Making it clear that no commercial activity will be allowed on the proposed Coastal Road in Mumbai, Javadekar said that the final notification on the same will be issued by August 15.
While addressing a press conference to give an account of work done while in office, Union minister for environment and forests Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said that his department has cleared 84 projects in Maharashtra, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial at Arabian sea.
No commercial activity on Coastal Road: Javadekar
Making it clear that no commercial activity will be allowed on the proposed Coastal Road in Mumbai, Javadekar said that the final notification on the same will be issued by August 15.
Javadekar said that his Ministry has approved the Coastal Road project in principle, and will issue draft notifications by the end of the week. He informed that the draft notification will be made available online for the next two months, so that people can give their suggestions.
Javadekar said that the environment ministry will put the conditions of not using the reclaimed land in the sea for any commercial purpose, and ensure that the land is used for only de-congesting traffic woes.
He made it clear that the Centre will make 'stringent laws' so that environment protection is taken care of, and development is unaffected. In particular, he mentioned that the sanctity of the high tide line as well as CRZ line will be 'strictly maintained', and added that the proposed Coastal Road will be an 'ideal example' of development along with environment protection.
Sharad Pawar lambasted for 'farmer suicides' comment
Retaliating to criticism by NCP president Sharad Pawar over the number of farmers who have committed suicide from Maharashtra, the union minister said Pawar should first answer "in whose pockets the money from the financial package announced by then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has gone".
Pawar, while speaking to media persons in Patna, had criticised the state for manipulating figures when it comes to the number of suicides by farmers in Maharashtra.
Javadekar said it was Pawar who was the union minister for agriculture for 10 years when the suicides in the state were maximum and, hence, he should first answer what he did to prevent them.
"Will deliberate over future of Victorias"
"Victorias have been around for a long time. Some people are of the view that it is cruelty to horses when they are used for Victorias; but there are people who are also pointing out cruelty when horses are used during races. We will look at the issue comprehensively in the meeting," Javadekar said.
The high court has directed the government to come up with a scheme by December 31 that 'looks to provide a means of living to families that rely on Victorias', and also facilities for the horses.
"There will be 24x7 monitoring of affluent discharge by industries"
The forests minister revealed that the sugar industry has been asked to install state-of-the-art technology in their distilleries to have zero liquid discharge preventing pollution of the adjoining rivers.
Javadekar said that his government will have 'policy-driven reforms' rather than contractor driven ones. He said that his ministry has prepared a list of polluting industries and that he would ensure '24x7 monitoring' of the affluent discharge with the help of state-of-the-art devices.
The minister informed that through its distilleries, the sugar industry manufactures 600 litres of alcohol, and it is not difficult for them to install state-of-the-art technology for preventing pollution.
Javadekar informed that laws related to pollution will be applicable to all the states uniformly. He informed that in all, 700 industries have installed state-of-the-art devices to prevent pollution, and this number will go up to 1,000 by the end of June 2015.
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