Environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday asked the Expert Appraisal Committees, mandated to given environment clearances to projects, to include tsunami related risks in the terms of reference for Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) reports for four sectors - nuclear power, infrastructure, thermal power and industry.
The EIA are supposed to be scientific studies on environmental viability of the projects, on whose basis the EAC takes the final call. While earthquake impact is considered in the EIAs, Tsunami is not.
Considering the large number of projects being proposed on India's 5,400 km long coastline such as refineries, oil storage depots, power plants, the ministry wants Tsunami proofing to be part of detailed project reports. And, therefore, it has been included in the EIAs.
To find out whether the existing projects in the coastal areas can withstand impact of Tsunami of intensity similar to the one that hit Japan last week and if not, what additional safeguards are required, the ministry has constituted an expert group under former bureaucrat A M Muthunayagam. Read the full report here.
Source: Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times, New Delhi.
