Video conference process does not allow proper appraisal of projects, say experts
The lockdown reduced the number of clearances accorded by the Environment Ministry by about 45%, a perusal of data suggests.
To a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo said environmental clearances were accorded to 311 Category ‘A’ projects, or those needing a clearance from the Centre from March 20 to December 31, 2020.
From January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019, there were 1,757 clearances accorded to similar category A projects. Though a year-wise break-up isn’t available, this works out to an average of 585 projects annually. The lockdown year doesn’t include projects cleared in January and February — the data being immediately unavailable — and so the number of clearances could be higher.
For instance just in January and February this year, 122 projects were granted full clearance.
The time line defined for according the EC is 105 days of the receipt of the requisite documents. The grant of EC involves submitting documents followed by their scrutiny and appraisal by an Expert Appraisal Committee and finally the Environment Minister. Depending on the location of the project, the nature of activity and potential ecological impact, the time taken for each appraisal can vary. In 2015-16 for instance, the average time for clearance was 150 days and while remaining roughly the same for subsequent years, spiked to 256 days from 2019-2020.
In May, a group of 291 conservation scientists and allied professionals has asked Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar to withhold forest and environment clearances during the pandemic. The group included 12 former members of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), the highest advisory body on wildlife chaired by the Prime Minister. Their contention was that clearances, which were being done via video conference calls, gave little time for the projects to be properly appraised and that appraisal committee meetings now lasted only two hours as opposed to the pre-lockdown time of nearly a day.
In April, the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife had its first ever video-conferencing meet where infrastructure projects in 11 States were cleared.
From 2016-2019, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh accounted for 813 clearances, or nearly half the clearances accorded.
