State of Environment Reports from states vital for policy making

New Delhi, Aug 29 (UNI) The Government today urged the states which had not sent their State of Environment(SOE) Reports so far to act expeditiously, as the reports were important document for planning formulation and distribution of financial resources from the Planning Commission.

So far 32 out of 35 states and Union Territories had published their State of Environment Reports, said Siddharth Behura, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forests while inaugurating a workshop here.

The overall objective of the SOE reporting is to highlight the linkages of various economic activities and house-hold and Government functions with the environmental issues to create baseline data.

This involves systemic data collection, compilation, analysis along with networking with various Government Departments and other Organisations.

Mr Behura said it was very satisfying to learn about the progress of 32 reports. Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshdweep Islands were yet to fulfill this requirement of National Planning by mainstreaming environment in policy making and strategy formulation. The SOE reporting was initiated during the Tenth Plan with the financial help of the Central Government and technical support of the National Host Institutions.

Giving the key-note address, Mr Sudhir Mittal, Joint Secretary , Ministry of Environment and Forests, said that it was anticipated that through the SOE reports, State Governments and UT Administrations will be able to integrate environmental dimension in their social, economic and sustainable development planning.

Four National Host Institutes viz. The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi; The Development Alternatives, New Delhi; The Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad and The Environment Protection Training Research Institute, Hyderabad, were engaged in sensitising, capacity building and assisting States and Union Territories in the preparation of SOE reports.

UNI