Will make green norms for industries more stringent, says Prakash Javadekar

The government will make environment norms for industries more stringent, but at the same time these will be practical, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday.

The minister also emphasised balancing economy with growth, and said poverty is the "biggest polluter".

"A few days back we made environment norms for cement industry more stringent. We want to do the same for all other industries," Javadekar said, addressing a conference organised by industry lobby CII.

"However, the norms must be practical. If the industry wants three, it must be five, not ten... But whatever the norms are, compliance must be 100 percent," Javadekar said.

The minister added all stakeholders would be consulted in the process to ensure complete compliance once the norms are laid down.

Javadekar said untreated discharge in rivers is a major concern, specially in the Ganga, which the government has promised to clean.

"When we studied Ganga from source to where it merges in the sea, we found one-third of industrial waste and two-thirds of agricultural waste... and one-third of domestic waste was being discharged into the river untreated," he said.

The minister said that at least 40 industries along the Ganga have been closed down recently for non-compliance of environment norms. Another 146 industries have been given notice to comply with the norms by March 2015, he added.

He stressed on balancing growth with environment protection.

"Poverty is the biggest polluter. We cannot have sustainable development without eradicating poverty," said Javadekar.

Speaking earlier at Global Biodiversity Information Facility Governing Board's conference, Javadekar said India stood committed to developing "biodiversity informatics" as an essential element of India's economic, environment and social well-being.

"India is in the process of building a comprehensive and decentralized biodiversity information infrastructure to serve the national interests and to provide inter-operability with regional and global initiatives," said Javadekar.

The minister on Tuesday also met school children to mark International Ozone Day.