Ramesh slams environment norms, wants transparency

Ramesh slams environment norms, wants transparency
The Financial Express, June 10, 2009, Page 3

Sandip Das, New Delhi

Ordering his officers to post details of all applications for environmental clearance online, minister for environment & forests Jairam Ramesh has admitted that the present regime of mandatory approvals for development and infrastructure projects had proved a complete failure. Ramesh has also slammed existing environment protection laws for “neither meeting the environmental protection objective nor ensuring that industry complies with the law”.

Acting on explicit instructions from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to expedite and remove hurdles in granting the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for industrial projects, Ramesh has been taking a hard look at procedures and regulations. His findings are far from pleasant.

According to him, the EIA system—in place since 1994 for projects that need land and water—has been a failure, since there has been hardly any follow-up on the environmental impact after projects are cleared. Environmental clearances also take too much time, although Ramesh claims not a single project has been blocked.

“Environmental clearances, in most cases, have taken more than the mandatory 210 days, but most of the 952 projects with the ministry have been passed. The rejection rate is zero and it is wrong to say that there is rejection, though it takes a little more time,” Ramesh told FE.

Environmental clearances have been seen as a persistent hurdle in the way of several infrastructure projects. “Industry looks upon environmental protection as a cost, not an obligation—a cost that is imposed on them,” the minister said, admitting, however, that there are “good examples” of industrial houses implementing best practices for environmental protection.

To ensure transparency and speedier environmental clearances for industrial projects, the ministry plans to post online the registration and clearance process. Ramesh has already asked officials to upload all information relating to projects awaiting clearance from the ministry on its website (envfor.nic.in) by the end of the month.

Companies seeking fresh environmental clearances will also be able to apply online to register their EIA requests soon. “Anybody can seek see the status of their application for environmental clearance and we want to make the process businesslike and transparent,” Ramesh said.

Though he sought some time for the online registration system to become operational, Ramesh said, “If a company can apply for registration online with ministry of corporate affairs, then why not make environmental clearance registration online?”