The State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) which was dissolved in March 2016 is yet to be reconstituted. The officials concerned State that the State Government has submitted the required proposal to the Central Government where the issue has been pending. In the meanwhile, members of the business fraternity complain that the delay in reconstitution of the SEIAA has stalled various works in the hospitality, mining and construction sectors where clearance of the SEIAA is required for completing varied projects.
Environmental clearance is required from the SEIAA for projects or activities under category ‘B’ in the government notification schedule. Such works include expansion and modernisation of existing projects or activities listed in the schedule with addition of capacity beyond the limits specified for the sector. According to the environmental clearance online portal, about 54 cases are pending with the SEIAA either for examination or for verification of earlier details of environmental clearance.
Members of the business fraternity in Dehradun point out that the last meeting of the SEIAA was held on July 29, 2015 with 50 cases pending with the committee as in February 2016. The SEIAA was dissolved on March 6, 2016 and has been awaiting reconstitution since then. A representative of the hospitality industry states that various work projects have been stalled with the SEIAA yet to be reconstituted about a year and a half after it was dissolved. “We had also approached the state forest and environment minister Harak Singh Rawat and raised this issue with him.
We were told that the State Government had done its bit and that the issue was now pending with the Central Government. Due to the delay in reconstitution of the authority, various projects in the hospitality business, construction projects and mining activities have been stalled awaiting the required clearance,” said a hotelier.
The former member secretary of the authority and present in-charge of its Dehradun office, Sushant Patnaik informed that the state government had completed the procedure on its part and forwarded necessary documentation to the Central Government. The reconstitution of the authority is pending at the Central level though the state administration should be approached to get a clearer picture of the present status in case there have been any developments in the past couple of months, he added.