The new draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, shows that the ministry is in a hurry. It also goes against some well-accepted principles on which the country’s environmental policy is based and may undo a good part of the progress it has made in instituting safeguards for protection of environment. The draft notification, when finalised, seeks to replace the 2006 version. It makes fundamental policy and procedural changes, but the ministry seems to be keen to get it through at a time when the country is busy fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. The draft was put up for public comments on March 23 and published in the gazette with a 60-day period for comments. The Delhi High Court has now extended the period up to August 11, with an instruction that it should be published in all regional languages.
The draft has exempted a number of activities which would be detrimental to environment from the EIA. It has also provided for legitimisation of violations of regulations by post-facto approvals. Environmental clearance will not be needed for coal mining and seismic surveys for oil and methane gas. Public consultations are not needed for these and a number of other projects. The rules and procedures for construction of roads and highways or for laying pipelines inside national parks and sanctuaries may become simpler. Strangely, the draft allows violation of rules to be reported only by the government or by developers, not by the public. All this can weaken the environmental protection regime and safeguards which have been put in place over the years. Consultations with the public or protests by people have led to the abandonment of environmentally harmful projects or their harmful features in the past. This democratic right should not be curbed. While ill-informed or ill-motivated campaigns have sometimes hit development plans and projects, they are no reason for weakening the entire system of environmental safeguards. The Covid-19 calamity is itself a reminder of the need to protect the environment and to ensure that there is the right balance between environment and development. The draft would seem to shift that balance too far in favour of ‘development’.
There have also been reports of attempts to suppress protests against the EIA draft. The websites of some protesting organisations were blocked and the Delhi Police issued notices to some students under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for sending e-mails to the ministry seeking reconsideration of the EIA proposals, though the notices were withdrawn later. The draft needs to be reviewed and its retrograde provisions dropped.