One of the tasks that the current government had promised to work on is the fast tracking of the process of appraisal of projects seeking environmental approvals from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. The article titled 'Environmental regulation in India: Moving 'forward' in the old direction' published in the Economic and Political Weekly, informs that a high level committee was thus constituted in 2014 under TSR Subramanium to review six key environmental laws in the country. The committee submitted its report in November 2014 that included suggestions on how industrial and infrastructure projects should be appraised for their environmental impacts, how pollution control technologies and penalties for violations should be put in place, and what should be the institutional framework for environmental regulation in India.
The committee, however, continues to be blamed for its focus on easing environmental norms and diluting people’s participation in environmental governance to stimulate economic development. The article argues that it is thus important to understand and evaluate the proposed changes from the point of view of whether they are based on an understanding of the context in which environmental regulations operate and whether these reviews and proposed institutional reforms help in effective regulation in the context of India’s changing demography and socio-economic profile over the last two decades.
This article attempts to discuss these questions in light of the functioning of the formal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regime in India over the past two decades (1994–2014). It informs that debates on environment clearance refer to the procedures under the EIA notification, 2006, which mandates that a stepwise process be followed by industrial, mining and infrastructure related operations. This includes the preparation of EIA reports, engagement with project-affected communities through public hearings, and an appraisal of project documents by a group of experts.
The article argues that if these challenges that face environmental regulation, especially EIAs, are not addressed, they could erode the very legitimacy of the government to regulate. Scores of projects are ending up in courts for tedious litigation only to be sent back to the expert committees for review.
It ends by arguing that review and other efforts to address the problems of environmental regulation thus need to go beyond addressing the procedural lacunae. A discussion on what kinds of outcomes we would like to see from environmental regulations is important along with interactions that deliver dignity, equality and respect to all citizens. The government’s proposal to change environmental regulations will achieve little that is new if it does not address these challenges.
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