Friday 7 August 2020

PRAHAR Falls for Fast Track Implementation of ‘Environmental Impact Assessment-2020’

By 121 News

Chandigarh , August 07, 2020: NGO Public Response Against Helplessness and Action for Redressal (PRAHAR) while congratulating Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for coming up with the new progressive draft of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020, has urged govt for its fast track approval and implementation.

EIA 2020 if approved in its current form will address the three cornerstones of development – environmental and ecological protection, social development and economic progress, and thereby help accelerate livelihood creation at a time when India needs more jobs and fast. It is a bold step in the direction of the PM's vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat.

PRAHAR, which was started in 1995, by a group of ex-armed forces personnel, is a non-commercial organization and is dedicated towards finding solutions for problems of the helpless.

Welcoming the EIA notification, Abhay Raj Mishra, President and National Convenor, PRAHAR said that the newly drafted EIA 2020 notification is a progressive move. It is particularly encouraging to see that this law gives due importance to knowledge-based project appraisal process. EIA 2020 can be a game-changer as it gives deserving position to subject matter experts in clearance of mega projects thereby paving the way for transformation of India into a knowledge-based economy.

He further said that EIA 2020 seeks to consolidate the incremental amendments to the 2006 notification and operationalise decisions of various courts by establishing a predictable regulatory regime for environmental clearance.

Meanwhile EIA 2020 is aimed at making the environment impact assessment for the proposed projects more transparent and expedient through implementation of online system, further delegations, rationalization, standardization of the process, etc. It will also help in streamlining the process, decentralization, and implementation of various orders of courts and the National Green Tribunal.

The salient feature of EIA 2020 is the introduction of the concept of economic and social management plan (ESMP). This will ensure that projects which are not conducive to environmental goals do not get clearance in the first place rather than being allowed to start only to be stopped in between. It relies on the expertise of subject matter experts in granting project clearance and will curtail malpractices in the environment clearance process. 

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