What do we know about EIA draft 2020? But even before we read it, we want to register our opposition to the draft. Does this attitude not reek of cynicism.
Former UPA minister Mr.jairam Ramesh shot out a letter to Minister for Environment in Central govt,Mr.Prakash Javadekar saying that draft EIA allows post facto approvals going against the principle of assessment before projects are put up.
There are some fundamental flaws in the assumptions behind the accusations against the draft.
1)Under the current EIA everything is hunky dory and the revised draft now is going to spell doom to the environment. For that, they are side by side quoting that LG Polymers gas leak disaster saying that this project has not obtained EIA clearances for the project still. These people, conveniently forgetting that this project has been put up as per current guidelines and not under the draft now presented, quote LG Polymer as an example of a violation of Environment Act. If the project had come up under the current guidelines it shows that the present system is far from perfect and not the draft EIA which is yet to be implemented.
2)The current regime encourages a lot of bureaucratic hurdles and "environment tax" on industry due to discretionary powers wielded by the govt agencies, NGOs and other vested interests. The influential private citizens hold the industry to ransom raising any number of objections and many a time it becomes a political battle using the corporate turf. The victims are corporate and the employed and finally the country.
3)Are we going by unbiased third party audits for EIA compliance before approving any mega projects. Whenever people's opinions are called for, most of the time the opposition parties jump in to settle their petty disputes and for scoring some political brownie points.Even after the matter is heard and resolved by NGT, and PCBs , local people are fed concocted news by urban naxals in the garb of NGOs through carefully planted stories in the gullible media inorder to arouse their passions and to rake up riots against the projects.In all this, the central point of Environment Impact assessment is the casualty. There are impartial National and International agencies who can give unbiased assessment reports and the country should make engaging them for assessment necessary, if not madatory.
4) Are we not unwittingly not believing any Govt agency even if the truth is told- immediately jumping to conclusion that the Corporates have bribed these Govt. agencies to talk in favour of them. We have become totally cynical of this system and we want to throw the baby with the bathwater.
5)Any development can happen only in the existing land.People must understand where they live today as their house and apartments all stand on land which was once thriving agricultural fields. Britishers pushed the development agenda by forcibly taking up the land and today our own Govt acquires these lands by paying up the agreed market price.Why are we then raising our hands against our own development. Is there any gain without pain?
6) People must understand, if they raise objections to any of these acquisitions, then where new roads, railroads etc can be laid?If our grandparents had raised such objections , whether today's existing Indian railways or National highways would have come up? or whether we could have enjoyed criss crossing the country happily riding on these infra facilities?
7) All those who raise these objections are still at liberty to approach the Courts seeking justice. Nothing or nobody is stopping them from reaching to the Courts.Instead if they want to do road roko or rail roko or cause obstruction to others in general, then their actions are anti social and anti national only. Such people are hell bent on scuttling India's development and prosperity and are playing into the hands of India's enemies.
My appeal to the common man is not to fall for the words of those who want to subvert India's growth using sophisticated wordplay and methods, as part of their selfish partisan and hidden agenda at the behest of our enemy nations.
Former UPA minister Mr.jairam Ramesh shot out a letter to Minister for Environment in Central govt,Mr.Prakash Javadekar saying that draft EIA allows post facto approvals going against the principle of assessment before projects are put up.
There are some fundamental flaws in the assumptions behind the accusations against the draft.
1)Under the current EIA everything is hunky dory and the revised draft now is going to spell doom to the environment. For that, they are side by side quoting that LG Polymers gas leak disaster saying that this project has not obtained EIA clearances for the project still. These people, conveniently forgetting that this project has been put up as per current guidelines and not under the draft now presented, quote LG Polymer as an example of a violation of Environment Act. If the project had come up under the current guidelines it shows that the present system is far from perfect and not the draft EIA which is yet to be implemented.
2)The current regime encourages a lot of bureaucratic hurdles and "environment tax" on industry due to discretionary powers wielded by the govt agencies, NGOs and other vested interests. The influential private citizens hold the industry to ransom raising any number of objections and many a time it becomes a political battle using the corporate turf. The victims are corporate and the employed and finally the country.
3)Are we going by unbiased third party audits for EIA compliance before approving any mega projects. Whenever people's opinions are called for, most of the time the opposition parties jump in to settle their petty disputes and for scoring some political brownie points.Even after the matter is heard and resolved by NGT, and PCBs , local people are fed concocted news by urban naxals in the garb of NGOs through carefully planted stories in the gullible media inorder to arouse their passions and to rake up riots against the projects.In all this, the central point of Environment Impact assessment is the casualty. There are impartial National and International agencies who can give unbiased assessment reports and the country should make engaging them for assessment necessary, if not madatory.
4) Are we not unwittingly not believing any Govt agency even if the truth is told- immediately jumping to conclusion that the Corporates have bribed these Govt. agencies to talk in favour of them. We have become totally cynical of this system and we want to throw the baby with the bathwater.
5)Any development can happen only in the existing land.People must understand where they live today as their house and apartments all stand on land which was once thriving agricultural fields. Britishers pushed the development agenda by forcibly taking up the land and today our own Govt acquires these lands by paying up the agreed market price.Why are we then raising our hands against our own development. Is there any gain without pain?
6) People must understand, if they raise objections to any of these acquisitions, then where new roads, railroads etc can be laid?If our grandparents had raised such objections , whether today's existing Indian railways or National highways would have come up? or whether we could have enjoyed criss crossing the country happily riding on these infra facilities?
7) All those who raise these objections are still at liberty to approach the Courts seeking justice. Nothing or nobody is stopping them from reaching to the Courts.Instead if they want to do road roko or rail roko or cause obstruction to others in general, then their actions are anti social and anti national only. Such people are hell bent on scuttling India's development and prosperity and are playing into the hands of India's enemies.
My appeal to the common man is not to fall for the words of those who want to subvert India's growth using sophisticated wordplay and methods, as part of their selfish partisan and hidden agenda at the behest of our enemy nations.
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