The environment landscape has been a bit grim, but here’s an ecological solution tailored to the people fighting the pandemic. With a small initiative for an ecological solution, a club in Kolkata is handing plants, masks and sanitisers in exchange of plastic.
From EIA to Mauritius declaring “state of environmental emergency”, here’s the news of the week:
1. 17 lakh comments received on draft EIA notification 2020: Environment Ministry
The environment ministry has received nearly 17 lakh comments on the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020!
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which is controlled by the Centre, will compile and streamline the suggestions. Following this, the final draft will be placed before a committee headed by S R Wate — former director of NEERI — for scrutiny, during which experts from various sectors will participate, said a senior official.
2. Elephant-Man Conflict
On World Elephant Day 2020, Officials of the environment ministry released data that said more than 500 people and 100 elephants die every year due to conflict.
Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change highlighted measures to curb the incidents of human-elephant conflicts in India and reaffirm the bond of coexistence with ‘Haathi Hamara Saathi’.
It also released a comprehensive guideline to mitigate such conflicts through scaling up to multiple technological interventions including wider use of drones, solar electric fence, and sensors.
3. Activists destroy cannabis plants in Himachal
Activists of different organizations along with police destroyed cannabis plants, planted saplings in Himachal Pradesh’s Rampur area.
They also took an oath to protect the environment in Nirmand area of Kullu.
4. On International Youth Day, Let Me Breathe highlighted India’s young eco warriors
From a 12-year-old urging to curb erratic city planning to a 16-year-old school striking for climate action, these are the voices of the climate activism that are creating ripples all over the country.
Watch the full video here.
5. Assagao locals protest tree felling
Locals have allegedly reported tree felling incidents in private forest areas in Assagao, Goa.
Following this, they wrote to the forest officials and an inspection was conducted by range forest officer Atmaram Desai and his team.
6. Mauritius declares environmental emergency
The Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency” after a Japanese-owned ship that ran aground offshore began spilling tons of fuel. The ship was carrying nearly 4,000 tons of fuel and cracks have appeared in its hull.
This created an ecological disaster, endangering corals, fish and other marine life around the Indian Ocean island.
7. Global deforestation accelerates during pandemic
According to data from Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD), forest loss alerts have increased by 77% since the start of COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the average from 2017-2019.
Forests have been razed at an alarming rate across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
(The first-ever International Day for Clean Air and Blue Skies on 7th September 2020. We’re collecting voices on issues such as air pollution, stubble burning, vehicular emissions, cycling and more in India. Share yours!)
