CHENNAI: The Union Environment Ministry has brought in yet another amendment to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 offering more relaxations. The Centre has exempted public hearing for all those projects whose environmental clearance has expired and have been applied afresh. One of the States that would benefit is Tamil Nadu, where several projects, including thermal power plants, are awaiting environmental approvals, resulting in ballooning of initial budget estimates.
According to the earlier EIA Notification, prior environmental clearance granted for a project or activity shall be valid for a maximum period of 10 years and for some projects, five years. In the case of Area Development Projects and townships, the validity period is further limited. Projects which were not completed within the validity period, had to go through all stages afresh, including public hearings. “Now, this has been removed. It is a good move and helps fast-track many projects in Tamil Nadu,” a senior State official said.
However, environmentalists argue that the Centre has been systematically weakening the EIA Notification. “Since the draft EIA Notification 2020 hasn’t been finalised due to country-wide opposition and court cases, the Union government seems to be making an attempt to bring in some of the proposed controversial changes backdoor through separate amendments such as the latest one,” said G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal. The new amendment was gazette notified on March 18.
The projects where construction and commissioning of proposed activities have not been completed within the validity of the environmental clearance and a fresh application for EC has been submitted, the concerned expert committee may exempt the requirement of public hearing subject to the condition that the project has been implemented not less than 50% in its physical form, it read.
What do environmentalists say
Environmentalists, however, argue that the Centre has been systematically weakening the EIA Notification, viewing it as a backdoor attempt for bringing in controversial changes