Amid a large backlog of clearances, controversy over the implementation of an expert panel's recommendations for Western Ghats' conservation and other green issues, the change of guard in the Environment Ministry has raised concerns among the green brigade. Given Veerappa Moily's "track record" in the Oil Ministry, his taking over the Environment Ministry at a juncture when there are decisions pending on a large number of mega projects threatening forests and ecology, the green activists are waiting to watch the moves he make.
According to Parineeta Dandekar of South Asian Network of Dams, Rivers and People, "Moily has all along been batting for controversial hydel power projects. In September 2012, during his tenure as Minister of Power, he laid the foundation stone of the 85MW Mawphu Stage II hydel project in Meghalaya being developed by North Eastern Electric Power Corporation limited without a single statutory clearance from MoEF," pointed out Dandekar.
In the same year, he urged the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister to "fast track" hydel projects such as 2000 MW lower Subansiri Project. This, despite the fact that the project was being strongly opposed even by Congressmen from downstream Assam due to the huge displacement it will cause, added Dandekar.
Certain wildlife activists reminded that in 2011, Moily had written to the Environment Ministry, against the expansion of boundaries of Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka contending that the people from affected regions will lose homes and livelihoods. Environmental groups alleged that this so-called pressure against expansion was not coming from local people but from the powerful hydel and timber lobby which is causing serious environmental and social damages.
To make the situation worse, National Board For Wildlife (NBWl) that decides on projects falling within 10km radius of Protected Areas, has not been constituted after the expiry of its term on September 5. The sensitive issue of implementation of recommendation of Western Ghats Ecology Experts Panel, led by Dr K Kasturirangan, also hangs in balance, following the Ministry's recent stepping back on its former order banning developmental activities in specified areas of eco fragile mountains.
"Moily's aggressive push for the controversial Netravathi diversion project for his constituency of Chikkaballapur in Karnataka is also another case in point. The proposal to build eight dams falls within the Western Ghats region in his home constituency of Chikkaballapur in Karnataka," an environmentalist said.
In support of their contention, the environmentalists reminded that Moily in a recent interview has clearly spelled out his agenda in the Environment Ministry by saying that there will be no further inexplicable delay in granting approvals as the country's growth story cannot be put on hold. The decision-making process can't be suffocated, he maintained. "Whether Moily pushes the growth story at the expense of green issues will now be keenly watched," they said.