Panel moots tighter curbs on environment violation

NEW DELHI, AUG 26
A panel set up to suggest a new approach to monitor compliance of environment and CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) clearances wants amendments in the Environment (Protection) Act to provide it teeth to punish violators with stringent punishment.
In its draft report put on the Environment and Forest Ministry’s website inviting public comments up to September 15, the panel says the existing quantum of penalty is too meager and the process for imposing penalty is cumbersome and time consuming, making the law neither deterrent nor punitive enough.
It says the penalty for non-compliance should be sufficiently high, with no ceiling in case of the serious offences. Wanting serious offences made cognizable by police and non-bailable, the panel says: “The process of imposing penalty need to be made swifter and prompt in terms of payment”.
The panel set up last December under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary (Impact Assessment) examined implementation of the CRZ notification of 1991 and the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notifications of 1994 and 2006 issued under the Environment (Protection) Act to regulate the development activities. Its report also uses inputs contained in the report by the Prof. M S Swaminathan Committee.
The panel identified gaps and limitations of the existing system of monitoring that not only has the legislative deficiencies for which it wanted teeth in the environment law but also the shortcomings of procedure and inadequacy of infrastructure and trained technical manpower.
Remedies recommended to overcome these deficiencies include use of IT and space technology, information in public domain on CRZ violations and other lapses, synergy of manpower, infrastructure and laboratory facilities, involvement of specialised agencies to monitor compliance and transparent self-monitoring by project proponents.
The panel has suggested that the compliance reports as also action taken or proposed by the Government authorities and courts should be put in public domain on Internet and satellite imageries be used for pollution monitoring and CRZ encroachments and violations.
It also proposes regular analysis of the monitoring reports to assess the degree of non-compliance for initiating action under the Environment (Protection) Act. It says action be taken against the non-compliant units based on severity of their default.
Partial non-compliance such as slippage of target beyond a certain time frame is also sought to be put in the category of serious non-compliance attracting necessary actions that could be persuasive and punitive.
The panel has identified some two dozen agencies that can oversee various aspects of the compliance. National Institute Of Oceanography, Goa, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Chennai, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad and State Coastal Zone Management Authorities are recommended to oversee CRZ and marine issues.
The Indian Bureau of Mines, Mining Research Institute, Indian School of Mines and Director General of Mines Safety have been recommended to oversee the mine safety and mine closures after sufficient exploitation of the particular mines. The nuclear waste management and radioactive pollutants responsibility is sought to be given to the Health Physics Division of the ministry as also to Environmental Surveillance Laboratories, BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) and AERB (Atomic Energy Regulation Board).
On transparency in self monitoring by the project proponents through the in-house experts, the panel has suggested that the status of compliance should be put on the company’s website and displayed on board at a prominent place near the main gate.