New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has asked Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar to further extend the notice period for receiving public comments on the draft Environment Impact Assessment notification in view of the lockdown.
The EIA notification aims to bring significant changes to the environment clearance process for all infrastructure projects in the country. According to environment experts, it proposes a number of relaxations for infrastructure projects which have violated the EIA 2006 norms and neutralizes environmental protection.
“Life over the next few days is going to be extremely dislocated and an extension of 45 days will not serve the purpose. What is the great urgency in ramming such a far-reaching notification at a time of grave national crisis?” he said in a letter to Javadekar.
He suggested the notification should first be discussed in the Standing Committee as part of the public consultation process. He also said the minister should meet environmental groups and not just be satisfied receiving their comments online.
Ramesh had earlier urged the Centre to extend the deadline for inviting comments by another three months to enable a better understanding of the major changes proposed.
The letter comes days after government extended the window for submitting the public comments on the draft notification from May 22 to June 30 in view of the lockdown.
The Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2020 was published by the Centre on March 23 for inviting objections/suggestions from the public on the proposal contained in the draft notification within 60 days from the date on which copies of the draft notification were made available to the public.
Ramesh, who had served as the union environment minister during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime under former prime minister Manmohan Singh, has been vocal in his views over environment related issues. He is currently a Rajya Sabha MP and also the chairman of the standing committee on science and technology, environment, forests and climate change.
The timing of Ramesh’s letter is significant as it comes in the backdrop of Congress raising issues related to the fallout of coronavirus pandemic. Ramesh, in his letter, also asked why there was a ‘great urgency’ at a time when the next few months are likely to be very difficult.
He is part of the 11-member internal committee of the Congress, headed by Singh, which was formed by party president Sonia Gandhi to firm up stand on key socio-economic issues. The committee has flagged issues, including impact on migrants, medium small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), middle class and farmers on the spread of the pandemic as well as the extended lockdown currently in place till 17 May.
