Ministry Of Environment And Forests Research Articles

Kuno National Park is not yet ready for Cheetahs

Ecology is a science, and the ecosystem runs on a set of principles; there is no denying this. The last Indian Cheetah was shot in 1952 in its habitat, which was more open with grassland and shrubs in the arid and sub-arid ecosystem. Over time the habitat was altered, and the last Cheetah is reported to take refuge in the wooded Sal (Shorea robusta) forest of the then Madhya Pradesh. The situation has worsened since then; let us admit it. Introducing Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) from Namibia is a decision taken in haste without considering its guild ecology. This action will not only distract our attention from the deteriorating forest ecosystem of the country but also from other pressing and critical conservation priorities. Five females and three males were relocated to Kuno National Park (KNP) on 17th September 2022. It was decided earlier that Asiatic lions would be relocated to KNP. Still, it was shelved, and the introduction of Cheetahs was put on a fast track despite the Supreme Court’s earlier decision against the introduction of Cheetahs in KNP. The Supreme Court (SC) stated in its order way back in 2013 that “The decision taken by MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forest) for introduction of African Cheetahs first to Kuno and then Asiatic lion, is arbitrary, an illegal and clear violation of the statutory requirements provided under the Wildlife Protection Act. The order of MoEF to introduce African Cheetahs into Kuno cannot stand in the eye of the law, and the same is quashed”. A survey was conducted to relocate Cheetahs, and out of the three locations, KNP was chosen; the other two were: Shahgarh Landscape in Jaisalmer and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The Supreme Court, in its order in 2020, permitted Cheetah introduction on an experimental basis. The stated objective of the ministry of environment and forest in this project is: “Establish viable Cheetah meta-population in India that allows the Cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator and provides space for the expansion of the Cheetah within its historical range, thereby contributing to its global conservation efforts”. However, the stated goal will not be able to fulfill its desired purpose.

Whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) Management (WFM) Strategies for Sustainable Agriculture: A Review

The whitefly (Bemisia tabaci Gennadius) is a notorious devastating sap-sucking insect pest that causes substantial crop damage and yield losses due to direct feeding by both nymphs and adults and also through transmission of viruses and diseases. Although the foliar application of synthetic pesticides is crucial for efficient control of B. tabaci, it has adverse effects such as environmental pollution, resistance and resurgence of the pest, toxicity to pollinators, and crop yield penalty. Thus, a suitable, safe, and robust strategy for the control of whiteflies in the agricultural field is needed. The reports on whitefly-resistant transgenic plants are scanty, non-reproducible, and/or need secondary trials and clearance from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The present review encompasses explicit information compiled from 364 articles on the traditional, mechanical, biological, biotechnological, and chemical strategies for whitefly management (WFM), IPM strategy, and future prospects of WFM for food and agriculture security.

Comparison of Accident Databases and Analysis of Past Industrial Accidents in the Chemical Process Industry

Despite India being home to some of the worst chemical industry disasters, there is no proper accident reporting and analysis mechanism. The National Informatics Centre of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) presented an online accident database called CAIRS to assist Past Accident Analysis (PAA). This paper compares CAIRS with major accident databases widely used by safety professionals. The parameters considered for compassion are scope, accessibility, method of data collection, quality, and the frequency of reporting. Past accident analysis showed that the total number of reported events is more or less steady and the number of major accidents is decreasing marginally in European countries, whereas in India only a few states report accidents using the CAIRS platform. The analysis raised serious concerns about the monitoring of reported information in the Indian database. At present, the information available in this database is not reliable and any conclusion based on this information can be misleading. Suggestions are offered to enhance the efficacy of the Indian accident database.

Covid-19 and Forest Communities: Alignment and Challenges on Case Studies in Forest Community, Pemalang, Indonesia

A pandemic, last seen a century ago, has reappeared in 2019 under the name of Covid-19. Poor forest communities are also especially affected by this pandemic. The qualitative method through literature and case study is used to explain the connection between the emergence of COVID-19, forest destruction, and its impact on the lives of people in forests in Indonesia. Two cases are going to be models of forest communities in Pemalang, namely LMDH Rawa Sakti and KTH GGL. The program was established by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to create a supportive atmosphere for forest communities’ survival to overcome the Covid-19 crisis. We use the new institutionalism concept introduced by Victor Nee (2003) to understand how the coupling within the affirmation concept was developed at micro-level in Indonesia. The result shows that there are unique and complex situations, especially between the social groups, the members (as the individual), and other actors that are not examined by new institutionalism, which are important to reach collective action or influence the situation. In the KTH GGL context, Juragan (as the other actor) determines the commodity although many members want to plant ginger that aligns with the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s suggestion. On the other hand, trust issues become a more important aspect for members of LMDH RS to do the group’s activity.

Public Perceptions About the Impact of Climate Change on Human Health: A Study of Bangladesh

The main purpose of this research is to analyze the perception of climate change impacts on human health in Bangladesh through data from nationality representative surveys conducted in some district of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh there have a few research has been conducted on public perceptions about the impact of climate change on human health. A structured questionnaire method was conducted, and data collected from 615 respondents. The findings of this study reveal that out of 615 respondents, 76.0% of the respondents replied positively while remaining 24.0%, almost one-fourth of total respondents, indicated that they have not heard the term climate change before. Knowledgeable in climate change, 92.5% of respondents agreed that climate change has an impact on human health while only 7.5% respondents disagreed with this statement. 90.5% of respondents argued that they are agreed with the opinion that climate change is a serious threat to human health. This study will contribute informatively to the scant information on the impacts of climate change affecting human health in Bangladesh. Theoretically, the study will also contribute to the previous literature on the public perceptions of climate change impacts on human health. Furthermore, the results of the study will be very useful for climate change policy makers, especially Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for the making related policies and mechanisms in order to overcome with current human health impacts in Bangladesh. In addition, the awareness of existence, the impacts, and the causes of climate change will be possible to integrate climate change into policy planning, projects and daily activities as well as make the whole society to participate in the entire process to mitigate climate change.

Integrated solid waste management in urban India: A mini review

Blooming of industrialization and urbanization are directly corelated with increased solid waste generation. Every year India faces a massive challenge as it deals with municipal solid waste equating to approximately 62 million tonnes including E-waste, plastic and medical waste. This has mounted and stands as a budding hazard to public and environmental health. Within India solid waste management predominantly adheres to sustainable development. The waste management rules are generally framed and handled through the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF); however, compliance varies among states. In this article we are describing the present status, challenges and implementation followed in the waste reduction processes including segregation/collection, recycling, energy recovery (composting, bio methanation, and bioremediation), land filling of household and industrial waste; its impact on the environment. This review concludes with some simple and effective international trends in waste management, with a vision of improving in current Indian systems.

Pitfalls and promises of raw drug identification techniques in the ayurvedic industry: an overview.

India, with a rich heritage of floral diversity, is well-known for its medicinal plant wealth and is the largest producer of medicinal herbs in the world. Ethnobiological Survey of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) could identify 8000 plant species utilized in various systems of medicine with approximately 25,000 effective herbal formulations. The extensive consumption to meet demand-supply ratio exerts a heavy strain on the existing resources. This subsequently led to the adulteration and substitution of medicinal plants with look-alike species. The consumer's faith on herbal medicine is in the phase of decline due to the extremities in adulteration/substitution and ensuing consequences. It is imperative to bring forth universally acceptable standard tools to authenticate raw drugs before being processed further into formulations. A vast array of techniques such as physical, chemical (analytical), biochemical, anatomical, organoleptic, and recently emerged DNA based molecular methods are widely used for plant species authentication. In recent years, DNA barcoding has made remarkable progress in the field of medicinal plants research. DNA metabarcoding is the latest development for qualitative evaluation of the herbal formulations, whereas for quantitative analysis, combination of pharmacognostic, pharmacovigilance and analytical methods are inevitable for authentication. This review addresses the overall strengths and shortcomings of the existing as well as recently emerged techniques in authenticating ayurvedic raw drugs.

1545 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Retrieval Number: E5024018520/2020©BEIESP DOI:10.35940/ijrte.E5024.018520 Journal Website: www.ijrte.org Solid Waste Management in Nagaon Town of Assam- An Application of Contingent Valuation Method

Solid Waste in urban areas, popularly known as Municipal Solid Waste (SWM) refers to materials discarded in urban areas which municipalities are responsible for collection, transportation and final disposal. The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) Govt. of India defines Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) as commercial and residential waste generated in municipal or notified areas in either solid or semisolid form excluding industrial hazardous waste but including treated biomedical waste (MoEF, 2000). The paper was based on both primary and secondary sources of data. For collection of primary data, the study used stratified sampling technique. Firstly, Nagaon Municipality Board (NMB) was the universe of the study which included 26 wards. Secondly, NMB was divided into different zones in order to cover different groups of population. Finally, the households were selected by using random sampling technique. In order to fulfill the objectives of study, the contingent valuation method was used. Finally, a logit regression model was applied in order to determine the household’s willingness to pay for an improved solid waste management among the surveyed households.

MEDICINAL PLANTS OF NORTH-EAST REGION OF INDIA: A SMALL REVIEW

Assam is a state of the North Eastern part of India. There are varieties of plants distributed in various parts of the state. 50% of India’s entire plant biodiversity is contributed by the North Eastern States i.e., Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura including Assam. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India in 1980s recorded two hundred and eighty-six (286) species of plants from Assam, used by the tribes of Assam.The traditional system of medicine plays an important role in the healthcare of rural people for all types of ailments. The healing power of traditional herbal medicines has been realized and documented since Rigveda and Atharvaveda. Nearly 80% of the world populations rely on traditional medicines for primary health care, most of which involve the use of plant extracts.

Modelling the drivers of healthcare waste management in India: a policy perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the drivers of healthcare waste management from literature review and field survey and model these drivers for understanding the inter-relationships among the drivers to enhance healthcare waste management in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachIn view of the need of the study, the interpretive structural modelling (ISM) method has been applied to model the drivers. The ISM method helps in depicting the relationships among the drivers and filtration of drivers on the basis of their driving and dependence power.FindingsThe findings of the study reveal that the type of a healthcare facility and its management structure, size of a healthcare facility, human resource management of a healthcare facility, healthcare facility’s management monitoring and control, and the effective re-enforcement of government regulation and policy implementation in a healthcare facility play a vital role in the enhancement of HCWM.Research limitations/implicationsThe application of the findings of this study would enhance the hospital’s waste management by ultimately leading to a good ambience and satisfied patients and personnels. Additionally, the study would aid in the policy formulation by government and decision making of medical facilities, thereby strengthening HCWM scenario in the country.Practical implicationsThe drivers filtered in this study would be useful for ranking the hospitals’ healthcare waste management in a region/country. This ranking may play a vital role in earmarking the hospitals which are managing their healthcare waste according to the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) of a country. With the help of this study, the problem of inadequate human resource can be effectively addressed for CPCB and MoEF, in India.Originality/valueHealthcare waste management is a vital issue which needs attention from the management perspective in India. Therefore, an interpretive structural model, i.e. ISM digraph, has been developed which would help in the filtration of drivers and attaining the better healthcare waste management in an economically and timely manner.

INDIAN INITIATIVES FOR ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION

Society, at large, has to realise the gravity of environmental degradation and participate fully in the mitigation of environmental problems. This article discusses the Indian initiatives and the important milestones in the path of environmental protection and pollution abatement. The commitment of the Indian Government to the cause of public awareness of environmental conservation is reflected in its outreach and educational programmes. It involves ministries, environmental monitoring agencies, NGOs, academic and research institutions.
 The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has played a leading role in the national priority programmes of environmental monitoring, assessment and pollution control. All the stakeholders have succeeded to some extent in creating public interest in environmental issues but much more needs to be done.
 National level institutions like NEERI, NIO and TERI are actively involved in research to find feasible solutions to our environmental problems and in the dissemination of relevant information through their publications. In our country, voluntary organisations and NGOs have been contributing immensely to environmental causes.
 Following the directive of the Supreme Court in 1991, environmental education is a compulsory component of school and college curricula. India has contributed significantly to the deliberations at COP (Conference of the Parties) fora especially the recently held COP-21 at Paris. Our suggestions for creating a pollution-free world have always been welcomed by the participating countries especially the developing countries.
 This article also presents the results of an environmental study carried out in Wilson College, Mumbai in which the effect of salinity on the rate of degradation of effluents released in marine waters, was quantitatively studied using reaction kinetics.

Environmental impact assessment of proposed NH-6 of Chhattisgarh

NH 6 is the national highway which connects Mumbai to Kolkata. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the proposed NH 6 Toll Road project has been undertaken in accordance with the EIA Regulations. Proposed project road connecting the villages and towns by providing better quality and safe roads to the users in a sustainable and environment friendly manner. Government of India (GoI) through Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) enforces Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 for environmental protection because of intervention of new projects or activities, or on expansion and modernization of existing projects or activity based on their environmental impacts.

Challenges in Biomedical Waste Management in Cities: A Ward Level Study of Bangalore

Bio-medical waste (BMW) although comprises a small segment of total municipal waste generated, needs special handling and treatment due to its highly toxic contents, besides being infectious. Cities face serious problems in managing waste in general and it is more important to address issues concerning specific streams of waste. If not managed properly, toxic wastes like biomedical waste, electronic waste can contaminate the municipal waste causing serious implications on public health and environment. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in 2011 indicated that 13,037 healthcare facilities in the country have been found to be in violation of BMW generation and disposal rules 1998. Lately, Bangalore city has been emerging as the centre for medical tourism with its professional experts, technological sophistication in health care services. Although the Central Pollution Control Board has come up with the ‘Bio-medical Waste-Handling and Management Rules-1998’ again amended in 2000 by the MoEF, problems concerning proper management remains. This paper aims at identifying issues related to BMW in ward 128 of Bangalore city, Southern India. Questionnaires and Checklists were developed and survey of all the prevailing 27 medical institutions was carried out in the ward. Besides, the role of formal recyclers and their challenges was also considered. Issues like lack of comprehensive data, dumping of medical waste with municipal garbage, poor awareness among the hospital staff were identified indicating the need for a comprehensive research study to be undertaken at a city level.

Impacts of Waste Dumps to Surrounding Environments in Major Cities of Chhattisgarh

The Status of Environment Report, 2004 of Chhattisgarh is prepared by Chhattisgarh Environmental Conservation Board with the help of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. The Report also analyses the Vision 2010 document brought out by the State Government of Chhattisgarh. State of Environment - Chhattisgarh has been prepared by IIT, Bombay under the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Government of India (GOI), New Delhi in consultation with Environmental Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI), Hyderabad, a National Host Institution, to assist the local government. Pressure, State, Impact, Response (PSIR) methodology, an internationally recognized method has been adopted to study the pressure on the state of environment by different sectors. The report contains twelve chapters which deal with various sectors including geography and demography, agriculture and allied sectors, water resources, forests and biodiversity, tribal development, energy and power, industries and growth, urban development, transportation and tourism, mining and health. Pressures caused by the sectorial development on environment, the present state of environment, impact of environment due to the altered state of environment and the responses of the society and the government in terms of its policies are discussed in detail in each of these sectors.

Pre-cooling Technique for a Thermal Discharge from the Coastal Thermal Power Plant

The power plants are generally located along the coastline to meet their requirement of cooling water. The warm water discharge from the power plant is one of the major environmental concerns in view of the thermal pollution in the water bodies. The temperature limit for the warm water discharge from the thermal power plant, prescribed by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) was 5oC before being discharged in to the water bodies. M/s. Bombay Suburban Electric Supply (BSES) Company Ltd. has established a thermal power plant at Dahanu, which is operating on ‘once-through’ cooling system and the cooling water is being drawn from Savta Creek. The temperature of condenser discharge was around 7.2oC. As such, a pre-cooling channel of 230m wide and 1800 m length was suggested through the hydraulic model studies to bring down the warm water temperature rise from 7.2oC to within the acceptable limit prescribed by the MoEF (i.e. 5oC) before being discharged in to the creek system.

E-waste Consciousness and Disposal Practices among Residents of Pune City

The authors attempted to study and comprehend the e-waste awareness and disposal practices among residents of Pune city. It was revealed through survey data and the analysis that in general, the consumer awareness in Pune city is very good, but at the superficial level; however, when it comes to the disposal practices the residents are not aware of the collection centres, the E-waste rules, and correct disposal practices. Residents therefore mix-up the E-waste generated along with municipal solid waste thereby leading to unsustainable way of disposal practices. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has played a key role by formulating the E-waste policy and it is the high time for consumers to shoulder the responsibility in management of E-waste. Also there is an urgent need to explore unlimited business opportunities and scope for developing sustainable models for E-waste management.

English

Bioremediation using microbes has been well accepted as an environmentally friendly and economical treatment method for disposal of hazardous petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated waste (oily waste) and this type of bioremediation has been successfully conducted in laboratory and on a pilot scale in various countries, including India. Presently there are no federal regulatory guidelines available in India for carrying out field-scale bioremediation of oily waste using microbes. The results of the present study describe the analysis of ground water quality as well as selected heavy metals in oily waste in some of the large-scale field case studies on bioremediation of oily waste (solid waste) carried out at various oil installations in India. The results show that there was no contribution of oil and grease and selected heavy metals to the ground water in the nearby area due to adoption of this bioremediation process. The results further reveal that there were no changes in pH and EC of the groundwater due to bioremediation. In almost all cases the selected heavy metals in residual oily waste were within the permissible limits as per Schedule – II of Hazardous Waste Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement Act, Amendment 2008, (HWM Act 2008), by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India (GoI).

RETRACTED: An assessment of EIA system in India

Abstract Environmental impact assessment (EIA) was first introduced in India based on the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), 1986. But formally it came in to effect, when Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has passed a major legislative measure under EPA in January 1994 for Environmental Clearance (EC) known as EIA Notification, 1994. Subsequently, EIA processes have been strengthened by MoEF by a series of amendments. The current practice is adhering to EIA Notification, 2006 and its amendments. The pieces of evidence collected and analysis in the present assessment suggest that, despite a sound legislative, administrative and procedural set-up EIA has not yet evolved satisfactorily in India. An appraisal of the EIA system against systematic evaluation criteria, based on discussions with various stakeholders, EIA expert committee members, approval authorities, project proponents, NGOs and consulting professionals, reveals various drawbacks of the EIA system. These mainly include; inadequate capacity of EIA approval authorities, deficiencies in screening and scoping, poor quality EIA reports, inadequate public participation and weak monitoring. Overall, EIA is used presently as a project justification tool rather than as a project planning tool to contribute to achieving sustainable development. While shortcomings are challenging, Government of India is showing a high degree of commitment. The EIA system in the country is undergoing progressive refinements by steadily removing the constraints. The paper identifies opportunities for taking advantage of the current circumstances for strengthening the EIA process.

Occupational health hazards of the working group associated with municipal solid waste management at Kolkata in Eastern India

The reasonable concern of many developing nations (India) is the presence of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) workers (ragpickers in particular) who scavenge garbage bins and landfill areas to salvage recyclable materials. In order to examine the health of the working group associated with MSW disposal, a study was conducted among the conservancy staff and ragpickers. The demographic and socio–economic characteristics of the ragpickers, conservancy staff and control subjects were compared through a questionnaire survey. Sputum, blood samples were collected to investigate sputum cytology, haematological changes and immunity of the working group. We found profound alterations in immune defence of ragpickers and conservancy workers. As a means of organising MSW management, the role of informal sector (that is MSW workers) in recycling resources was recognised in the latest Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 that were regulated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) in India.

Maharashtra Information Centers Network (Mahicnet): a Prototype Design

Present paper is the outcome of the research work awarded for Ph.D. degree in the Department of Library and Information Science, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur. The proposed network - Maharashtra Information Centers Network (MAHICNET) is the result of survey of fifty Information Centers in Maharashtra which come under CSIR, ICAR, ICMR, Ministry of a Defense (MoD), Ministry of Earth Science (MoES), Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Ministry of Culture (MoC), Ministry of Coal and Mines (MoCM) and other centers. The proposed network MAHICNET is an information network to establish a link to the existing Information Centers in Maharashtra, which will be further linked to Information Systems / Networks in India. A common platform is created for sharing of resources, e-resources, services and solving the common problems economically, speedily and effectively.