Land bill in sync with environment: PM

NEW DELHI, April 6: Seeking to scotch “lies” about the controversial land acquisition bill, Prime Minister rendra Modi on Monday declared that it rather synergized India’s growth imperative with the need to protect the environment as tribal and forest land has been kept out of its purview.

Iugurating state environment and forest ministers’ conference here, Modi said environment protection and development can go “hand in hand” but expressed disappointment that “lies” were being floated around in this regard.

Giving the example of the land bill, he said: “The provisions of the bill do not touch tribal and forest land. But serious misconceptions and lies are being spread about it.”

He urged those spreading such “lies” to desist from doing so and added that their attempts to “misguide society are harming the tion”.

The two-day conference, also attended by union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, seeks to focus on issues of air pollution and confer better techniques of solid waste magement and sewage water treatment.

It will also discuss the recommendations of a report by a high-level committee, headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian. The committee recommended that country’s green laws be reviewed.

Reflecting on the union environment ministry’s expectations from the meet, Javadekar said he hoped all states would partner with the central government in its effort to protect the environment.

“We have planned for quite an intensive interaction on all important issues of forest and environment conservation. We will definitely have a good, working outcome,” Javadekar told IANS.

Modi also said India was ready to take the lead in fight against climate change but “people who lecture us on environment and the use of cleaner energy don’t give us nuclear fuel (for clean energy)”.

“These are double standards,” he said, adding that India has to take lead in thinking of ways to protect the environment.

“We must think of traditiol methods to tackle environmental issues. There can be green solutions in our age-old traditions,” he said. IANS

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