Union Environment Minister Prakash Javedekar on Monday termed ‘immature’ the criticism of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), 2020 from green activists and political parties, including the Congress, and said that all suggestions will be considered before the draft is finalised.
“The criticism of the EIA, 2020, was “premature”, as the document is merely a draft at this stage. As per rules, only 60 days notice is to be given, but owing to Covid-19, we extended it up to 150 days,” Javadekar said on the sidelines of the ministry’s World Elephant Day celebrations.
“Thousands have sent their views, but some are overeager and hence they are protesting. People jumping at the draft [EIA] is not a fair practice. It is just a draft right now, we will take a call on these views and then it will be finalised.”
The Minister also slammed the Congress, alleging that its erstwhile government did not consult people on such decisions.
“The erstwhile United Progressive Alliance-led government did not consult the people on key environmental decisions. I have mentioned this in my letter and reply to [Congress leader] Jairam Ramesh,” he said. “This is all unnecessary and premature.”
Javadekar also objected to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments earlier in the day. Gandhi called the draft a “disaster” and urged people to protest against it. “Those who want to now protest, during their regime took many of the big decisions without consultations,” Javadekar said.
On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi had said the draft (EIA) notification, 2020, is “not only disgraceful, but it is also dangerous”.
“Not only does it have the potential to reverse many of the hard-fought gains that have been won over the years in the battle to protect our environment, but it could also potentially unleash widespread environmental destruction and mayhem across India,” Gandhi wrote in a post on a social media platform calling youth to protest against it.
The new updates to the draft 2020 EIA notification prescribe the procedure for industries to assess the ecological and environmental impact of their proposed activity and the mechanism, whereby these would be assessed by expert committees appointed by the environment ministry.
Several environmentalists and organisations have alleged that the draft notification does away with the requirement for public consultation for a number of projects that could create an adverse ecological impact.
Ramesh had said last month the draft notification reduces public participation in all steps of the environmental clearance process by “lessening the notice period for public hearings and doing away with them for a large category of projects”.
On August 5, the Karnataka High Court directed the Ministry of Environment to not publish the final draft notification until September 7 as it noted that it was published on March 23, two days before the imposition of the nationwide lockdown to control the coronavirus, people had not been able to file objections to the document. It also criticised the publication of the document only in Hindi and English.