treatment technologies available in India and aboard is being prepared by IIT, Kanpur. This can serve as a store house for the NGRBA and would help the State Governments and the local authorities in choosing the appropriate technologies depending upon the totality of local circumstances. The compendium would be presented in the first meeting of NGRBA.
8. The States have to be at the forefront of implementation of the river conservation programme. The Authority, therefore, provides for the State Governments to constitute State River Conservation Authorities under the chairmanship of their Chief Ministers. However, certain States may want the States Authorities to be constituted under the Environment (Protection) Act in which case the notification will have to be issued by the Central Government. A model notification in this regard has been circulated to the State Governments for their consideration.