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After a high level meeting of the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on the issue of SEZs policy, the government has decided to approve 83 SEZs, which have been cleared necessary formalities.
Foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee has chaired the EGoM meeting that decided its ‘go ahead’ to 83 SEZ proposals on Thursday. The all-83 SEZs have already cleared the necessary formalities and were waiting for the government’s approval.
After the March 14 Nandigram violence, the government had decided to hold the SEZ policy till further notice to prevent a repeat of the Nandigram like violence.
Further, during the meeting the panel has fixed the maximum limit of multi-product SEZs to 5,000 hectares. The state governments may reduce the limit as they would find necessary.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said that the decision would be applicable to all SEZs including those, which have already been notified by the government.
Now, the EGoM’s decision will have its impact on a number of planned projects including Posco’s steel SEZ in Orissa and Reliance Group’s Maha-Mumbai SEZ in Maharashtra. Earlier, the Maharashtra government had denied reducing the Maha Mumbai SEZ area from 10,000 hectare to 5,000 hectare.
Further, the panel has reduced the minimum processing area of an SEZ to 50 percent. The panel has asked the state governments not to acquire land against anybody’s will.
In the process of land acquisition, the rural development ministry would decide a comprehensive compensation package and one job per displaced family too.
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Future war will be for Land and water
In the coming century, new challenges are emerging. We are confronted with both old and new threats to international scarsity of many commodities especially good air and water causing security of population; resulting widespread poverty. It has to be recognized by world leaders as the most daunting of all the problems facing the world in the new century; and fundamental values of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and shared responsibility now form common values through which achievements in all the fother categories can be realized. In each of these key areas environment and resources play a central role. Threats to common security now include so-called ‘soft threats’: environmental degradation, resource depletion, contagious diseases and corruption, to name just a few. It is now recognized that environmental degradation and both scarcity and abundance of natural resources are potential sources of conflict – and cooperation – and need to be more systematically addressed in this context. Access to fresh water and sanitation services are a precondition to achieving the other internationally accepted goals in the Millennium Declaration.
Scarcity of water is a function of supply and demand. Demand is increasing at an alarming rate in some regions, through population growth and increasing per capita use. In many water-scarce oil rich Gulf countries,saline water purification may be temperoryaffordable method.But we have to find out pemanent solutions by preserving the eco sysytem. The second crisis is deteriorating water quality. Agriculture is the biggest polluter: increased use of fertilizer and pesticides has contaminated both groundwater and surface water supplies. Domestic and industrial pollution is also increasing, and the problem affects mailny in developed and partially in developing countries.
All nations should coperate to understand the importance of an integrated approach to water resource management at both international and local levels. Equity and rights, cultural and ethical issues are essential to be addressed when dealing with limited water resources. Imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, intersectoral competition, interregional and international disputes, all center around the question of how to cope with scarce water resources.
http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/runningdry/default.asp
nature.com
www,teri.org
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/en/.