New Delhi, June 26 (IANS) Environmental clearance procedures would be made more “transparent and businesslike” to avoid any conflict of interest and to ensure a stipulated period for the process, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said Friday.
“There has been criticism that the process (of environmental clearances) lacked transparency… lot of civil society organisations have commented that the people who headed some expert committees - that do appraisal of clearances - had conflict of interest. We have taken the first step today,” Ramesh told media persons at the Paryavaran Bhawan.
The first step was accepting the resignation of former bureaucrat P. Abraham, who was the chairman of the expert appraisal committee for river valley and hydroelectric projects - one of seven such committees in the ministry. Abraham had also been on the board of many power companies with interest in hydro-power and was charged with misusing his position.
In addition, the minister said four conditions - an annual environmental statement required under the Environment (Protection) Rules 1986, a copy of the clearance letter, the status of compliance of the stipulated environmental clearance conditions including results of monitored data, and a six-monthly report on the status of compliance - all be made public by the party undertaking the project.
Ramesh said this needed to be done to ensure a “more transparent, business-like clearance procedure within set time periods” and prescribed a period of 150 days for forest clearance and 210 days for environmental clearance.
The minister also said that the number of pending cases which were 700 when he took charge had been brought down to 250. “All cases will be put up on our website for public scrutiny by June 30,” he said.
Noting the ministry had an “unnaturally high rate of acceptance” for clearances, he said: “The rate is 98 percent - this needs to be changed to a healthy rate of rejection.” Several cases that had been rejected recently dealt with forests and mining in hilly states, he said.
Ramesh also criticised the tendency of project promoters, both in the public and private sector, to lay the foundation stones even before being granted the clearances from his ministry.
“This tendency to treat clearances as a mere formality cannot be accepted - legally I cannot do much, but I can sit on the file by administrative right,” he said.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
SC seeks details of environmental clearances for Ghazipur abattoir
NEW DELHI
: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday made a spirited presentation bringing out the stark contrast between the
facilities at the Rs 130 crore Ghazipur abattoir and the now-closed Idgah slaughter house, but the Supreme Court sought to know details of environmental clearances for the project.
When Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) counsel Vijay Panjwani alleged that the project had breached statutory requirements under environmental laws, MCD counsel Sanjiv Sen questioned the CPCB's locus standi saying the central body had nothing to do with the project, which had got all clearances under environmental law from Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
Refusing to buy the argument that CPCB had no role to play, especially when the apex court had been seeking its assistance in the matter since 1996, a Bench comprising Justices V S Sirpurkar, Cyriac Joseph and Deepak Verma asked MCD to file all relevant environmental clearances obtained from DPCC in two weeks and adjourned the hearing.
The meat traders association and several other groups, which are on strike refusing to shift to the "ill-equipped" Ghazipur abattoir, also relied on the CPCB's environmental objections, primary among which is the location of a huge sanitary landfill next to the modern slaughter house.
They also said absence of a proper approach road could result in the vehicles transporting animals whipping up dust clouds and the unhygienic location of the abattoir would defeat the purpose of the project -- supply of hygienic meat to Delhiites.
The SC asked MCD to submit its response to the allegations within two weeks but clarified that slaughtering would not return to Idgah. "Those on strike are free to join slaughtering activity at Ghazipur," it said, and asked MCD to list what steps it had taken to make provisions for animal trading at the new abattoir.
: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday made a spirited presentation bringing out the stark contrast between the
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When Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) counsel Vijay Panjwani alleged that the project had breached statutory requirements under environmental laws, MCD counsel Sanjiv Sen questioned the CPCB's locus standi saying the central body had nothing to do with the project, which had got all clearances under environmental law from Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
Refusing to buy the argument that CPCB had no role to play, especially when the apex court had been seeking its assistance in the matter since 1996, a Bench comprising Justices V S Sirpurkar, Cyriac Joseph and Deepak Verma asked MCD to file all relevant environmental clearances obtained from DPCC in two weeks and adjourned the hearing.
The meat traders association and several other groups, which are on strike refusing to shift to the "ill-equipped" Ghazipur abattoir, also relied on the CPCB's environmental objections, primary among which is the location of a huge sanitary landfill next to the modern slaughter house.
They also said absence of a proper approach road could result in the vehicles transporting animals whipping up dust clouds and the unhygienic location of the abattoir would defeat the purpose of the project -- supply of hygienic meat to Delhiites.
The SC asked MCD to submit its response to the allegations within two weeks but clarified that slaughtering would not return to Idgah. "Those on strike are free to join slaughtering activity at Ghazipur," it said, and asked MCD to list what steps it had taken to make provisions for animal trading at the new abattoir.
Environmental clearances to 6 mines in Andhra suspended
Hyderabad / New Delhi: The Union government on Monday suspended forest clearances to six iron ore mines in Andhra Pradesh, including those owned by Karnataka tourism minister Gali Janardhana Reddy.
The environment ministry has also advised the Andhra Pradesh government to ban mining in the state.
The move comes three days after the state government suspended mining operations at the six mines in Anantapur district, pending orders from the Supreme Court on the report of its central empowered committee. Reddy challenged the decision in the Andhra Pradesh high court, questioning the authority of the state government in suspending the mining operations.
OMC is owned by Reddy, a member of the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition at the Centre.
Reddy is known to be close to the family of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, known popularly as YSR, a Congress leader and the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh who died in a helicopter crash in September. The Karnataka tourism minister had played a key role in a recent rebellion against the BJP government in Karnataka headed by B.S. Yaddyurappa.
Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh, led by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu, have raised cries of mining irregularities by OMC and sought the support of national parties on the issue.
“We are estimating the size of the illegal mining to be at least Rs10,000 crore over the last few years and we suspect the role of family members of YSR in extending support to the mining irregularities of OMC,” Naidu had told reporters on 19 November.
Naidu demanded that the Union government order a multidisciplinary probe into the allegations against OMC, including possible encroachments into neighbouring mines, destruction of boundaries between various mines as well as the boundaries of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, violation of foreign exchange regulations, and money laundering.
Calls to OMC’s spokesperson on Monday evening remained unanswered. He did not reply to text messages sent to his mobile phone.
At a press briefing in Hyderabad on 13 November, Janardhana Reddy had denied the allegations against his company. He said he was being targeted by Naidu and other political leaders because of his close association with YSR’s family.
“There is a strong nexus between the industrial houses, politicians and government officials behind the irregularities in key areas such as merchant power projects, allotment of mineral resources and special economic zones,” said E.A.S. Sarma, a former secretary in the department of economic affairs and now convener of a citizens body, Forum for Better Visakha.
The environment ministry has also advised the Andhra Pradesh government to ban mining in the state.
The move comes three days after the state government suspended mining operations at the six mines in Anantapur district, pending orders from the Supreme Court on the report of its central empowered committee. Reddy challenged the decision in the Andhra Pradesh high court, questioning the authority of the state government in suspending the mining operations.
Leading the charge: (from right) TDP’s Naidu addresses a conference on Andhra Pradesh mining issues in New Delhi on Sunday as CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan and CPM leader Brinda Karat look on. Vijay Verma / PTI
The committee, which looks into matters of forest clearances, had in a report submitted on 19 November advised that mining in the state be suspended till the mining areas were demarcated. It also recommended that transportation of already excavated ore be suspended.In its letter to the Andhra Pradesh government, the Congress party-led Union government said it had suspended clearances to Bellary Iron Ores Pvt. Ltd, Obulapuram Mining Co. Pvt. Ltd (OMC) and four mines adjacent to them under the Forest Conservation Act. OMC is owned by Reddy, a member of the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition at the Centre.
Reddy is known to be close to the family of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, known popularly as YSR, a Congress leader and the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh who died in a helicopter crash in September. The Karnataka tourism minister had played a key role in a recent rebellion against the BJP government in Karnataka headed by B.S. Yaddyurappa.
Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh, led by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu, have raised cries of mining irregularities by OMC and sought the support of national parties on the issue.
“We are estimating the size of the illegal mining to be at least Rs10,000 crore over the last few years and we suspect the role of family members of YSR in extending support to the mining irregularities of OMC,” Naidu had told reporters on 19 November.
Naidu demanded that the Union government order a multidisciplinary probe into the allegations against OMC, including possible encroachments into neighbouring mines, destruction of boundaries between various mines as well as the boundaries of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, violation of foreign exchange regulations, and money laundering.
Calls to OMC’s spokesperson on Monday evening remained unanswered. He did not reply to text messages sent to his mobile phone.
At a press briefing in Hyderabad on 13 November, Janardhana Reddy had denied the allegations against his company. He said he was being targeted by Naidu and other political leaders because of his close association with YSR’s family.
“There is a strong nexus between the industrial houses, politicians and government officials behind the irregularities in key areas such as merchant power projects, allotment of mineral resources and special economic zones,” said E.A.S. Sarma, a former secretary in the department of economic affairs and now convener of a citizens body, Forum for Better Visakha.
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