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The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change is in talks with at least seven States, including Maharashtra, Goa and Kerala, to discuss pending infrastructure projects, Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday.
Javadekar, who holds dual charge of the Ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Environment, Forests and Climate Change, said efforts are on to review projects that are pending for want of environment and forest clearance.
He said the State authorities would be consulted first on such projects, followed by consultations with representatives of people to be affected by the projects.
However, this is a contentious issue, in view of the K. Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats, which has faced opposition from most States in the region.
Some States, including Goa, have opposed the high-level working group’s report, claiming that the data in the report does not reflect the ground realities. Javadekar has proposed a review to study the on-ground condition of forests, as against the status shown by satellites, across all States.
The Environment and Forests Ministry had established the Kasturirangan panel to advise the Centre on recommendations made by the Madhav Gadgil-led expert group on conserving the Western Ghats, which stretches from Kerala to Gujarat. Western Ghats are also recognised as a natural heritage site by the UNESCO.
On the issue of regulating the media, Javadekar said media needs to take responsibility through self regulation rather than any external regulations.
The Minister also said the I&B Ministry will hold a meeting with Prasar Bharti officials and look at ways to strengthen the coverage of DD and AIR in border regions and take steps for infrastructure augmentation. He said the key issue that needs to be addressed is how to make the public broadcaster the first choice of viewers. The Ministry has also asked cable companies to ensure that they air all the 12 channels of DD on their platform, something that they are not doing at present.
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