CENTRE MUST AMEND INDIA’S TOBACCO CONTROL ACT,demands NOTE(India)

Prakash Kamat

Panaji, November 26- A new report titled “Tobacco Control Law in India – Origins and Proposed Reforms” released on Tuesday revealed that there are glaring gaps in the existing tobacco control legislation COTPA 2003. Smoking areas are allowed in restaurants, hotels and airports despite a ban on smoking places in India; tobacco advertisements and products are prominently displayed in stores and kiosks despite a ban on advertising; the existing penalties under COTPA 2003 are not sufficient; sale of single stick cigarettes and other loose tobacco products is the norm in India; emission yields which are displayed on cigarette packets often give a misleading impression are some of the gaps in the existing tobacco control legislation COTPA 2003, which makes it ineffective for regulating tobacco consumption and exposure to second hand smoke in India, revealed the report.

The report released by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), analyzed the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA 2003). This report is intended as a comprehensive analysis of COTPA 2003, identifying the gaps therein, and proposing reforms which are in consonance with the recommendations of the parliamentary committees, best practices adopted by other countries and the guidelines specified under the global public health treaty on tobacco control, World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).

"The harmful effects of tobacco use are well established and accepted globally.  Through this Report the Chair on Consumer Law and Practice, NLSIU has made a rigorous effort to identify gaps in the existing tobacco control laws of India (COTPA 2003). 

The Report recommends legislative reforms based on the global public health treaty, FCTC, to which India is a signatory as well as best practices adopted by other countries.  

"We hope that the Government will consider these recommendations while proposing a comprehensive COTPA Amendment Bill”, said Prof. (Dr.) Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice Chancellor, NLSIU.

NLSIU report has proposed the following recommendations for COTPA amendment: Prohibit designated smoking areas by removing the provision that allows for any smoking areas or spaces; prohibit all point of sale advertising; prohibit tobacco product displays in stores and kiosks; specify that advertising is banned in new internet based medium; prohibit all tobacco company sponsorship including corporate social responsibility activities; prohibit the display of emission yield figures; regulate contents and emissions including a ban on all flavored tobacco; allow for greater regulation of tobacco packaging; increase the age of sale from 18 to 21; prohibit the sale of single sticks, loose tobacco or smaller packs and increase the penalties for violations.

"Medical science clearly recognizes tobacco as the single most significant cause of mortality and morbidity across the globe. The State`s primary duty is of improving and protecting public health under the Constitution of India. The recommendations from the NLSIU report need to be implemented urgently and immediately if India is serious about reducing tobacco use and protect Right to Health guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” said J. Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India. “It is critical that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare looks into the amendment of COTPA 2003 to fulfil India’s obligation under the FCTC and also align with the State`s primary duty of improving and protecting public health under the Constitution of India,” he said further.

COTPA, 2003 was enacted to prohibit advertisement of, and to provide for the regulation of trade and commerce in, and production, supply and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products in India as well as to discourage the use or consumption of tobacco products and to improve public health in general. The Act intended as a comprehensive law on tobacco control was adopted over 15 years ago but with the passage of time, lacunas in the Act have become apparent and proved to be a major challenge in its effective implementation. These gaps in the current law are highlighted by the WHO Report on the Tobacco Epidemic (GTCR) 2019, which provides the status of countries’ implementation of key tobacco control measures on a biannual basis. India has adopted best practices in cessation and health warnings on tobacco products. In all other policy areas, India falls into the moderate category, with no forward progress since the 2008 report.

“There is ample evidence about tobacco products being the killer. These should be made inaccessible to save Indians from a lifetime of misery and suffering. It is critical to strengthen the country’s tobacco control law to galvanize the ongoing efforts to check the tobacco epidemic in India, especially during these challenging times. Vendor licencing and prohibiting sale of single cigarette will definitely bhelpuri in decreasing access of these products to children n stifants,” said Dr. Shekhar Salkar, Secretary,National Organization Tobacco Eradication (NOTE,India) on Thursday.

India has the second largest number of tobacco users (268 million or 28.6% of all adults in India) in the world – of these at least 1.2 million die every year from tobacco related diseases. One million deaths are due to smoking, with over 200,000 due to secondhand smoke exposure, and over 35,000 are due to smokeless tobacco use. Nearly 27% of all cancers in India are due to tobacco usage. The total direct and indirect cost of diseases attributable to tobacco use was a staggering Rs.182,000 crore,which is nearly 1.8% of India’s GDP,said Dr. Salkar.(eom)

Goa State Pollution Control Board condemned for hiking coal handling at Momrugao Port

 Prakash Kamat

Panaji- The Goa Foundation,Goa-based green NGO on Wednesday condemned the decision of the Goa State Pollution Control Board to grant consent to Mormugao Port Trust(MPT),Goa's major port to increase its coal handling at Mooring Dolphins Nos 2 & 3 by 1.2 mt p.a.

The decision of the Board makes a profound mockery of the fact that the Goa Environment Minister has gone on record stating that the coal handling will be restricted to the existing permits given to Vedanta and others by the government. 

Obviously the Board does not care very much for the opinion of either the Environment Minister or the views of the State government. 

The Goa Foundation does not feel that the studies conducted so far relating to pollution caused at the Mooring Dolphins are of any relevance as the impact of the pollution is being felt on the sea body, with consequential harmful effects on the clam fisheries surrounding the MPT area. This has already been documented in a scientific study. Instead of assessing the study already done, the Board has relied upon a dubious study which attempts to measure instead the impact of coal pollution from handling coal at Mooring Dolphins in relation to the land. 

Further, none of the Mooring Dolphins has got necessary environment clearance for operation.  In fact the Board had previously closed down the operations at the Mooring Dolphins because it discovered that the Mooring Dolphins were operating without environment clearance. 

The Goa Foundation has demanded that the Goa State Pollution Control Board should withdraw its consent for the Mooring Dolphins forthwith because this is a bad idea. The issue of coal pollution is still troubling the State.  The Board is duty bound to bring down the coal handling activities instead of allowing them to be increased in view of massive public resentment. Further, the Board should not entertain such proposals till such time as the handling of coal in the State of Goa is finally decided in the interests of the health of the people of Goa and the overall interests of the State,said Dr.Claude Alvares, Director, Goa Foundation.(eom)

SWR officials assure Goa Congress delegation that Railways will ensure that least number of trees are affected in double-tracking in Goa

Prakash Kamat

Panaji,November 10- Former Goa Chief Minister and present Leader of the Opposition in Goa Legislative Assembly,Digambar Kamat,met Mr. P K Mishra,Additional General Manager, South Western Raikways(SWR) on Tuesday at Rail Soudha, Headquarters of SWR and submitted a memorandum regarding doubling of the track in Goa and people's apprehensions regarding that.

According to a press release issued by SWR,Hubbali Division, Mr. Kamat and his delegation expressed apprehensions on impact of proposed doubling of railway track between Castle Rock to Vasco-da-gama. 

Mr. Mishra has explained that the project is being taken up basically to improve connectivity to the State of Goa from Southern States. He has informed that during the conception of original Railway line itself, the same was planned to be broad gauge with double line but had to be modified to meter gauge and single line because of the compatibility with Castle Rock to Bellary Railway line being done in British India.

He quoted that the same was mentioned in treaty of Lisbon signed in 1878 between Indian Governments of Portuguese and Britain. 

Mr. Mishra categorically stated that the thrust now is on switching over to clean, non-conventional sources of energy and the decline in modal share of coal as source of energy is clearly evident from the volumes being transported over last two years.  He said that future belongs to and is defined by usage of non conventional sources of energy.  

He argued that the Government was actively advocating reduction in usage of coal and more so imported coal. He also told that in Goa, cap on amount of coal that can be handled at Mormugao Port Trust(MPT) already exists, being environmentally conscious State. Hence the question of transporting more coal after doubling doesn't arise.

Mr. Mishra has given the technical limitations of present railway line especially in the Braganza  ghat section, that because of safety considerations, certain restrictions are in place that are severely decreasing the sectional capacity to run trains.

On being asked about the impact of the project on ecology by way of cutting of trees, he stated that Railways has been committed to the cause of environment and will continue to exercise utmost caution to ensure that least number of trees are affected. He also informed that study of Environment Impact Assessment has been done, by involving independent agency - IISC and accordingly alignment of proposed double track will be decided.  Above all, any project can be taken up only with clearance of State Government and cooperation of elected representatives, he assured.

Mr. Mishra has assured that the genuine concerns in the execution of work will be addressed and resolved suitably before commencing the work.

It was further informed that no new area is being considered.  Only an additional track next to the existing line is being laid and it is not going to make any new impact on ecology. So railway is just adding on existing route only within railway land is being planned.  

Similar works have already been undertaken and completed in other parts of country including North Eastern States.

Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar, Mr. Mahendra H Singhi, social activist accompanied Mr. Kamat.

The Opposition including Congress have actively backed the on-going movement in Goa demanding no double-tracking of the SWR route in Goa as people apprehend that this would lead to more imported coal of Adani would be transported through Goa.(eom)

High Court in Goa issues notice over rejection of the Goa Lokayukta's order directing that the Anti Crime Branch register an FIR in renewal of 88 mining leases

Prakash Kamat

Panaji,November 5- The Bombay High Court  earlier this week issued notice on a petition filed by the Goa Foundation,Goa-based green NGO challenging the decision of the Goa Governor and the Chief Minister to reject the Goa Lokayukta's order directing that the Anti Crime Branch register an FIR in the matter of renewal of 88 mining leases

The Goa Lokayukta had also directed the State government to ensure the investigation was conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI).

The writ petition is filed to challenge the orders of the Competent Authority designated under the Goa Lokayukta Act, 2011, namely, 1) the order dated 15.4.2020 passed by the competent authority, the Governor of Goa (or Competent Authority I) and 2) the undated order passed by the competent authority, the Chief Minister (or Competent Authority II) of the State of Goa.

Both these competent authorities have, via the impugned orders, rejected both the recommendations and orders of the Goa State Lokayukta issued in his report to the Government on the complaint filed by the petitioner (original complainant therein). The petition seeks an order to quash and set aside the two impugned orders.

It was the case of the complainant before the  Lokayukta that the orders granting bulk of these second renewals were issued under the signatures of only three persons, i.e., Laxmikant Parsenkar, (then) Chief Minister of the State, Pavan Kumar Sains, (then) Secretary (Mines) in the government of Goa, and Prasanna Acharya, Director of Mines & Geology and that all three persons were aware that they were indulging in conduct that would benefit and enrich a small class of influential miners and that would result in enormous losses to the public exchequer. In its investigations, the Hon’ble Lokayukta focused substantially on 56 mining leases whose renewal orders were issued within the span of just one week i.e., between 6.1.2015 and 12.1.2015.  In fact, 31 lease renewal orders were issued on 12.1.2015 itself -- which is the very date on which the power of the state government to renew mining leases was rescinded by an ordinance requiring states to auction such leases so as to bring enhanced revenues to the public exchequer. 

The Lokayukta agreed with the charges made by the complainant and directed the removal of Pawan Kumar Sains and Prasanna Acharya from public office as they were unfit to occupy such posts. These recommendations were made under Section 16 of the Lokayukta Act. The Lokayukta also directed FIR be registered by the Anti Crime Branch, but that the investigation of the case be handed over by the Government to the CBI. The Governor and the CM both rejected the recommendations and the order for investigation.

The petition seeks an order setting aside the decisions of the two competent authorities.

Respondents in the petition:

1)Governor of Goa,

Competent Authority u/s 2(d)(i) of

the Goa Lokayukta Act, 2011,

Raj Bhavan,

Dona Paula, Goa.       

 

2)Chief Minister,Goa,

Competent Authority u/s 2(d)(ii)&(iv) of

the Goa Lokayukta Act, 2011

Secretariat, Porvorim, Goa.

 

3LaxmikantParsenkar,

 “YASHWANT”

Varchawada, Arambol,

Pernem, Goa

 

4)Pawan Kumar Sain,

Presently, Director

President’s Secretariat,

RashtrapatiBhavan,

New Delhi 110 004.

 

5)Prasanna Acharya,

Presently, Member Secretary,

Rabindra Bhavan,

Margao, Goa.                                                                     

6)Government of Goa,

Represented by its Chief Secretary,

c/o Secretariat,

Porvorim, Goa 403 521.         

 

7)      The Anti Corruption Branch (ACB)

Directorate of Vigilance,

Serra Building, Near All India Radio,

Altinho - Panaji , Goa - 403 001

Next date of hearing is December 1, 2020,says Dr.

Claude Alvares, Director, Goa Foundation.(eom)

High Court in Goa issues notice to Tamnar's Sangod Sub-station

Prakash Kamat

Panaji,November 2- The Bombay High Court at Goa comprising Justice Mahesh Sonak and Ms M.S. Jawalkar issued notice on a PIL filed by the Goa Foundation,Goa-based green NGO challenging the permissions granted for felling of 2670 forest trees on Sy.No.21/1 and 22 to make way for an electricity substation connected with the Tamnar High Tension Line(HTL) at Sangod, Dharbandora.

Counsel appearing for Tamnar conceded that they did not have a conversion sanad, and that "presently, no development or construction work is being carried out."

The PIL alleged that heavy earthmoving machinery had been moved to the site and that several workers were involved in clearing of the area and removal of mud.

 This writ petition is filed in public interest to challenge the construction of an electrical substation and related infrastructure including residences including a badminton court on Sy.No.21/1 and Sy.No.22/1 in Sangod village in contravention of the Regional Plan 2021 which has zoned the land as natural cover, No-Development Slope and paddy fields.

No conversion can be granted for such lands in view of the norms prevailing under the statutory Regional Plan for Goa 2021. Neither can the land be converted as per order of the Supreme Court dated 4.2.2015.

 

The petition consequently challenges the destruction by clear felling of a patch of rich natural forest stocked with 2670 trees located on the said plot based on entirely fraudulent and manipulated permissions, and seeks its restoration, apart from penalties.

 

The petition states that the decision to exclude the forested survey numbers from the purview of the Preservation of Trees Act, 1984 was signed, not by the Chief Minister (late Manohar Parrikar), but by his Principal Secretary, P. Krishnamurthy. In its brief order, the High Court has asked for a response from Krishamurthy who is presently adviser to the Lakshadweep administration.

 

The petition challenges the grant of construction licence by the Sarpanch without a conversion sanad and without a resolution of the Molem Panchayat. In fact, the Panchayat had already taken a decision to place the matter before the Gram Sabha. In the meanwhile, the licence was issued by the Sarpanch.

 

The petition also challenges the order of the Town Planner, Quepem, granting technical clearance for construction including residences on a property zoned as paddy field, no-development slope and natural cover. This violates norms laid down under the Town and Country Planning Act and the RP 2021.

 

Reliefs sought:

 

i) For an order or writ in the nature of an order to quash and set aside the approval of the Government under Section 31 of the Goa Preservation of Trees Act, 1984 dated 4.2.2019;

 

ii) For an order or writ in the nature of an order to quash and set aside the tree felling permission granted to Resp No 9 dated 25.4.2019.

 

iii) For an order or writ in the nature of an order to quash and set aside the TCP technical clearance dated 18.10.2019 and the Panchayat construction license dated 5.10.2020.(eom)

 

#Save Mollem &Western Ghats from three linear projects People's movement intensifies in Goa

Prakash Kamat

Panaji, November 2-Hundreds of Goan citizens  occupied the Chandor rail tracks in South Goa last night to protest against unethical corporates, government and policies on coal.

Even as a steadily growing number of citizens' groups and citizen-led movements are opposing the need for a destruc6tive coal-powered transmission line project fragmenting the Western Ghats, on 28th of October, a Writ Petition against Goa Tamnar was filed in the High Court by Goa Foundation,Green NGO always spearheading the cause of environment, in view of illegal permissions granted for the clear felling of over 2000 trees and the permissions for the construction of the substation granted in the absence of a conversion sanad. 

A conversion sanad is a document issued by the Office of the Collectorate certifying that Non-Agricultural usage has been permitted on a plot of land. Without this, no permissions for any development can be granted. In contrast to their public claims about having all necessary permissions, Tamnar  admitted in Court that they don’t have Conversion Sanad for the substation. Tamnar has also made a statement to the Court that they are not carrying out any work on the substation. The next hearing will take place on December 1.

The 400 KV Goa-Tamnar transmission  line project (a SPV of Sterlite Power) is a power project that threatens Goa’s largest protected forest area ( Mollem National Park and Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary) and private land-holdings of non-forest areas in Goa. The project consists of four components within Goa: three transmission lines and one sub-station in Sangod Village, North Goa. 

The User Agency has applied for as many as four forest diversion proposals, in doing so, bifurcating four components of a singular project, with a fifth forest diversion proposal applied for in Karnataka. The project seeks to divert a total of 323.596 ha of forest land, through the State of Goa (146.505 ha) and State of Karnataka (177.091 ha). Submission of such piecemeal forest clearances for implementing 3 projects violates the Forest (Conservation) Rules and is an attempt to dilute the cumulative impact of the three projects on forests of Goa and Western Ghats.

It is to be noted that the Supreme Court of India in 2015 ordered that "No Objection Certificate(s)" will not be issued in Goa for the conversion of any land of over 1 hectare that has natural vegetation with tree canopy density in excess of 0.1. Since the area of land cleared for the substation in Sangod is 11.8 hectares and the canopy density of the area is 0.7, this is a clear violation of said Order. Furthermore, several forest officers from Karnataka have gone on record relaying their concerns related to the depletion of forest cover, thus highlighting the broader regional concerns of this power project. A letter written on 18th June, 2020, by 150 scientists highlights several issues regarding the lack of clarity on the manner in which the Environment Impact Assessments(EIAs) were prepared, and the difficulty in finding these EIAs in the public domain.

Meanwhile, the Goa government appears to be in a great hurry to collaborate with Sterlite Power (a subsidiary of Vedanta), a business that will be selling electricity to the State of Goa, while using the land in the protected area to pass its transmission line through. In normal circumstances Sterlite would have to spend a significant amount of money buying the land on which it is to set up its business activities but in this case all it needs is four signatures from the State government to take over the land for free. 

Why a company is being allowed to have access to Goa's natural heritage for free has been a question that thousands of citizens across Goa have addressed to their government over the past several months.  Among the concerns regarding the utter lack of due process, questions have been raised about why police protection was given to Sterlite Power as early as February, 2019 before this project was even approved. This fact is all the more unsettling when Sterlite’s past record at their Tuticorin plant is brought into consideration, where the police opened fire and killed 13 people from the fishing community who were opposing a copper plant.

After two years of not producing this document, on 20th October, Mr. Nilesh Cabral, Goa Power Minister (who also holds the office of Environment Minister) issued a White Paper on Electric Load Demand over the Last 10 years in which he has made blatantly false statements which don’t match up with figures stated in the 19th EPS documents, which clearly show that in the Electricity Demand Projections for Goa for the year 2021 -2022, industrial and commercial consumers will use 3122 MU (Million Units) of power as compared to just 1280 MU (Million Units) by domestic b. The White Paper, like the EIA and Assessment Studies, has not been uploaded into the public domain for scrutiny or clarification. On the same day, citizens wrote to him,demanding that the paper be made available to the public. 

Amidst several weak and unclear justifications for this project, it is also not clear that citizens who live around the project areas have been taken on board, especially since these projects were passed at the beginning of the lockdown. Astonishingly, despite a majority of panch members in Mollem asking for a Gram Sabha on 4th October, 2020, the licence was issued without a Gram Sabha on the 5th October. The Panchayat Secretary has not signed the license along with the Sarpanch. 

Tree felling permission in private land bought for the construction of the substation by  Goa Tamnar is supposedly granted under section 31 of the Goa Tree Preservation Act, 1984, which gives them an exemption from following the provision of the Act as it is done in public interest. A project done in public interest should ideally not prompt the government to restrict citizens coming forward with questions, using section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code. For example, on 8th of October, Mollem residents were detained without explanation when they went to submit a memorandum at the Goa Chief Minister's house.

In what can now be identified as a familiar pattern, because these documents were not uploaded in the public domain, people lost their right to appeal against the tree felling permission within 30 days from the grant of such permission. This amounts to cheating the public as this infringes the "RIGHT TO KNOW" which is also our fundamental right under the Constitution. Additionally, the forest clearance proposals with all relevant information were on MOEF’s web portal PARIVESH but have now “mysteriously disappearedsays a press release issued on Monday on behalf of the protestors.(eom)