UNIT 3

ENVIRONMENT AND CYBER LAWS

• Environmental Protection Act 1986
• Environment protection act 1986 of the parliament
of India is introduced in the wake of the Bhopal gas
tragedy.
• The Government of India enacted the environment
protection act of 1986 under article 253 of the
constitution passed in may 1986.
• It came into force on 19th Nov 1986.
• It has 26 sections and 4 chapters
• The purpose of the act is to implement the
decisions of the United Nations Conference on the
human environment.
• It was enacted with the main objective to provide
the protection and improvement of the
environment and for matters connected therewith.
• They relate to the protection and improvement of
the human environment and the prevention of
hazardous/dangerous to human beings, other
living creatures, plants and properties.
• This act is an “Umbrella legislation” design to
provide a framework for central government co-
ordination of the all activities of various central
and state authorities established under previous
laws such as the water act, air act etc,.,
Objectives of Environmental protection act
• To protect and improve the environment and
environmental conditions.
• To take strict actions against all those who harm the
environment.
• To enforce laws on environment protection in the areas
that is not included by the existing laws.
• To give all the powers to the central government to take
correct measures in favor of environmental protection.
• Implementing the decisions made at the united Nations
Conference on Human environment held in Stockholm.
(1972)
• Laying down the standards for emission of environment
pollution from various sources.
• Definitions of Important terms
• 1) Environment
• According to sec 2(A) defines “Environment
includes water, air and land and the
interrelationship which exist among and between
water,air,land and human beings other living
creatures,plants,micro organism and property”
• 2) Environmental Pollutant
• “It means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance
present in such concentration as may be or tend
to be injurious to environment”
• 3) Environmental Pollution
• According to sec 2(c) defines “Environment
pollution means presence in the environment of
any environmental pollutant”.
• 4) Hazardous substances
• According to sec2(e) defines “Hazardous
substance or substance or preparation which by
reason o its chemical or physico chemical
properties or handling is liable to cause harm to
human beings or other living creature plant,
micro organism or the environment
5) Occupier (person)
• Sec 2(f) defines “occupier in relation to any
factory or premises means a person who has
control over the affairs of the factory or the
premises and includes in relation to any substance
the person in possession of the substance”
• Types of Pollution
• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Soil pollution
• Thermal pollution
• Noise pollution
• Light pollution
• Water Pollution
• Water is the most important resource for
survival on a planet.
• It is the essence of life on our planet.
• Water pollution is the contamination of water
bodies like rivers, groundwater etc,.,
• It occurs when harmful materials like chemicals,
waste matter or contaminated substances are
directly or indirectly discharged into water
bodies.
• Contaminants are generally introduced by human
activities like improper sewage treatment, oil spills.
(oil leakage)
• Water pollution caused due to human activities.
• Sources of water pollution:-Domestic waste,
industrial effluents, Insecticides and pesticides.
• Impact;-Major cause of illness from contaminated
drinking water leads to various diseases such as
cholera,typhoid etc.
•
• Soil pollution
• Soil is a thin layer made up of organic as well as
inorganic materials.
• It is degradation of Earth’s plant surface through
the misuse of soil by poor agricultural practices.
• Many times it is directly and indirectly caused by
human activities.
• It takes place when chemical pollutants
contaminate the soil by various activities such as
mining, dumping chemical products to soil.
• Causes;-Modern farming practices, Industrial activity,
Deforestration, improper waste disposal.
• Effect:-Decrease the agricultural output of the land,
Soil pollution affects the health of humans, plants
and animals.
• Air pollution
• Earlier the air we breathe in use to be pure and fresh
but ,due to increasing industrialization and
concentration of poisonous gases in the environment
the air is getting more and more toxic day by day.
• Rapidly increasing human activities like the burning
of fossil fuels,deforestration is the major cause of air
pollution.
• The greenhouse effect is also the cause of air
pollution because air pollution produces the
gases that greenhouse involves.Besides,it
increases the temperature of earth surface.
• Sources of air pollution are industrial waste,
agriculture waste, power plants, thermal nuclear
plants etc,.,
• Effects of Air pollution:-The air pollution has
many bad effects on the health of people.It is the
cause of many skin and respiratory disorder in
human beings.Also, it causes heart disease too.
Air pollution causes asthma, bronchitis and many
other diseases.
• Noise Pollution
• Noise pollution is a form of pollution which has
become very badly nowdays.This pollution is increasing
and creates an unsafe environment.
• Noise pollution is when the level of noise increases
more than the normal level.
• When the amount of noise exceeds, it becomes
dangerous for living beings.Moreover,these unpleasant
sounds cause several disturbances and create an
imbalance in the environment.
• It is defined as unpleasant and undesirable sound level
that cause serious discomfort to all the living things.
• It is measured by decibels(DB).The sound level beyond
100db can cause permanent hearing loss.
• This pollution nearly occurs when sound waves
of intense pressure reach the human ears and
may even affect the body muscles due to sound
vibrations.
• Causes;-Vehicle traffic sound, Industrial
manufacturing sound.
• Impact;-Head ache, Heart attack, Anxiety and
stress etc,.,
• Thermal Pollution
• When the temperature of a natural body of water
suddenly increases or decreases, thermal pollution
occurs.
• Industries use natural water to cool down the
machines and returned back to an altered
temperature.
• There are some natural causes of thermal pollution
also when water is sitting on hot surfaces that run
off nearby water bodies
• Causes of thermal pollution;
• Soil erosion;-When topsoil is removed due to
heavy rain and wind because of deforestration
the water becomes more exposed to the sun
and the temperature of the water body is
altered
• Use of water as a cooling agent in industries
and paper factories;-The water cools the
machinery and returned back to the river with
altered temperature.
• Natural causes;-Natural causes like volcanoes,
geothermal vents.
• Effects of thermal pollution;
• a)Decrease in dissolved oxygen levels;-When the
temperature of the water bodies rises the bond
of oxygen molecule breaks as a result the
dissolved oxygen decreases and affects the fishes
and marine eco system.
• b)Increase in toxins;-When water is returned
back from the industries it contains some toxic
chemicals which affect the marine ecosystem.
• Light Pollution
• Light pollution are artificial light at night leads to
various problems to the living creatures.
• It occurs due to excessive use of artificial out door
light.
• It destroy the natural patterns of wild life and it
contributes to the increase in carbon di oxide in
the atmosphere.
• Causes;-Most light pollution comes from out door
lighting ,advertisement etc
• Impact;-Artificial light at night can negatively
affect the human health and increasing risk for
• Rules and Powers of Central government to
protect and Improve Environment
• The central government has the powers to take all
preventive measures to control environment
pollution.
• Co-ordination of actions by state government
officers and other authorities.
• Planning and execution of a nationwide
programme for prevention and control of
pollution.
• Laying down standards for quality of environment.
• Laying down standards for emission or discharge of
environmental pollutants.
• Restriction of areas in which industries shall not
be carried out.
• Laying down procedure for handling hazardous
substance.
• Collection of information and matter relating to
environment pollution.
• Examination of manufacturing process, materials
substances which cause environmental pollution.
• Undertaking survey to find the most polluted
areas
• Restriction of areas in which industries shall not
be carried out.
• Laying down procedure for handling hazardous
substance.
• Collection of information and matter relating to
environment pollution.
• Examination of manufacturing process, materials
substances which cause environmental pollution.
• Undertaking survey to find the most polluted
areas
• Preparation of manuals, guides relating to
prevention and control of environmental
pollution.
• Carrying out and sponsoring investigations and
research relating to problems of environmental
pollution.
• An Introduction to Cyber Law
• Generally, cyber law means such law which
prescribed the rules and regulations to protect
the Internet and other online communication
technologies. It is the part of such legal system
that deals with the Internet, cyberspace and
their respective legal issues.
• According to Cambridge Dictionary
• “Cyber law is such a branch of law which
prescribed the rules about how people should
use computers especially internet”
• According to Black’s law dictionary
• “Cyber law is such an evolving area of law that is applies
to computers and the various activities over the internet
and networks”.
• Cyber law deals with the legal issues of the internet
usage.
• It is rule which controls the conducts of the cyber activity
and the security under the cyber space.
• Definition of Cyber law
• According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology “Cyber law yields legal recognition to
electronic documents and a structure to support e-filing
and e-commerce transaction and also provides legal
structure to reduce check cyber crimes”
• Importance/Uses of Cyber law
• 1. Protect the people’s privacy information
• Cyber law is useful in protecting the privacy information
of individual stored in different digital platform.
• 2. Protect the rights and interest of Individuals and
organisation in the digital world.
• Cyber law protects the individuals and organisation from
hacking, hefting and unauthorized access from the third
party.
• 3. Preventing Cyber crime
• The main objective of Cyber law is to prevent cyber crime
• *Stolen credit card information
• *Hacking into a government website
• *Phishing;-The practice sending messages.
• 4. Protecting Intellectual property
• Cyber law also protect the exclusive rights of
the innovator when they conduct innovation in
the field of digital world.
• 5. Organisations are now able to carry out e-
commerce using legal structure provided by
the act
• Introduction to Cyber law
• Information Technology 2000
• IT ACT 2000 provides legal recognition for
transactions carried out by means of electronic
communication.
• IT act enacted by the Indian Parliament in June
2000.
• Come into force on 17th October 2000.
• This act applies to Whole of India.
• It also applies to any offence or contravention
committed outside India by any person.
• Objectives
• 1.To grant legal recognition to transactions
carried out by means of electronic commerce.
• 2.To give legal recognition to digital signature.
• 3.To facilitate electronic filling of documents
with government departments.
• 4.To facilitate electronic storage of data.
• 5.To setup authority for issues like privacy
protection and computer crimes.
• 6.To facilitate and give legal sanction to
electronic transfers between banks and financial
institutions
• Cyber Space
• Introduced by William Gibson 1984.Cyber space is
the virtual space created by inter connected
computers and computer networks on the internet.
Cyber space unbounded by distance or other
physical limitations.
• It includes computer networks,software,cellphone
and storage devices etc
• Cyber Security
• Cyber security is the body of
technologies,processes and practices designed to
protect networks, computers and data from attack
damage or unauthorized access.
• Ex;- Applications, Software etc.