MoEF committee recommends return of 'no go' policy

The high level committee on environmental and forest laws has recommended return of 'no go' policy for projects in bio-diversity rich areas and recommended a legally backed independent 'single window' approval process outside the environment ministry’s purview.

Updated on: Nov 29, 2014, 21:47:07 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The high level committee on environmental and forest laws has recommended return of “no go” policy for projects in bio-diversity rich areas and recommended a legally backed independent “single window” approval process outside the environment ministry’s purview.

The committee headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanium has recommended a complete overhaul of the environment approval process and suggested creation of 15-member National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) at Central level and equivalent body at the states for giving approvals to projects and monitoring enforcement of environmental laws. It also suggested that the new bodies should subsume the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution Control Boards.

In a report leaked to media on Saturday, the committee has admitted that the present regulatory framework was “process” oriented with “insufficient” focus on environmental protection and recommended setting up of an authority --- a body of professionals --- for creating a single window approval mechanism.

The authority was first mooted by former environment minister Jairam Ramesh but was buried subsequently as the then Prime Minister’s Office was not keen on the independent body. Subramanium committee has also revived Ramesh’s no-go policy that said no project in forest areas with canopy cover of more than 70% and protect areas should be allowed without the Union Cabinet’s approval.

The committee has also recommended formulation of a new umbrella law --- Environmental Laws (Management) Act for creation of NEMA and state bodies that will also curtail “inspector raj” system in environmental regulation. It also said that NEMA should prescribe “monitorable” conditions for compliance and submit its recommendation with 24 hours of finality.

The committee also wants that the new law should provide jail term of up to seven years for project proponents for concealing information while seeking approval or degrading environment. It also suggested creation of special courts to look into complaints of environmental degradation by companies and recovering three times the cost of environmental loss from the accused.

Other prominent recommendations are creation of Indian Environmental Service, revamping Environment Protection Act by including relevant provisions of the Water and Air Acts and creation of Environment Restoration Fund for research in the area of environmental protection. It also wants use of satellite for monitoring of environment protection.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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