The Environment Ministry’s new initiative – a system for online submission of applications for environmental clearances – has become operational from Thursday.

The New Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, said applications that come via any other route would not be entertained from July 1.

Earlier, Javadekar had said the online system would bring transparency to the system of clearances.

On the occasion of World Environment Day, Javadekar said some of the biggest challenges ahead were cleaning all water bodies and improving air quality.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan, also announced plans to set up capacity building institutions which would look into issues of environmental impact on health, such as All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, and the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health in Delhi’s Maulana Azad Medical College.

Expressing concern over the lack of sufficient data regarding adverse health outcomes attributed to various environmental issues, Vardhan said that a Management Information System would be developed, which could be used by Central and State health departments to assess the subject.

The movement of people and a sizable population of migrant labourers make data collection difficult without inter-sectoral and inter-State coordination, he said.

“The UN, WHO and all international institutions have warned of the link between deteriorating environment and diseases. We need to fight this by applying established tools to gather information and sharing it with the communities,” Vardhan said.

Vardhan also announced that the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, would be converted into a “green hospital”.

The new-look AIIMS will increase its use of solar energy, incorporate water conservation and waste water recycling systems and reduce its waste generation, including medical waste.

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