PANJIM: The Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) has rejected ‘skewed’ draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020, that proposed post facto approval for projects and doing away with public consultation for many projects.
In a press statement released on Thursday, GBA has raised concern with regards to the overall planning and environment in Goa; and they see the new draft EIA notification as a danger to the citizens’ right to planning. “The GBA rejects the skewed EIA 2020 notification and demands a credible policy in sync with the latest scientific understanding of environment in the light of local carrying capacity and climate change,” it said.
“We do not need a document that builds a case for more suffering and economic loss due to disasters that will surely follow,” it added.
The draft notification is going to replace the EIA notification 2006 that regulates the environment clearance given by the national government for projects such as dams, mining, thermal power plants, infrastructure projects like highways, ports, airport and big construction projects.
The draft exempts public consultations for projects including modernisation of irrigation projects, buildings, construction and area development projects, inland waterways, expansion or widening of national highways, all projects concerning national defence and security etc.
The draft provides environment clearance validity for 50 years for mining projects, against 30 years in the present notification; 15 years from river valley projects against 10 years.
“It seems that the entire purpose of this document is to detail out mass exemptions of some of the most damaging construction and extractive industries from scrutiny under a category called ‘B2’,” GBA said while strongly opposing the category that receives blanket Prior Environment Permission and is exempted from being placed before the Appraisal committee.
The GBA claimed that a large number of projects listed under ‘B2’ have caused problems in the State of Goa already. Mining Lease areas ≤5 hectares or Construction projects with >50,000sqmtrs and ≤ 1,50,000sqmtrs of built up area are just some of the categories to be exempted from scrutiny.
“The document is further designed to keep public, custodians of their environment, out of the picture by exempting them from public hearings in most cases, and worse, not including them in the list of potential complainants in section 22, dealing of Violations cases,” GBA questioned.
