Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has dismissed the criticism of the proposed Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2020, by Jairam Ramesh, former Environment Minister and Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, as “unfounded and based on misrepresentation.”
Mr. Ramesh, in a letter to Mr. Javadekar on Saturday, laid out a five-point criticism of the controversial notification. The notification promoted “land grab,” reduced public participation in all aspects of the environmental clearance process, allowed post-approval of projects that violated norms, and went against the principle of cooperative federalism, Mr. Ramesh said.
Mr. Javadekar, in a note, responded that while Mr. Ramesh’s criticism was noted, the notification was still open to public feedback for a fortnight. He added that the government would finalise the notification only after considering all suggestions and they were open to scrutiny by parliamentary standing committees.
Also read: ‘Draft EIA notification fosters non-transparency, encourages environmental violations’
The EIA notification is a compilation of updates to the existing environment impact assessment laws but a range of environmentalists have objected to its provisions that reportedly waters down checks on infrastructure projects that may have a significant impact on environment. The Act was open to public comments until June 11. FFF and other organisations organised campaigns and that saw a host of responses, prompting senior Environment Ministry officials to consider extending the date for comments to late August due to delays by the COVID pandemic. Mr. Javadekar, as The Hindu reported earlier, was insistent on a June 30 deadline. Some activists went to court and the court extended the deadline to August 11 and directed wider public access to the contents of the EIA.
