Govt stops portal to track green impact of projects
Activists and environmentalists who have long used Parivesh to gather information on how projects are impacting the environment claimed the rationale appears to be to make the system opaque.
New Delhi The environment ministry’s Parivesh website that used to provide details on the environmental impact of projects stopped showing these -- including specifics on environment, forest, wildlife and coastal regulation zone clearances -- last September after the ministry took a decision that such information would be provided only when sought under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.
An environment ministry official who asked not to be named said the rationale behind this decision was to protect the interests of project developers, and cited the sensitivity and confidentiality of some of the information. Activists and environmentalists who have long used Parivesh to gather information on how projects are impacting the environment claimed the rationale appears to be to make the system opaque.
The change came to light when HT asked the environment ministry why the website had not been updated since September. The decision to not disclose the information in the public domain was not known until now.
An environment ministry spokesperson did not respond to queries.
Information associated with environment, forest and wildlife clearances have been aligned with the Right To Information Act , environment ministry officials said.
The agenda and minutes of the meetings of the ministry, fact sheets with details of the project including expected impact on wildlife, forests and ecology used to be published on the website. Information related to project proposals before September 5, 2022 are still available on the website.
The clause will apply to all infrastructure/ project proposals received after September 5, 2022 which are being streamlined and considered under Parivesh 2.0 (the expanded version of Parviesh which was launched last year).
Parviesh (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environment Single-window Hub) is a single window system for environment, forest, wildlife and coastal regulation zone clearances. The decision to align environmental information with RTI comes at a time when the ministry is facing flak for several contentious projects such as the ₹72,000-crore Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island at Andaman & Nicobar Islands project which will involve loss of 130.75 sq km of rain forests and de-notification of certain tribal reserves, and several mining projects that will involve diversion of primary forests in central India among others.
Ministry officials said the environment ministry briefed state environment ministers about the changes during the national conference of ministers of environment, forest and climate change held in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, last September, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
“General public cannot access the agenda or minutes of meetings held by the Forest Advisory Committee, the Expert Appraisal Committee or new wildlife clearance proposals because Parivesh 2.0 has been aligned with the RTI Act. Several sections of the RTI Act now apply to this information including section 8 on Exemption from disclosure of information. Sections 8 (1) (e) and section 8 (1) (j). Those who need information can apply for the same under the RTI Act. We can consider those requests. The agenda, minutes of various clearances has been aligned with the RTI Act simply because companies share important economic and other information with us. We often ask for say balance sheets, cost-benefit analysis etc that companies do not wish to make public. We have to respect their interests,” said the environment ministry official cited in the first instance.
Section 8 (1) (e) states information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship need not be disclosed, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information. Section 8 (1) (j) states information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual need not be disclosed unless the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information.
The changes have disturbed experts and environmentalists.
“There are three aspects related to regulatory design which are important to consider with this interpretation. First, the decision revisits the intent of both the RTI Act that pushes for suo moto disclosure of information and Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration related to participatory decision making through environment regulation. Second, it also reorganises the design of environment decision making as a matter of interest between two parties: the ministry and entities seeking approval. Finally, it would be necessary to clarify how this would align with the appeals before the National Green Tribunal especially if access to meeting minutes are denied or are not received in time for aggrieved parties to approach the tribunal,” said Kanchi Kohli, environment law and policy researcher.
While presenting Union Budget 2022-23 in Parliament on February 1, last year, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the next phase of Ease of Doing Business 2.0 and Ease of Living would be launched. She proposed the expansion of the scope of the single window portal, Parivesh .
HT reported on September 23, 2022 that PM Modi urged state environment ministers against unnecessarily allowing obstacleshold up projects and to ensure ease of living and doing business while highlighting the importance of the Parivesh portal for the single-window forest, wildlife, environment, and coastal regulation zone clearances.
“Expedited clearances should also take care of the rules and give priority to the development of the people... It is a win-win situation for both the economy and ecology. …we have to remember the faster the environment clearance is available, the faster the development will also take place,” he had said in his address at the environment ministers’ conference.
“If this is correct, using Section 8 (1)(e) and (j) concealing information which is mandated by law to be provided to an authority is legally wrong and unacceptable. The documents submitted as part of environment/forest clearances to MoEFCC as an authority cannot be claimed to be exempted from public disclosure under the pretext of ‘fiduciary relationship’ or ‘personal’ relationship. The mandate of MoEFCC is to execute the constitutional mandate (48A) to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife of the country. The documents related to environment and forest clearance including minutes of meetings which are mandated under their respective legislation are public documents which are required to be displayed on the MoEFCC website, as directed by the Central Information Commission in 2012,” said Debadityo Sinha, lead, Climate & Ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.
“If such documents are not made available, how would people know the environmental and social impact of any industrial activity? This will also jeopardise one’s fundamental rights under Article 21 under the Constitution and statutory rights to appeal against any such environmental clearances and forest clearances in appropriate forums. MoEFCC or any other authorities cannot compromise transparency mechanism to escape their accountability towards the citizens of the country..,” he added.