India, which shook the world on environmental issues: Yearend Review- Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
In G-20 initiatives Global Alliance on land restoration of forest fire and mining affected areas under the Gandhinagar Implementation Roadmap and the Gandhinagar Information Platform (GIR-GIP), Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Industry Coalition RECEIC and High-Level Principles for a Sustainable and Resilient Blue/ Ocean-based Economy (HLPSRBE) launched
G20 Initiatives under India’s Presidency – Environment and Climate Sustainability Work Group (ECSWG) 2.
Inception of a Global Alliance on land restoration of forest fire and mining affected areas under the Gandhinagar Implementation Roadmap and the Gandhinagar Information Platform (GIR-GIP).
Resource Efficiency Circular Economy Industry Coalition RECEIC was launched under India’s Presidency with 40 founding members from private sector across the globe.
High-Level Principles for a Sustainable and Resilient Blue/ Ocean-based Economy (HLPSRBE) was launched. G20 countries formally adopted the 9 comprehensive high-level principles. It includes the baseline studies for preparation of Marine Spatial Planning for promotion of Blue economy as per HLPSBE.
A mega beach cleaning International Event was organised on 21st May, 2023, wherein total 18 countries participated. A total of 3300 volunteers participated on 20 international beach and 3593 Kg of trash was collected for all the beaches.
As per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 the total forest and tree cover in India is 80.9 million hectares which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country
Forest Conservation
Remarkable Increase in the Number of Ramsar Sites of the Country: Since 2014, 49 new wetlands across the country have been designated as Ramsar (Wetlands of International Importance) sites taking the total number to 75. Currently, India has the second largest network of Ramsar Sites in Asia. Amrit Dharohar Yojana has been launched for conservation of Ramsar sites through community participation on the environment day 2023. Faunal inventory of all the 75 Ramsar Sites has been published by ZSI on 1st September 2023 and Floral inventory for 75 Ramsar Sites is under preparation.
Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023: To achieve the country’s national as well as international commitments of NDCs, carbon neutrality, eliminate the ambiguities and bring clarity about the applicability of the Act in various lands, promoting the plantation in non-forest land, enhancing the productivity of the forests, amendment in the existing Act has been made by promulgating the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023. During last two years, the Forest Conservation Division has issued approximately 60 guidelines or clarifications to further streamline the process of approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
Increase in the number of Protected Areas: The number of Protected Areas in the country, which stood at 745 in the year 2014 have risen to 998. This accounts for 5.28% of the country’s total geographic area. The numbers of Community Reserves in the country have increased from 43 in the year 2014 to 220 presently.
Increase in forest and tree cover: As per India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021, the total forest and tree cover in India is 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62% of the geographical area of the country. Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 sq km as compared to 2019. 589.70 Cr seedlings were planted and a total of 8.77 million Hectares of area was covered under tree plantation till October 2023. as compared to 2020.
Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) was launched on the World Environment Day (5th June 2023) by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The aim of the MISHTI is to “Restoration of mangrove forests” by undertaking mangrove reforestation/ afforestation measures along the coast of India by adopting existing best practices in India and globally. Ministry has prepared a proposal and same has been submitted to National CAMPA authority for allocation of funds under MISHTI for FY 2023-24. Rs.100 Crores have been allocated as Project outlay for the FY 2023-24.
4.6. Blue Flag Beaches: There were no blue flag certified beaches in India in 2014. Government of India initiated the beach development work and 08 beaches conferred blue flag certification in 2020. In 2022, total 12 beaches had blue flag certification.
Integration of Gatishakti Portal with PARIVESH 2.0 for enhancing environmental clearance proposals
PARIVESH
PARIVESH is a web based, role based workflow application which has been developed for online submission and monitoring of the proposals submitted by the proponents for seeking Environment, Forest, Wildlife and CRZ Clearances from Central, State and district level authorities. It automates the entire tracking of proposals which includes online submission of a new proposal, editing/updating the details of proposals and displays status of the proposals at each stage of the workflow.
To enhance users experience on PARIVESH with modern day web application, Ministry has expanded the scope of existing PARIVESH (2.0) leveraging on emerging technology such as GIS, Advance Data Analytics, etc. for providing faster decisions on Green Clearances and robust compliance monitoring by end-to-end online appraisal and grant of clearances. An upgraded version of existing PARIVESH is supplemented with unique modules (Know Your Approval, Know Your Customer, Decision Support System etc).
Major modules in PARIVESH 2.0 viz: end to end online processing of Category A and B environmental clearance proposals was developed and rolled out at Central and SEIAA level, respectively. In addition, all major functionalities of other major clearances (FC/WL&CRZ) have been developed and rolled out. In CRZ clearance, all nine State Coastal Zonal Management Authority were onboarded, for the first time, on PARIVESH 2.0 for online submission and processing of applications. Furthermore, PARIVESH 2.0 is also integrated with Gatishakti and National Single window portal.
Integration of NSWS with PARIVESH 2.0 in Option 3 plus: Integration of NSWS portal with PARIVESH 2.0 under option 3 plus has been completed in October 2023.Under option 3 plus, user now can also register on NSWS and onboard on PARIVESH through NSWS portal. Registration details on NSWS will be pushed to PARIVESH through API based services.
Integration of Gatishakti Portal with PARIVESH 2.0: The PARIVESH Portal and Gati Shakti Portal are seamlessly integrated through Map service. Forest cadastral map for 5 states [Jharkhand, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, & one district of Tripura] and Projects planned on Gati Shakti are successfully integrated on PARIVESH. Similarly, data in the form of layers (EC/FC/WL/CRZ approved, Protected Area Boundary, Eco Sensitive Zone) available are successfully pushed to Gati Shakti portal.
Air Quality/ Pollution
Improvement in Air quality: Under NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) and XV FC grants, 131 non-attainment cities are being monitored for the air quality. They have shown a positive impact as there is progressive reduction observed in the annual average concentration of PM 10 in these 131 cities which has ultimately resulted in the improved air quality. Under Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan more than 100 cities are monitored for air quality with an intent and plan to improve the air quality through holistic approach.
| AIR QUALITY | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
| Reduction in annual PM10 levels vis a vis base year 2017 | Improvement in 85 cities | Improvement in 102 cities | Improvement in 95 cities | Improvement in 90 cities | Calculated on Financial Year basis so the data is awaited |
Circular Economy
Mission Circular Economy: 11 Committees constituted for development of Circular Economy (CE) and Action Plans for 10 waste categories (Li-ion batteries; E-waste; Toxic and hazardous industrial waste; Scrap metal (ferrous and nonferrous); Tyre and Rubber; End of Life Vehicles; Gypsum, Used Oil, Municipal solid waste and Solar Panels). Accordingly, the following amendments were made to Promote mission of circular economy to move fast towards achieving climate goals.
a. Plastic Waste Management Rule was amended on 27.04.2023.
b. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for Used Oil” was amended on 18.09.2023.
c. E-Waste (Management) Rules, was amended on 30.01.2023.
d. Battery Waste Management Rules, was amended on 25.10.2023.
e. Waste Tyre, 2022” on 21.07.2022.
Total plastic packaging of around 3.07 million tonnes been covered under EPR for the year 2022-23. Registered PIBOs: 31099 Registered Plastic Waste Processors: 2289, till October 2023.
International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) launched by the Prime Minister for conserving global big cats including tiger
Wildlife
Transcontinental relocation of Cheetah: 8 cheetahs from Namibia and 12 cheetahs from South Africa have been translocated to Kuno National Park in Sept’22 and Feb, 2023 respectively. Cheetah had become extinct in the country in the late 1940/early 1950s.
50 years of project tiger: As per the latest Tiger Census report released in August 2023 India is home to more than 75% tiger population of the world. Tiger Estimation (2022) shows an increase from 2226 in 2014 to 3,682 in 2023 with 12 tiger reserves with Outstanding category. International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) has been launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on 9th April 2023 for conserving global big cats including tiger.
Digitization of Flora, Fauna and herbarium records: The BSI and ZSI has carried out the digitization of 16500 specimens with 45000 images of the Type and Non-Type of Indian Faunal specimens. ZSI has completed faunal documentation from 27 States and Union Territories as well as all of the 10 Biogeographic Zones across the country. Data of 6124 springs in 11 IHR States and 1 UT (J&K) has been geo-tagged spatially online on the HIMAL Geo portal.
