Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

I It may be seen as 'green' equivalent of a cred it rating system. It is a tool people can usc to independently gauge envi ronmental performance/ risk associated w ith a corpo rate facil ity. The salient features ofEco– Rating would be: • A detailed rating model, which uses sector-specific indicators • Benchmarks agai nst national and globnl standards • Sector-specific test ing at live facilities • I nvolvement of and ratification by industry expe1is to ensure the practicability of the system • Volunta ry disc losure of the rating obtai ned Eco-rating encompasses all types of performers in its amb it, from the poor to the very best. The rating. could be used as the first step toward s lSO 1400 1 certificati on. Certified units, on the other hand, may use it to monitor thei r performance over time. Simply put, what gets measured. gets managed! ( 'ottrlesy F I PCCI Rel'iew. .lug02.P12cC 23, Fax: 0./{}-JJ 95(}83 f-111ail: it?(o(i!)fapcci.Otg ll'eb: 11'\I'H'. jhpcci.org ~liNE EN\ IRO:\VIENTAL LEGISLATIO~: PRLSE~T IS~lE~ A'\D FllTl RF PRO.JECTIONS D.!'. Pandey am/ Gaurav Taluja Urusim Cement. India r:uture perspective. keeping in v iew th e present scena ri o o r industrial and leg islative approach. rowards environment isdiscussed in th e paper. The genera l debate concerning. social and environmen tal responsibil ities or ethic :" has been rag ing fo r generati ons. Consequentl y. the purpose of this paper has been not to resolve the debate but rather to help the reader understand the facts. ass umptions and rationales of the fundamental perspe ct i ve and perspective leg isla tive changes envisaged. In dia i s one of the few co untries, whi ch has made co nstitutional provi sions f o r protection and improvement of the env ironment by amendi ng the constitut ion in its 42"dconstitutional amendment. According to 48(a) of the Constituti on of India. ·'The State shall endeavour to protect and improve environment and safeguard th e fo rest and wild life of th e country.'· The important legi slations, w hi ch have di rect beari ng on mining act iv ities, i s enumerated in thi s paper. Even though a plethora of legislat i ve prov• s •ons is ava il able fo r monitoring and regu lati ng, some of the grey areas whi ch have led to judic i al obse r va t ions and i nterventions in 1990s may need further introspection and acti ve regul at ion by industry, legislative and judiciary bodies. The se constitutional provisiqns have led to juri sp rud enti al techni ques f or environment protection on the basic principle of mass jurisprudence, which may further lead to: • Publi c participation 1n environment auditing, • • Joint re gu l atory and mon itoring inspection. Damage assessment. Compensatory j urisprudence PI L: its scope and erti cacy, • Organi sational soc ial responsibility M in ing and agri cu lture are the two most criti ca l activi ti es for sustai n ing not on ly i ndustrial growth but for basic sustenance of the human populace and biosphere. In the context of a country as ours and in respect or tile present era and global scena rio these two activi ties are critical ·and essential to growth itself. and in turn for the gro\\ th of the country. However. this goes with the ri der that growth concept and methodology has to rollow th e principle of sustainable growt h and development so that ba si c sustenance of futu re generation in not jeopnrdised. Forest cover di stribution. which is considered as one or the major affected parameters due to mining acti vities, may not be abso lutely correct statements. as perceived from the foll owi ng data: In Indi a out of 1.3 million hectares of forest cover lost every year, the contributi on due to min ing acti vi ty is meagre. Out ofevery lost hectare of forest cover in India. agricultural projects, percent : 0. 71 river valley projects, percent : 0. 12 new industries, percent : 0.04 roads and communication, percent : 0.0~ miscellaneous projects. percent : 0. 11 There has been considerable awareness and improvement in all respects of impact on environment and other parameters due to mining. However, one area, i.e. exploitation of mineral s through small mines is sti ll a matter of concern, whi ch by its very nature renders planned EIA/ EMP measures not only uneconomical but unviab le. Unfommatcly in our country small– scale mines dominate the mining scenario as about 80 to 90 percent oper:1t ional mines be longs to the category. T here cannot be short-term solutions or capsuled treatment to mitigate or el imi nate the impact on environmenta l parameters due to mining. However. a humble effort has been made through this paper to awaken us to these problems, so that collect ive and co-operati ve guidelines may emerge to involve all the related segments of society at large. ( 'ourlesy Indian ( ·e111enl Rel'ieH', .!It!.}()(}] , l'p--/1 , Far · (}()IJ J-ll-Jfrl/0:! m