While the entire country is busy with the Lok Sabha elections, the environment ministry has quietly started taking steps to ‘simplify’ the process through which projects are granted green clearance. The proposed changes, mentioned in a ‘zero draft’ of the environment ministry, recommend that clearances for building and construction projects be granted by urban bodies or municipalities. The draft also seeks the creation of a district-level authority to clear mining of minor minerals. Environmentalists are concerned that ecological factors are being neglected, putting fragile ecosystems at risk of being destroyed. Activists have also pointed out that some of the points in the draft that raise concern were originally brought in as amendments. However, they could not be passed due to legal obstacles, following which they have taken a new form in the zero draft.
For instance, in March 2016, the ministry delegated the authority to issue an environment clearance for minor mineral mining projects to the District Environment Impact Assessment Authority. This decision was challenged at the National Green Tribunal by activists who claimed district-level authorities lacked the expertise in assessing environmental impacts of mining. The very same idea has been given a rebirth in the zero draft, and the DEIAA has been granted extensive powers in the proposal, on par with the state-level committee.
Companies that promise hundreds of crores towards Corporate Social Responsibility, and governments that promise action to tackle the impacts of climate change and loss of biodiversity have failed to minimise the environmental costs of development. And this isn’t an isolated case. The Coastal Regulatory Zone rules, which decides how close to the coast development can be allowed without damaging the ecology, has been steadily diluted over the years since they were introduced. Today, tourism activities, which are known to pollute waterbodies and seas with plastic waste, are allowed till 200 metres from beaches.