Are environmental clearance delaying industrial growth?

[keerthi sureshbabu]

from TOI,

 

environmental clearance (from jan2008 to aug 2011)- only 1 thermal powre plant  and 18 mining plant was rejected.

Erstwhile environmental minister Jairam Ramesh led a debate with collegues and industry on clearances but data suggests that the rejection rate is low.

the ministry provides two kinds of clearance- forestry clearance under forest conservation act and environmental clearance under environmental protection act.

forest clearances are given to states and not to project developers. till recently the , two clearances were only loosely linked and environmental clearance could be secured without the forestry clearance, even if forestrland was required for thr project.

186 thermal power plants,641 buildings and construction, 45 hydroelectric projects were given green sanction in 3 years, only 1% of projects denied green clearance in 3 yrs.

environmental ministry records show that 136 mining projects, 77 buildings and construction,22 thermal power plant and 10 hydroelectric projects were still pending for clearance in aug 2011.

 

Is the law a  easy going for green clearance?? 

 

[Ravi Ananth]

Useless Procedure. No meaning. No ultimate resulting safeguard to Environment.

[Ajay B Dwivedi]

The statistics presented is excellent. This is what official record tells us about. Nobody will agree to this pactically. Consider the housing projects handled by HUDCO, drilling projects of ONGCL etc. etc. Fact is something else. Ministers associated in disbursing money in different departments need to submit the account of expenses incurred. This account is always traceable to the development. For example, if an enterprnuer constructs a housing project it will attract EC. If the government does it in a bit different manner it is not considered at all.What happens in case of a railway station being modernized? Is it not construction? What happens when a high elevation expressway is put up? It will not cause any impact to MoEF's standards.

It is not the EC process that is hampering the progress but the monopolization of the accreditation without adequate resources for process undertaken by by QCI is causing delay in the process.

Assessors for QCI are all retired people who have never undertaken any such responsibilities in best part of their careers. They are now out to assess people with a load of doubts in name of the "system".

Other fact is that the professional who is assessed is not protected in any manner by MoEF, QCI/NABET, EAC etc. etc. So how do we expect the things to be speedy?

PP has his own reservations regarding the revealtions and the MOEF / EAC have evasive techniques to hanker away the issue.

Though the Notification has defined the time-limits. Even in one case to take an oath it has not been followed by MOEF. EAC and any Govt official knows 1001 ways to reject a proposal but never wants to bear any resposibility at any time.

Show the forum even one case where any Govt. official since the Notification having been punished or any Govt. project put to task.

It is not the EC directly hampering the development. The machinery through which it is being done is too sluggish and sloppy at times to let the real problematic cases sneak away.

[Prof Dr V N Sivasankara Pillai]

In our country nothing can stop the government machinery in executing a project. The High Court building at Cochin (Kochi) was constructed without any clearance from MoEF or even the Corporation. PWD engineers went around executing the project and all including NGOs were silent spectators. So is the case with many projects.

Delay is not a concern in every day life in this country. The courts dispose off cases of ordinary citizens after decades, whereas cases dealing with billion-rupee stake or involving politicians are speedily disposed, except corruption cases. Corruption cases are handled slow enough to provide escape routes.

Many projects go in the slow mode for various reasons. Even DPR is only ritualistic, and proponents take freedom to alter the project to suit the convenience.

 What we need to speed up disposal of EC applications is to introduce the system of design charettes. Experts sit together and formulate project components take care of legal and environmental constraints of the project. Such a document will stand the test of professional scrutiny by clearing agency.

What is difficult is to undo a violation: look at Adarsh flat case. Even in cases of clear violation, our system gives enough loopholes for the violators to live outside the jail till a natural death.

[Chitra Rajesh]

I dont understand when road projects are included in the list of project requiring EC, why railway projects are left out? rlys & roads start the process of intruding into sensitive environment - bifurcate waterbodies, intrude into elephant corridor,.... and others follow.

[Ajay B Dwivedi]

Chitraji,

Such discriminations are kept in name of favoring development in a particular zone at any  cost. If the Govt develops it it will not have any impact. If a private agency does that, it will. This is the birth place for Kalmadis and Rajas.

I will give you an excellent example, India's Expressway No-1 between Vadodara and AHmedabad suffered a lots of setbacks not attributable to environmental issues but the proposal that was to be completed in 1985 was completed in 2004. So many changes took place and the cost was inflated to many folds. See if you were to swindle out 1% from 20 crores it would be 2,00,000 and having the costs soared to 20 folds, it becomes a fortune.

Power shifts to local authorities if allowed to work at state level, so Center keeps the matters in  their hands.They are not concerned about the Environment but are always and only concerned about their position arising out of the issue.

[Prof Dr V N Sivasankara Pillai]

No doubt rail road projects must be included. Railways has a mechanism for doing impact assessment of new lines (I have come across at least one). EMP is also formulated, the rest of it is not known.

Incidentally, rail road projects are not included in the list given by MoEF, since railway was a holy cow of the Britishers running through the princely states. In free India we continue to give an Anglo-Indian status to rail projects?

Chitra Rajesh said:

I dont understand when road projects are included in the list of project requiring EC, why railway projects are left out? rlys & roads start the process of intruding into sensitive environment - bifurcate waterbodies, intrude into elephant corridor,.... and others follow.

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

Both are important...if properly designed and planned there can not be delay...but procedure need to be simplified...

[Ajay B Dwivedi]

Ministry does not want simplicity. They want the process to be as complicated as it could be for making the matter more complex and have more excuses to pass the .

[Prof Dr V N Sivasankara Pillai]

Your concern is genuine.

Prof Dr V N Sivasankara Pillai said:

No doubt rail road projects must be included. Railways has a mechanism for doing impact assessment of new lines (I have come across at least one). EMP is also formulated, the rest of it is not known.

Incidentally, rail road projects are not included in the list given by MoEF, since railway was a holy cow of the Britishers running through the princely states. In free India we continue to give an Anglo-Indian status to rail projects?

Chitra Rajesh said:

I dont understand when road projects are included in the list of project requiring EC, why railway projects are left out? rlys & roads start the process of intruding into sensitive environment - bifurcate waterbodies, intrude into elephant corridor,.... and others follow.

[Gullapalli Udayabhaksar]

Having worked in MOEF for 18 years and handled these assignments, one need to appreciate the fact the approach MOEF adopt need to be balenced and should not get emotionally attched. Yes I agrre to the fact that there needs to be certain systemic changes in MOEF method of EC & FC managemnt. One aspect is issuing of TOR. During my tenure as well as after, i took a veiw that TOR or scoping shall be done at Regional office level level who are very familiar with the local scenerio better thatn MOEF Delhi who is bogged down with many other works. This not only empowwer RO but also make them accountable to EIA process before apporval. Today the TOR are more generic and many times what comes out in the form of EIA is GIGO.

the other aspect of EIA management which needs a closer look is post approval monitoring. if one know MOEF structures and working the Regional offices which were originally has 23 positions of technical staff for monitoring has only 10 persons. Where as numberr of projects has increased fro monitoring the compliance is many fold. may be feww thousands in all RO's put together. MOEF for some reason is averse to outsource the work , though the same was recomended by world bank project on env mgmt capacity building in 2002.

It is not MOEF or the law is easy for EC or FC , but yet times becomes whimsical.