Activists see red over green scrutiny waiver for projects
CONTENTIOUS ISSUE 50,000
NEW DELHI: Policy analysts and environment activists have slammed a government notification that exempts real estate projects with a built-up area of up to 50,000 square metres from the environment impact assessment (EIA) process and from having to obtain a prior environmental clearance,saying the move was irresponsible and regressive.
The move was notified by the environment ministry on November 15, a day after it delegated the responsibility of monitoring whether real estate projects are meeting environmental standards to local bodies such as municipalities and district panchayats.
Local bodies do not have powers to appraise or reject any of these projects.
All real estate projects above sq-metre real estate projects (built-up area) are now exempt from the environment impact assessment (EIA) process and from prior environmental clearance, according to a government notification
sq-metre and above in real estate projects have in the past had to comply with the
EIA and required prior environmental clearance
20,000 sq metres have had to comply with the EIA and required prior environmental clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
What the latest move means is that projects the size of a large apartment complex or a five-star The latest move means projects the size of a large apartment complex or a five-star hotel can go ahead without environmental scrutiny of the project site, of how it will affect traffic or air pollution, and how it will impact groundwater or surface water resources
The notifications comes in the backdrop of protests against a proposal to fell more than 16,000 trees for 7 Delhi colonies. The proposal was dropped
20,000
hotel can now go ahead without environmental scrutiny of the project site, of how it will affect traffic or air pollution, and how it will impact groundwater or surface water resources in an area. NEW DELHI: The watershed moment for Indian aviation was the national civil aviation policy in 2016, which identified a series of policy measures to ensure that growth would continue at a high rate in a safe and affordable way, says Union minister for civil aviation Jayant Sinha.
“...if we continue to grow even at the long-term average, in the next 15-20 years, we are going to reach a billion trips a year,” he says in an interview to Hindustan Times.