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An Environment Support Group Initiative

ESG appeals for Endorsement of a Petition to MOEF to deepen and democratise review of Enviornmental, Forest and Coastal Regulation Clearance provisions

 

The Environment Support Group has issued an appeal to public at large to support an initiative to ensure that the quality of our environment does not degenerate as a cost for development:

It is widely known that environmental and coastal regulation clearances can be very easily secured in India; a fact admitted by none other than the Minister of State for Environment and Forests Shri. Jairam Ramesh (Gulf News, 10 October 2009) as follows:

“Rather than environment (clearances) being an obstruction (to development in India), the environmental laws are not implemented the way they should be. In fact, we give a lot of approvals and the rate of sanctions is over 92 per cent, which is unhealthily high. In the last 10 years, we must have approved about 7,000 projects and each of these have conditions and safeguards attached to them. But unfortunately, we do not have a system of monitoring compliance with these standards. Till now, environment has not been taken seriously enough, with the result that many approved projects have not fulfilled the conditions associated with the clearance.”

Unquestionably, the most significant power of the Ministry to ensure the quality of our environment does not degenerate on the altar of development is available through its review of the environmental and social impacts of projects. It is because of a callous approach to such review and monitoring over time, that the quality of India's overall environment has significantly deteriorated causing needless misery to millions and the devastation of our sensitive ecosystems.

In a statement signed by various environmental and social action groups, movements and networks from across India, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has been urged to not rush through with a rare and important review that it has now initiated of its monitoring capacities. On 25^th August 2010, the Ministry put out a 'Draft Paper' on 'Monitoring Compliance of Environment/CRZ clearance Conditions – A New Approach', accessible at a peripheral section of the Ministry's website at: http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/Com-Mon-Prjt.pd. Public comments on this document, disseminated only online, were invited by 15^th September 2010. Simply stated, before anyone can even know about this critical exercise, the deadline is over.

It is perhaps for the first time in the history of the Ministry that a review of the effectiveness of environmental and coastal regulation clearances has been undertaken. Unfortunately, this exercise has largely become an in-house affair with a rather ritualistic sourcing of public opinion, and that through a vague reference to the discussion document. Almost all of India will not at all be able to participate, therefore, and this includes Parliamentarians, State Governments, Legislatures, Local Governments, and the wide public.

It is critical that we pressurise the Ministry to open up this process for wider debate and discussion. It is also important that this exercise must not be limited to enviornmental and coastal zone clearances, but also extend to forest and forest rights clearances. We request you to join this campaign by signing the petition which is accessible online at: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/indianeiacrzforestclearancereview2010/ . 

Please leave your full contact details, including any institutional affiliation in the comments section (optional) of the online petition.  We will resubmit this petition to the Ministry as a measure of the wider public opinion on this issue.

In solidarity, the appeal has been issued by Leo F. Saldanha, Bhargavi S. Rao and Sruthi Subbanna of the Environment Support Group it being an Environmental, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives on behalf of various environmental and social justice movements, networks and groups. Those wishing to contact the group could contact them at the following address: -- 
Environment, Social Justice and Governance Initiatives Environment Support Group Trust 1572, 36th Cross, Banashankari II Stage Bangalore 560070 Tel: 91-80-26713559-61 Voice/Fax: 91-80-26713316 Email: esg@esgindia.org Web: www.esgindia.org