Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the delivery status of over 2,000 online applications for various clearances would be evaluated within one month.
“I am going to see the delivery status of 2,200 online applications which are with us – what is its status and what more improvements need to be done. It would be evaluated within one month,” he said after inaugurating a one-day workshop on ‘Environmental Impact Assessment: Challenges in India and Way Forward’. He said his Ministry has already started the online process for application for environmental, forest and wildlife clearances.
He also advocated for simplification of processes and said that cases should be “solely” decided on the basis merit. He emphasised the need to reduce timelines and advocated for prescription of “right” which are reasonable, practical, real and need-based. Referring to the recent preparation of Standard Terms of Reference (ToR) in 39 sectors, Javadekar said that besides the environmental impact, a study on the social impact is also required.
He said that a law is being worked upon to enable funds under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) to be given to the states for “aggressive” afforestation. He said that due to this, the process which took one year will now take one month. The one-day workshop was jointly organised by Environment Ministry, Quality Control of India (QCI) and National Accreditation Board of Education and Training (NABET).
Javadekar said that earlier many project proponents used to hire two consultants – one to assess impact on environment and other as “liason”.
“I have made the second consultant unemployed now. There is no requirement liasoning with anybody. In this government, if you have merit, then the work will be done on time,” Javadekar said. The workshop was aimed at addressing international trends in the field of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports (required for obtaining environmental clearance in India) and a way forward for our country.
More than 250 participants attended the workshop from various parts of the country. It will also be attended by senior officials of the Ministry, members of the Environmental Appraisal Committees at Central and state levels, accredited EIA consultants, representatives of the industry, amongst others.