(Namita Pradhan, Intern Journalist) Environmental Impact Assessment or EIA is the study that detects the effects of a proposed industrial/infrastructure project on the environment. It comes under the Environment protection act of 1986. It stops the proposed plan/project from getting approval without proper oversight or taking adverse consequences into actions.
The new EIA draft approves the Post-facto clearance which means any project without the environmental clearance can continue its operation.
The drafts also suggest the project by GOVT. will be categories as strategic. Once a project will be declared as strategic then the information of the projects will not be shared with the public. It also excludes the inland waterway and highway projects.
It has an exempts of construction projects up to 1,50,000 sq m.
The new draft recommends the violation will only be reported by the government representatives or the project holder.
It will hold a public hearing for any environmental disaster where a chance given to the public to understand the project. It provides less time for public consulting which questions the transparency and credibility of the process of assessment. It cut down the public consultation periods from 30 days to 20 days.
We recently have faced a lot of disturbances such as a gas leak in the LG polymer plant of Vishakapatnam fire at Oil India limited at Assam are some of the examples which indicate the importance of EIA in a country like India.
The Delhi High Court has granted a time period of August 15 for the public to share their suggestion on the draft notification. The link to send suggestion is eia2020-moefcc@gov.in
The new EIA draft of India is strongly criticized as it has a lot of problems due to changes in rules. Experts have pointed out most provisions were a regressive departure from the past version.
About Post Author
