Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

During the Union Budget 2022 speech, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: “A single-window portal, PARIVESH, for all green clearances was launched in 2018. It has been instrumental in reducing the time required for approvals significantly”.

PARIVESH has been developed as one-stop workflow application where online submissions and monitoring of green projects can be submitted for clearances related to the environment, forest, wildlife and coastal regulation zone (CRZ), from central, state and even district-level authorities.

An Environmental clearance refers to an approval that is required before an organization can proceed with building an infrastructure, undertaking mining, processing or manufacturing that can potentially be detrimental to the environment.

Depending on its nature, the State or Centre may issue a clearance.

This has been done in order to promote fast, efficient and red-tapism free decision for any project needed.

But if we are to believe various studies including the one published by Pulitzer Center, most of the projects appearing for environmental clearance, are ‘rarely rejected’ by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC).

For instance, in between 2014-2020, nearly 2053 projects out of a total of 2,115 projects were granted Environment Clearances (ECs) by MOEFCC. Out of these, 278 are within and immediately around the country’s sensitive Protected Areas (PA).

The word of mouth is that the projects lacking the clearances above, might have been asked to return with more information or more clarification.

An ecological clearance requires various stakeholders (including the PAP, Project Affected Person) to put forward their perspectives, analysis and discuss for the benefit of all: ecosystem, land-utilization, society at large.

This fast paced approval will leave this process in doldrums, with no proper investigation, biased approval and industry centric, as India still seeks to improve its ranking on Ease of doing business, that has been earlier published by the World Bank but now stands stalled amidst controversies.

Are environmental concerns serving as the impediments to economic growth?

The projects at times are stalled with no pretext related to the environmental health.

The top five infrastructure projects: Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Pollavaram irrigation project, Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, Navi Mumbai International Airport and Nariyara Coal Power Plant, have all been delayed because of reasons other environmental clearances.

These clearances have long been a safeguard for Nature and sustainability in depth, it is the bureaucratic process that derails it all. In actuality, mindless and irresponsible development with benefits in short run have long bypassed country’s environmental interests.

Is it always easy to choose sides for a human? When all this appears to be favoring human-made business and industry rather than compassion and respect for the environment that we yield for, can there be no benefit so important that we need to bring in single-window clearance for environment too?

One needs to note that India being the country seeking growth, harbors huge volume of “building” projects and naturally, most of them dealing with the scarce natural resource fulfilling the insatiable need of the country and World, have to undergo clearance.

However, with even such drastic progress in volumes, the system was never upgraded and quality of scrutiny never improved.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has advocated a single window clearance system since 2014 in its report Strengthen Institutions, reform laws and streamline processes: Agenda for Improving Environmental Governance in India.

The report accentuated the need for a better environmental governance in India through a single point of clearance and better, digitally.

Through Parivesh, all the regulating authorities will have relevant information existing for a project at one location. Even the independent researchers will gain a 360-degree view along with the probable impacts probed, analysis provided that too multilaterally.

Experts have claimed that such a digital provision will render transparency to a complex system of environmental disclosures.

Once expanded, MOEFCC has aimed to provide all four approvals, i.e. Environment, Forest, Wildlife and CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zones) Clearances, embedded in a single form (several experts have advocated that wildlife clearance to be separate from the others).

This allows an automated, easy and clear tracking of the processes involved to ascertain the status of the intended project along with quick editing and updation as needed, reducing the greater work in the silos with heavy procrastination.

But India being a country of options and illegible solutions, any betterment in the system can lead to uncertainties in outcomes. Will single window environmental clearance do ay better for business and environment remains to be seen?

As indicated by our FM complying with the image India has portrayed as a leader in climate diplomacy, climate action shall dictate the growth of this country. That can be done if we begin to include sustainability at any cost in every sector possible.

We need to avert the climate crisis, that is only possible if we prosper but not at the cost of our environment.

By Alaina Ali Beg

I am a lover of all arts and therefore can dream myself in all places where the World takes me. I am an avid animal lover and firmly believes that Nature is the true sorcerer.

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