CHENNAI: For the first time ever, India has moved into the top-100 of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business global rankings. Last year, India was ranked at 130. But, this jump comes amidst fear of compromised environmental safeguards. 2017 is a forgettable year for those fighting for environment protection as the Union environment ministry kept changing goal posts and relaxing key norms through amendments and notifications, literally taking the regulatory framework for a ride.
As per the Union environment ministry’s submission, between May 26, 2014 and May 31, 2017, totally 1,424 projects had been granted environmental clearance. Over 1,700 forest clearances were accorded and the area diverted was nearly 9,000 hectares. A majority happened in the last one year.
The first controversial notification passed was to amend the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006, allowing residential projects with a built-up area up to 1.5 lakh sqm to obtain environment clearance (EC) from local authorities instead of from the Centre and to keep them out of purview of Air and Water Acts.
For Chennai, this would mean the EC can be obtained from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and Greater Chennai Corporation instead of having to get it from the ministry. However, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) stayed the notification a few weeks back.
NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar noted that the notification was only a ploy to circumvent the provisions of EIA in the name of ease of doing business and also for the first time placed profound reliance on International law Principle of Non-regression. He said this principle needed to be brought into play because today’s environmental laws are facing several threats such as deregulation, a movement to simplify and at the same time diminish environmental legislation perceived as too complex, and an economic climate which favours development at the expense of protection.
On March 14, the ministry issued another notification providing an opportunity for builders to apply for post facto clearance within six months. In Tamil Nadu, 118 residential projects were found to be without obtaining EC. This was the seventh such Office Memorandum issued since 1998. The latest notification was challenged before Madras High Court by R Kothandaraman, president of Pondicherry Environment Protection Association.
The Madras HC allowed ministry to grant post facto clearances after getting an undertaking that this would be an one-time amnesty scheme. As on date, the ministry is processing 2,357 ‘violators’ applications. “The ministry also gave an undertaking that it would initiate criminal action against the violators. We hope some action will be taken.”
Tamil Nadu has been the biggest victim of illegal beach sand mining. As per Coastal Mineral Mapping done by researchers at Institute of Ocean Management (IOM) in Anna University, Tamil Nadu, arguably has highest concentration of Monazite deposits along its coastline. Monazite contains 8-10 percent thorium which is a nuclear fuel.
“CRZ rules have been systematically diluted opening coasts for commercial projects, fast-tracking and streamlining of the appraisal process and allowing State governments a bigger role in coastal decision-making. But the resemblance that I find in diaspora of amendments is these changes have been made without any public consultation. It appears that the era of participatory coastal planning is over,” said Kanchi Kohli, researcher at Centre for Policy Research and Namati Environmental Justice Programme.
It is not just weakening of stringent laws.
The Centre, it is alleged, is also found diverting environment fund illegally. Ritwik Dutta, founder of Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), said the Union government has introduced Clean Energy Cess in 2010 and a National Clean Energy and Environment Fund was generated. By the beginning of this financial year, the government had collected `56,740 crore, which is 20 times the current budget. However, this fund was diverted to compensate the States that stand to lose revenue as a consequence of GST.
Another decision of the ministry that has come under criticism is to relax emission and water consumption standards for thermal power plants. The ministry had notified the new stringent norms in 2015 and gave the industry two years to reform and they were supposed to come into effect from this month. But, now a five-year extension has been given.
Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said: “This is a big U-turn and would aggravate India’s water crisis. Another five years to meet the standards is unacceptable. Ministry of environment had bowed down before the Ministry of Power. There is strong oversight on the regulatory mechanism to make power plants comply with the deadline. The regulators i.e. pollution control boards have not been involved in the entire process at all”.
He said most power plants have not even started the planning process, and made an assessment of the required pollution control technology and investment. Power ministry and Central Electricity Authority (CEA) have consistently tried to push the deadline instead of forcing companies to install pollution control equipment. To a query, Bhushan said cost is not a problem. “These standards can be met with less than three per cent annual increase in electricity tariff for next three years. In comparison, in the last five years, electricity tariff in India has increased by eight per cent annually. This is a low price for a significant gain in environmental and health benefits.”
Amidst all this, the decision that would rob people from seeking environmental justice was the Centre’s attempt to force its say in the appointment of members to NGT under the Finance Act, 2017. The move has been widely criticised by environmental groups and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had moved the SC. Already, most of the NGT benches have become headless.
The southern bench in Chennai will become defunct in January with the retirement of lone judicial member M S Nambiar. Besides regular cases, NGT Chennai had to adjudicate 1.29 lakh compensation claim cases in Noyyal and Amaravathi river basins, and the farmers are awaiting compensation for the past 20 years for the pollution caused by industries. They are now thinking of filing a contempt petition in Madras High Court against Union environment ministry, said advocate B Nagasaila, counsel for one of the petitioners Noyyal Ramaswamy.
However, the attitude of environment ministry is unlikely to change in 2018 as well and the struggles are expected to continue. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, who was in Chennai recently, clearly said that development and environment concerns are equally important. “For a particular thing, two intellectuals of the highest order will have two different views. So, you can imagine how difficult and cumbersome it is for any government to formulate a strategy.”
Why TN needs strong environment laws
● Tamil Nadu has a geographical area of 1,30,058 km.
● TN shares the Western Ghats (one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots) with Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. It shares the Eastern Ghats with Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
● TN accounts for nearly 1/3 of the flora in India.
● An area of 307.85 sqkm, i.e 1.36%, of the total forest area of TN has been brought under national parks. Further, an area of 2,602.07 sqkm. has been declared as wildlife sanctuaries.
● Gulf of Mannar covers approximately 10,500 km with 21 islands covering an area of 623 ha.
● Habitat destruction, over-exploitation, pollution & species introductions are major causes of biodiversity loss in TN.
Timeline of controversy
Express takes a look at how certain decisions unfolded...
March 14
The environment ministry had brought out an impugned notification that provided a one-time opportunity to builders to apply for post facto clearance within six months.
March 17
Issues draft Marine Coastal Regulation Zone Notification aiming to replace CRZ Notification, 2011. The idea was to open up coastal area for tourism and development projects.
September 26
Notified a new set of rules under the head Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 replacing the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010. Environmentalists feel that the new rules watered down priority to wetland conservation under the label of balancing development and environmental concerns.
October 6
Drafts notification to amend CRZ Notification, 2011 allowing private sector to mine for atomic minerals.
October 17
Centre reverses its own deadline of December, which was set for thermal power plants to meet stringent emission and water consumption norms.