Green-lighting Ecological Decimation Amidst a Pandemic

Context: Projects in critical forest habitats that are being cleared by the Environment Ministry will create more vulnerabilities in the future.

Projects cleared during this lockdown phase:

• Etalin Hydropower Project in the biodiversity-rich Dibang valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Coal mine in Assam’s Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve.
• Diamond mining in the Panna forested belt. 
• Coal mine to be operated by Adani Enterprises in Odisha’s Talabira forests. 
• Limestone mine in the Gir National Park. 
• Geo-technical investigation in the Sharavathi Lion-Tailed Macaque Sanctuary in Karnataka. 

Issues with Draft Environment Impact Assessment:

• No meaningful public consultation: can take place during the pandemic and repeated lockdowns.

• As per the draft, starting a project before obtaining environmental approvals will no longer be a violation.

• Ignoring the suggestions: Public hearings are riddled with problems and their content routinely ignored while awarding clearances.
• Wider exemptions: Notification proposes to exempt a wider range of projects from hearings, including projects designated as ‘strategic’. 
• No information in the public domain: The draft allows for a class of projects to secure clearance without putting out any information in the public domain.
• Lack of emphasis on improving monitoring, and compliance with clearance conditions and safeguards. 

Conclusion: Our vulnerabilities are in the heart of development models that sacrifice environmental resilience for limitless economic growth which needs to be addressed for a sustainable and better future.