Significant change to EIA on the cards, plea requests extension for public comments

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the central government on a plea seeking directions to extend the period for receiving objections and public

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought the response of the central government on a plea seeking directions to extend the period for receiving objections and public suggestions on changes to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification.

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The notification proposes post-facto approvals for projects and does away with public consultations in some instances, till the Covid-19 lockdown subsists. It was published in the official gazette on April 11 and invited objections or suggestions contained in the draft EIA notification within 60 days.

On May 7, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, in a press release, said it extended the period up to June 30.

Conservationist and founder of Social Action For Forests & Environment (SAFE) Vikrant Tongad contended before the high court that this ought to be extended till September 30 or till such time that the restrictions induced by Covid-19 remain.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, issuing the notice, said, “Take an approach which is fair to everyone.” and posted the matter for June 29. It also asked the Centre to come up with a resolution if there was any ambiguity and not merely issue a corrigendum.

“This draft notification proposes significant changes to the existing regime, including removing public consultation entirely in certain instances, reducing the time for public consultation from 45 days to 40 days, and allowing post facto approvals for projects,” the plea had said.

Reacting to the plea, secretary, Union environment ministry, R P Gupta said, “We have received thousands of responses on the draft EIA 2020 notification. The public has been given over 75 days time already to respond. We don’t intend to extend the time for comments or responses.”