Road projects stalled, UPA regime helpless

Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's scathing criticism of Ms Jayanthi Natarajan's functioning when she was the Union Minister for Environment and Forests, should be seen in the light of ground realities. The fact remains that in its zeal to fulfil its mandate, the Ministry under her leadership proved to a stumbling block even for projects that should have got clearances after meeting the mandatory requirements. let alone Cabinet Ministers who were furious with the delays, even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could do little to speed up the process. While Ms Natarajan has hit back at Mr Modi's remark at a rally in Goa on Sunday that files did not move in the Ministry during her tenure unless the “Jayanthi tax” had been paid, the fact is that the Government’s own departments have acknowledged that infrastructure-related development work had been badly impacted by her intransigence. While there cannot be a case for green-flagging projects that unarguably damage the environment, in most case a solution can be found that provides a reasonable way out to both protect the environment and assure development. Such initiatives were apparently scarce during Ms Natarajan's tenure. This could have been one reason why the Prime Minister, desperate to display his intent for progress at the fag end of his tenure, eased her out — although the official reason given was that Ms Natarajan had been spared for ‘party work' ahead of the 2014 election — and entrusted the Ministry to Mr Veerappa Moily. A good instance of the Environment Ministry's obstinence during her reign is the tardy progress that has been made in the construction of major roads, including national highways. According to information, road projects worth `20,000 crore are awaiting clearance from the Environment Ministry at different levels. Whether these proposals amount to more than a dozen, as reports inform, or four, as the Government said in a written reply to Parliament last December, is immaterial. What is crucial is that a key infrastructure sector has been suffering for want of better understanding from the Environment Ministry which Ms Natarajan until recently headed.

The allegation of slackness has not come from the media alone. The National Highways Authority of India Chairman has expressed dismay in a letter to the Minister for Roads, Transport and Highways over the “misplaced enthusiasm”  the Environment Ministry displayed in blocking clearances through convoluted guidelines and frequent changes in rules. And, it is not roads alone that have faced the wrath of the Environment Ministry. It's the job of the Government to find a middle path so that both development and protection of environment are taken care of. The Manmohan Singh-led UPA regime has spectacularly failed in this important task.