While reiterating the principle that no environmental clearance can be granted to a project till it obtains forest clearance, the ministry has allowed the two processes to go on simultaneously. This is a significant change from a March 31 order issued by the ministry, under the then minister Jairam Ramesh, that sought to put the process of appraising a project for environmental clearance in abeyance till the stage-I forest clearance was obtained.
The argument then had been that companies often make investments at the project site on the basis of the environmental clearance and this investment is then put forward as the rationale for obtaining forest approval. In a recent case, the Supreme Court had accepted the general principles laid down in that order and stressed that in cases where environmental clearance is required for a project on forest land, the forest clearance shall be obtained before the grant of environmental nod. Read the full report here.
Source: Amitabh Sinha, Indian Express, New Delhi.
