 bill no 162 of  2016 the snow and glaciers authority of india bill, 2016 bydr ramesh pokhriyal 'nishank', mp a billto provide for constitution of snow and glaciers authority of india to conserve himalayan glaciers which are receding at a fast rate and for matters connected therewith be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the snow and glaciers authority of india act, 2016short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "authority" means the snow and glaciers authority of india constituted under section 3; and(b) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act5constitution of snow and glaciers authority of india3 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitutean authority to be known as the snow and glaciers authority of india to study the impact of climate change on glaciers in himalayan states and suggest measures for their protection and conservation(2) the authority shall consist of—10(a) the union minister of environment, forests and climate change—chairperson, ex-officio;(b) the union minister of science and technology—vice chairperson; (c) the chief ministers of the himalayan states of uttarakhand, himachal pradesh, jammu and kashmir, arunachal pradesh, manipur, tripura, meghalaya, mizoram, assam, nagaland and sikkim—members; and15(d) not more than twenty persons to be nominated by the central government having experience and expertise in the field of conservation of ecology, protection of environment and natural resources—members20(3) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of appointment of the nominated members shall be such as may be prescribed4 (1) the central government shall appoint the secretary and the chief accounts officer, respectively, of the authority in such manner as may be prescribed(2) the secretary and the chief accounts officer shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may be specified by the central governmentappointment of secretary, chief accounts officer and staff of the authority25(3) the central government shall provide such number of officers and staff to the authority as may be required for its efficient functioning(4) the salary and allowances payable to and other terms and conditions of service of the officers and staff of the authority shall be such as may be prescribed5 (1) the headquarter of the authority shall be at dehradun30headquarter and other offices of the authority(2) the authority shall have its offices at such other places in himalayan states as itmay deem fit for carrying out the purposes of this act6 the authority shall meet at such times and places and shall observe such rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of its business at its meetings, as may be prescribedmeetings and procedure of the authority357 no act or proceeding of the authority shall be invalid by reason of any vacancy in the authorityvacancies not to invalidate proceedings of the authority8 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a fund to be known as the conservation of snow and glaciers in himalayan states fund(2) the authority shall administer the fundconstitution of conservation of snow and glaciers in himalayan states fund40(3) the central  government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, credit requisite sums to the fund for carrying out the purposes of this act9 the fund shall be utilized for—utilization of fund(i) promotion of research in the field of himalayan geology and to suggest measures for protection of snow and glaciers in himalayan region;(ii) grant-in-aid to non-governmental organisations working in the field of protection of ecology in the himalayan region;(iii)  meeting the administrative expenditure of the authority; and (iv) any expenditure which the central government may direct to be defrayed from the fund510 the authority shall—functions of the authority(i) study the impact of climate change on glaciers in himalayan states; (ii) create national glacier inventory in respect of glaciers and periglacial landforms which act as freshwater reserves;10(iii) identify research areas alongwith pertaining information necessary forprotection, control, monitoring and conservation of snow and glaciers in himalayan states;(iv) prohibit or restrict activities which affect natural condition of snow andglaciers;15(v) co-ordinate with other organisations working in the fields of himalayangeology, snow and avalanche and space research to share data and research related to glaciers and climate change(vi) take such other measures as are necessary for protection and conservation of snow and glaciers and ecology and better management of water resources in himalayan states; and20(vii) frame guidelines for ensuring protection of glaciers in himalayan states as strategic freshwater reserves for human consumption, for agriculture and as sources for watershed recharge2511 the central government shall, from time to time, issue such directions to the authority,  as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to issue directions accounts and audits12 (1) the authority shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts including the balance-sheet in such form as may be prescribed(2) the accounts of the authority  shall be audited at such intervals as may be specified by the central government30annual report13 (1) the authority shall prepare every year an annual report in such form and manner, as may be prescribed by the central government, giving a full account of its activities during the previous year, and copies of the report shall be forwarded to the central government35(2) a copy of the report forwarded under sub-section (1) shall be laid, as soon as maybe after it is received, before each house of parliamentprotection of action taken in good faith14 no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the authority or any member, officer or other emplyees of the authority for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this act or the rules or regulations made thereunder40power to delegate15 the authority may, by general or special order in writing, delegate to the vice-chairperson or any member, officer of the authority or any other person subject to such conditions, if any as may be specified in the order, such of its powers and functions under this act, as it may deem necessarypower to remove difficulty16 (1) if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provision of this act, the centralgovernment may, by order published in the official gazette, make such provisions notinconsistent with the provisions of this act, as may appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removal of the difficulty:5provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of two years fromthe date of the commencement of this act(2) every order made under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laidbefore each house of parliamentpower to make rules17 (1) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rulesfor carrying out the purposes of this act10 15(2) every rule made under this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both houses agree in the making any modification in the rule or both the houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule statement of objects and reasonsit is well-known that snow and glaciers are vital to human beings as they make our rivers perennial which have been source of our civilization and livelihoodthe glaciers of the himalayas have the largest concentration of fresh water these glaciers are unique as they are located outside the polar regions these glaciers are major source of water to the rivers originating from the himalayas however, the potential of water available from glaciers have not been exploited in proper manner for the reason that we have failed to understand and monitor the sustainability of glaciers in view of changing global scenarios of climate in recent past, some efforts have been made to carry out important study covering entire himalayan glaciers however, there is an urgent need to address a large number of questions about the health and state of glaciersit is, therefore, necessary to constitute an independent authority to coordinate with organizations working in the field of natural resources of fresh water in the form of snow and glaciers and suggest measures to conserve these natural resources by developing methods of extraction and dissemination of reliable and quick information from remote sensing data pertaining to snow and glaciers of the himalayas and to save snow cover and glaciers of the himalayan regionhence this billnew delhi;ramesh pokhriyal 'nishank'may 13, 2016 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for constitution of an authority to be known as the snow and glaciers authority of india to suggest measures for conservation of glaciers in himalayan states it also provides for payment of salary and allowances to the nominated members of the authority clause 4 provides for appointment of the secretary, chief accounts officer and other officers and staff of the authority clause 5 provides that the authority shall have its headquarters at dehradun and other regional offices at such other places in himalayan states as it may deem fit clause 8 provides for constitution of the conservation of snow and glaciers in himalayan states fund it also provides that the central government shall credit requisite sums to the fund for carrying out the purposes of the act the bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees five hundred crore would be involved as a recurring expenditure per annuma non-recurring expenditure of rupees five hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum   regarding   delegated  legislationclause 17 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character———— a billto provide for constitution of snow and glaciers authority of india to conserve himalayan glaciers which are receding at a fast rate and for matters connected therewith————(dr ramesh pokhriyal 'nishank', mp)