There is a great need to conserve and protect the environment, to develop forests and to conserve the wildlife.
This has become imperative and an urgent requirement as against the over-exploitation of national resources in the name of development and as a result of desired replenishment of all the natural resources.
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To clean up the polluted rivers in the country, a start was made in terms of River Action Plan.
The first phase of this Plan was Ganga Action Plan which began in 25-class I towns in the three states viz. U.P., Bihar and West Bengal.
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It remains incomplete even after ten years of its inception. The pace of implementation of this plan is so slow that one can easily imagine how long it will take to complete.
There is great requirement to pay urgent attention towards this Plan.
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Studies must be carried out on carrying capacity in environmentally fragile areas of the country.
A proper legislative and institutional framework must be evolved for the protection of such areas which are endangered.
Consistent with the emphasis on conservation of bio-diversity, a time- bound inventorisation programme of the flora and fauna of the regions of our country must be formulated.
The scope of botanical and zoological surveys must be redefined to promote this as also to facilitate a study of their reproductive biology.
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The various environmental regulatory agencies must be reorganised to make them self-supportive.
The various environmental programmes such as river cleaning projects must also be so designed as to become inherently viable.
There is great need to motivate the industries through incentives to be responsive to environmental protection measures and thereby cooperate with the regulatory agencies in their endeavour to implement environmental safeguards.
Environment education and awareness must be accorded top priority.
The local Panchayati Raj institutions and the community must be involved in implementing environmental protection programmes and bringing about environmental awareness.
