The Environment Ministry’s announcement to extend the deadline for public comments for draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2020 by 45 days amidst the nationwide lockdown is a “crumb that is being thrown”, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a letter to Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar.
Mr. Ramesh was Environment Minister from May 2009 to July 2011. The EIA Notification 2020 is to replace and supersede the EIA Notification 2006 and as many critics claim will fundamentally change the environmental regulatory regime.
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Mr. Ramesh said life over the next few months is going to be extremely dislocated and an extension by 45 days is a crumb that is being thrown. “What is the great urgency in ramming such a far-reaching notification through at a time of grave national crisis?” he asked in his letter.
He has suggested that the notification be first discussed in the Parliamentary standing committee and the Minister meet environmental groups rather than just depend on the online comments before finalising it.
Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu that there are many alarming clauses in the draft notification including the concept of post facto clearance. He said it is also a matter of concern the violations can only be reported by the project developer himself and/or government authorities. Not citizens or the civil society. “New construction projects up to 1,50,000 sq m do not need detailed scrutiny by an expert committee or EIA. Earlier it was 20,000 sq m. Basically nearly the entire sector with huge greenhouse gas emission is exempt,” he said.
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Taunting Mr. Javadekar, he said, “I know orders to push through the notification are coming from elsewhere but surely you can fulfil your dharma as Minister responsible for protecting the environment which has assumed special significance in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
