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New Delhi:
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi right now requested folks to protest the brand new Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 draft, saying it was “dangerous” and if notified, the long run penalties will likely be “catastrophic”.
The draft EIA notification, which includes process of issuing environmental clearances to varied tasks, was issued by the Environment Ministry in March this 12 months and public options have been invited.
In a Facebook put up utilizing the hashtag WithdrawEIA2020, Mr Gandhi slammed the federal government over the EIA, 2020, draft, saying it isn’t solely “disgraceful”, however “dangerous”.
“Not only does it have the potential to reverse many of the hard fought gains that have been won over the years in the battle to protect our environment, it could potentially unleash widespread environmental destruction and mayhem across India,” he stated.
Rahul Gandhi added: “Consider this: according to our ‘Swachh Bharat’ propagating government, if labelled ‘strategic’, highly polluting industries such as coal mining and other mineral mining will no longer require Environmental Impact Assessment. Neither will highways or railway lines passing through dense forests and other eco-sensitive areas, this will result in the massive hacking down of trees, leading to the destruction of habitats of thousands of endangered species.”
The concept that Environment Impact Assessment will be given put up facto is a “terrible” one, he stated.
“That is, EIA can be done, after a project has already destroyed the environment,” the previous Congress chief added.
This EIA, 2020, draft is a “disaster” and it seeks to silence the voice of communities who will likely be immediately impacted by the environmental degradation it unleashes, Mr Gandhi stated. “I urge every Indian to rise up and protest against it. Our youth, who have always been at the forefront of every battle to protect our environment, must take up this cause and make it their own.”
“A fight to protect our environment cuts across political and ideological beliefs. If nothing else, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how fragile human life is,” he stated.
For hundreds of thousands of Indians, already residing on the sting, the setting shouldn’t be an summary time period, however a life and livelihood concern, the Congress chief stated.
If EIA, 2020, is notified by the federal government, the long run penalties of the widespread environmental degradation will likely be catastrophic for us and future generations of Indians, he claimed.
Mr Gandhi’s criticism got here days after Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar stated it doesn’t calm down the method of public listening to, however goals to make it extra significant.
Mr Javadekar wrote a letter in response to the objections to the draft EIA raised on numerous events by Congress chief Jairam Ramesh, a former setting minister and the present chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on science and know-how, setting and local weather change.
Mr Javadekar had additionally stated that Mr Ramesh going public together with his objections and letters was “premature” as public consultations on the draft EIA have been underway.
The Environment ministry had earlier stated it might not lengthen the deadline for folks to present options and opinions past June 30, however later gave time until August 12.
Mr Ramesh, in his letter to the setting minister on July 25, has stated that the draft EIA reduces public participation in all steps of the setting clearance course of by lessening the discover interval for public hearings and taking out them for a big class of tasks.
In his response on Thursday, Mr Javadekar termed as “wrong connotation” the purpose raised by Mr Ramesh that the federal government intends to present ex-post facto approval to the instances involving violation.
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