In reverse gear: on draft EIA notice

The Union Ministry of Environment has actually been in the spotlight on more than one occasion throughout the pandemic, as it worked to press through retrograde ecological decisions in an environment of general paralysis. In April, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar used a virtual conference to ensure that the National Board for Wildlife’s Standing Committee stamped its approval on numerous projects, with severe implications for preservation. He now wishes to hurriedly make an essential modification to the procedure of job approvals, by introducing a brand-new Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notice. Now in draft, it seeks to replace the existing EIA notification of2006 The suggested provisions show that the Ministry has gone to excellent lengths to lower or perhaps get rid of public involvement, and by extension independent professional viewpoint, from the process of granting environmental clearances; public reporting of infractions might likewise not be taken cognisance of. While there can be no argument about the significance of developmen