Lets discuss #1

 What is draft EIA?

    Under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, India notified its first EIA norms in 1994, setting in place a legal framework for regulating activities that access, utilise, and affect (pollute) natural resources.... The 1994 EIA notification was replaced with a modified draft in 2006.

Now, earlier this year, the Indian government came out with the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020 seeking to overhaul the norms governing the environment clearance process for industrial projects.

Government’s crackdown renews interest in draft EIA 2020

• Earlier this year, the Indian government came out with the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020 seeking to overhaul the norms governing the environment clearance process for industrial projects.
• The draft came under severe criticism with experts and environmentalists alleging that it seeks to dilute the present laws. To ensure wider public participation and consultation before the changes are made, several groups started campaigns including mass emails to the environment ministry.
• India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar’s complaint to Delhi Police against the mass emails to his inbox led to action against three environmental collectives – Let India Breathe, Fridays For Future India and There is No Earth B. The three websites were blocked and the police issued a notice under the stringent anti-terror law, which it later withdrew claiming there was an error.
• The government’s action has led to a renewed opposition to the draft EIA 2020. The final deadline for public consultation ends on August 11.

Earlier this month, a complaint from India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar to the Delhi police against mass emails to his inbox led to blocking of websites of three environment collectives that were seeking wider consultations and scrapping of a proposed dilution in country’s environmental norms. While the move was criticised for alleged digital censorship, it also ended up reigniting the public’s interest in the issue.

During the extended consultation period, experts, activists, non-governmental organisations and collectives such as these three upped the ante against the draft EIA 2020 and mobilised public support against it providing ways to reach out to the government. One of the offerings of these websites was email templates for citizens to participate in public consultation to the Draft EIA 2020 which could be used by individuals to send emails with their concerns to the environment minister. The minister filed a complaint to the police against the influx of emails which then led to the temporary blocking of these websites.

Include your voice, just cause for humanity, Mail to eia2020-moefcc@gov.in