At an international business conference, Narendra Modi vowed to make India the easiest place to do business. This aggressive focus, now threatens the environment by opening avenues for mines and dams, destroying and flooding hectares of forests cover and ecosystem. Since 2015, Union budget has cut funding for the environment ministry by 25 percent and support for tiger protection by 15 percent. The government is moving swiftly and systematically to alter environmental regulations, a high level government committee was given task of reviewing major environmental laws and suggesting overhauls, all within a few months and recommended radical changes to the country’s legal framework governing forests, wildlife, the environment, water, air and land rights that would fast-track coal mines, dams, roads, railways and other projects.
The environment minister, Prakash Javadekar, claims that his goal is “Development without destruction”. Yet proposed projects would bring widespread devastation of land and forests:
1. River diversion scheme which could submerge Panna tiger reserve and a four lane expressway on the edge of Pench Tiger reserve.
2. About 125 dams have been planned for North east Brahmaputra river system, most of these dams will submerge Kaziranga National Park, Home to Asia’s largest one horned Rhino, Elephant herds and Tigers.
3. Proposal to mine in one of the finest forests in central India, rich with wildlife the catchment of two perennial rivers, and supports livelihood of over 50 villages—for coal which would be exhausted in 14 years.
The area under threat are not less than 135 hectares of forest cover equivalent to 189 soccer fields a day!
The voice of local activists and public is being muzzled down similar to the controversy of dislocation of tribal and destruction of ecosystem for construction of statue of unity, their voice of protests were never made heard.
The ministry of home affairs in fact went as far as preventing the green peace campaigner Priya Pillai from addressing an International environment congress regarding these uncanny environment oversight. Some provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, are being diluted. For instance, the present government passed a notification in December 2016, exempting building and construction projects under 150,000 sq m size from Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a safeguard under the Environment (Protection) Act. Earlier, only projects up to 20,000 sqm were exempted from EIA.
The Environment (Protection) Act mandates EIA of construction projects. The assessment includes study of factors such as pollution load, transport load, sewage load and source of availability of sand for a project.
The high committee is even considering barring National Green Tribunal from weighing environmental impact of these projects, which if done will give autonomy to businesses to disclose their compliance to the environment regulations.
“They want to curtail its power.”
-Ritwick Dutta, Environmental Lawyer
India needs development but not at the cost of completely disregarding environment protective laws, regulations and policy which will have severe consequence at a time when we are already razen will pollution of sorts. The country and its people will ultimately have to pay for short term corporate tax with long term of scarce filthy water, polluted air and diseases.
References
1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/india-world-worst-air-pollution-report-190305151923982.html
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