ENVIRONMENTAL

LEGISLATION

AR.DEEPENDRA KUMAWAT
ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
INTRODUCTION
Environmental Laws are the body
ofrulesandregulations,
andordersandstatutes, concerned with
themaintenanceandprotectionof
thenatural environmentof acountry.
Itprovidesbasis for measuring and
apportioningliabilityincasesofenvironment
al crimeand thefailureto comply with
itsprovisions.
These set of rules and regulations ensure the
safety of wildlife and forest, and control
over air water and noise pollution.
WILD LIFE PROTECTION ACT ,
1972
This is an act which provides for the
protection of wild animals, with a view to
ensure the ecological and environmental
security in India.
This act covers wildlife all over India except
in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The term
wildlife includes animals, aquatic or land
vegetation which form part of any habitat
PROVISIONS UNDER THE ACT
No hunting is permitted for any animal listed in
the schedule.
Stronger provisions are given relating to trade
and penalties.
Hunting of an animal is allowed only when the
CWLW is satisfied that such an animal has become
dangerous to human life, or is disabled or
diseased to an extent as to be beyond recovery.
Penalties for violating the Act range from
imprisonment up to a period of seven years,
and/or fines upto RS. 25000
It also has special provisions for tiger protection.
THE INDIAN FOREST ACT, 1927

An Act to consolidate the law relating to

forests, the transit of forest-produce and the
duty leviable on timber and other forest-
produce
It also defines the procedure to be followed
for declaring an area to be aReserved Forest,
aProtected Forestor aVillage Forest.
It defines what is a forest offence, what are
the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest,
and penalties leviable on violation of the
provisions of the Act.
RESERVED FOREST

Reserved Forestis an area mass of land duly

notified under the provisions of India Forest
Act or the State Forest Acts having full degree
of protection.
PROTECTED FOREST

Protected Forestan area or mass of land

notified under the provisions of India Forest
Act or the State Forest Acts having limited
degree of protection. In Protected Forests all
activities are prohibited unless permitted.
Further, in a protected forest, the
Government may issue notifications declaring
certain trees to be reserved, or suspend
private rights, if any, for a period not
exceeding 30 years, or prohibit quarrying,
removal of any forest produce, or breaking of
land etc
VILLAGE FOREST
Village Forestis constituted under section 28
of the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
The Government may assign to any village
community the rights over a land which may
not be a part of a reserved forest for use of
the community. Usually, forested community
lands are constituted into
Village Grazing Reserve[VGR].
AIR (PREVENTION AND CONTROL
OF POLLUTION) ACT 1981

It is an Indian Legislation enacted by the

Parliament of India to control and prevent air
pollution. It was amended in 1987.
AIR ACT 1981
An Act to provide for the prevention, control and
abatement of air pollution, for the establishment, with
a view to carrying out the purposes, of Boards, for
conferring on and assigning to such Boards powers and
functions relating thereto and for matters connected
therewith.

Decisions were taken at the United Nations Conference

on the Human Environment convention held in
Stockholm in June, 1972, in which India participated, to
take appropriate steps for the preservation of the
natural resources of the earth which, among other
things, include the preservation of the quality of air
and control of air pollution;
AIR ACT 1981
Air Pollutant" means any solid, liquid or gaseous
substance [(including noise)] present in the
atmosphere in such concentration as may be or
tend to be injurious to human beings or other
living creatures or plants or property or
environment;

Air Pollution" means the presence of air

pollutants in the atmosphere.
 WATER (PREVENTION AND
CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT
1974

It established an institutional structure for

preventing and abating water pollution
It established standards for water quality and
effluent.
 PROVISION UNDER THE ACT
Polluting industries must seek permission to
discharge waste into effluent bodies.
The central pollution controlling board CPCB
is constituted under this act.
The CPCB has established a nation wide
network of water quality monitoring which is
done on quarterly basis in surface water and
on a half yearly basis on underground waters.
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