NRSC be asked to do land use mapping for assessment of NCZ: MoEF to NGT

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Wednesday proposed before the National Green Tribunal that National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) may be asked to do land use land cover mapping for assessment of status of Natural Conservation Zone.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Wednesday proposed before the National Green Tribunal that National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) may be asked to do land use land cover mapping for assessment of status of Natural Conservation Zone. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel was told by the Environment Ministry that area under National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has gone change over a period of time in all the constituent states as more and more districts have been added to it.  The MoEF said that in view of the non-availability of higher resolution data in the year 1999 it is proposed that NRSC may be asked to do land use land cover mapping for the two periods i.e. 1999 and 2019.  “The classification scheme of the mapping should be selected in a manner that Natural Conservation Areas are explicitly mapped. Due emphasis should be placed on ground truthing before the final output of the exercise is finalised,” the ministry said.

“If required, NRSC may obtain thematic spatial data relevant for identifying natural conservation zones in NCRPB from the concerned organizations. The two comparable output data sets resulting from the same satellite data (sensor), scale and methodology would lead to a realistic assessment of status of Natural Conservation Zone i.e. how it has changed over the two time periods,” MoEF said. The tribunal after noting the submissions directed the ministry to furnish its report by January 31 next year by e-mail.

The NGT had earlier constituted a fresh committee to look into the question whether sub-regional plans for protection of Natural Conservation Zones (NCZs) were consistent with the regional plan prepared by the National Capital Region Planning Board. The green panel had said the committee would comprise representatives of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), National Remote Sensing Centre, Forest Survey of India as also Revenue secretaries and Principal Chief Conservators of Forest of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh Delhi and Rajasthan.

The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by the Legal Aid Committee National Green Tribunal Bar Association against the alarming rate of depletion of NCZs in NCR. It had sought directions to check alleged diversion of the area marked as NCZ by the NCRPB in the regional plan.

The plea had alleged that states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan had diverted the NCZ area in violation of the original plan while preparing sub-regional plans and such diversion would adversely affect the environment..