The Gadgil report of the Western Ghats ecology expert panel has clearly pointed out that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental clearance (EC) process “which is so central to protect the ecosystems in the Western Ghats was found to be defective at several points.”
Studies that were conducted and papers commissioned, found out that not only the quality of EIA reports but also the process of public hearings were poor. “Not only were EIAs seen at times to be fraudulent, but it is found that the minutes of public hearings are also manipulated. We have seen and heard of cases where the EIA consultant did not visit the village or did not conduct appropriate surveys and impact studies,” Dr Gadgil alleged.
This is something that activists had been alleging all the time and there have been many representations to the government on this matter.
The report also says that as the EIAs are many times suspect, the role of the environmental appraisal committee for the mining sector becomes important. However, till date the committees had been deemed inadequate because there is no local representation and most of the meetings and deliberations happen in Delhi and not at the place, the report alleges.
“Consequently the EIA report is often defective and the public hearing minutes are manipulated. Given this, reliance on faulty EIA reports make a mockery of the whole regulatory process, “ says Dr Gadgil.
This time around, the government is likely to be forced to follow correct procedures and though the mining industry will be out in force, civil society too will be on its guard and the authorities will not be allowed to have a free hand, activists feel, adding that there are people even in villages that are not really in favour of mining – at least the way it was happening earlier and want the mining companies and the government to take better care of the population and the environment.
