The union environment minister's refusal to dilute environmental regulations to allow speedy growth of the coal sector has been welcomed by environmentalists who were concerned that any relaxation of the rules could cause untold damage.
"I am pleasantly surprised that the government has refused to relax the environmental norms to boost coal mining," says EAS Sarma, former finance and power secretary. "Most of the coal mining projects that are happening today are scandalous. I am looking forward to an environmentally sound decision."
Jayanthi Natarajan, union minister for environment and forests, is reported to have specifically rejected the dilution of the forest clearance process at a meeting of a group of ministers on 'go-no go areas' for mining, held on Tuesday. Ms Natarajan, it is said, was supported by home minister P Chidambaram in this matter.
The BK Chaturvedi committee is said to have recommended drastic changes in the process, which includes doing away with public hearing for expansion of existing coal projects and seeking concurrence of gram sabhas for mining. These proposals, if accepted, could weaken the Forest Rights Act and the Forest Conservation Act.
The go-no go areas were demarcated under former environment minister Jairam Ramesh. The matter has been reserved for further consideration. Tribal affairs minister Kishore Chandra Deo will be invited to the next meeting of the group of ministers. Read the full report here.
Source: Moneylife.
