New Delhi (NVI): Countering objections from Congress MP Jairam Ramesh over the draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2020 (EIA), Union Minister Prakash Javadekar today said that the draft has not been finalised by the Centre yet and it doesn’t not relax the process of public hearing, but rather aims to make it more meaningful.
Javadekar, in a letter to the former environment minister, who also heads the Parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment, forest and climate change, wrote: “It has not been finalised yet as public consultation is underway.”
In his response, the Union Environment Minister also issued a point by point rebuttal to the Congress leader on draft EIA notification and termed publicising letters by Ramesh as “premature” as “public consultation is still underway.”
In his letter to Javadekar on July 25, Ramesh had said that the draft EIA reduces public participation in all steps of the environment clearance process “by lessening the notice period for public hearings and doing away with them for a large category of projects”.
Earlier today, Ramesh had written to the minister saying, “The Parliamentary Standing Committee has been inundated with requests from various stakeholders to give them an opportunity for presenting their views. I am sure you will agree that this is both desirable and necessary. Further meetings of the committee will call non-official witnesses. The Notification may, therefore, be kept in abeyance till the committee completes its deliberations.”
To his tweet, Javadekar replied: “Today morning only I had sent you a detailed response to your July 25, 2020 letter, which was delivered at your residence office, still you chose to write this letter and make it public through twitter. I am sharing today’s letter here once again.”
“Provision of ex-post facto approval to bring all violators under regulatory regime by imposing heavy penalties; companies cannot be in perpetual unregulated status,” Javadekar said in his letter.
He further stated in his letter that every project expansion will require submission of the Environmental Management Plan.
“Government has issued a draft notification not the final notification, and is still open for public consultation; ready to discuss in details when the situation warrants,” Javadekar’s letter to Ramesh read.
-ARK
