Sneaking Around: Indian Govt Quietly Changes Key Environment Laws

Can the government go behind the public’s back and make regulatory changes? Doesn’t matter, it already is.

Flood-affected villagers carry their belongings after heavy rains in Patna district, Bihar (Photo: Reuters)

The Environment Ministry is busy making regulatory changes that can have major implications, environmentalists say. Earlier this year, the ministry proposed a new draft wetlands law which excluded many protections that a 2010 law included. Then, the ministry began developing regulations that would allow construction companies to circumvent an environmental impact assessment.

In the latest development, the ministry has been accused of altering environmental regulations behind closed doors.

Anil Madhav Dave after taking charge as Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge), in New Delhi on 6 July. (Photo Courtesy: PIB)

One committee set up by former environment minister Prakash Javadekar in 2014 recommended changes to major laws, including the 1986 environmental protection act, the 1980 forest conservation act, the 1972 wildlife protection act, the 1981 air pollution act and the 1927 forest act.

A second committee, chaired by Shailesh Nayak, former Director of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, proposed changes to the Coastal Regulation Zone which would allow construction closer to the sea.

The environment ministry has already included some of these recommendations, despite pushback from both environmentalists and parliamentarians. Four of eight proposed changes to the Coastal Regulation Zone were implemented without giving the public a chance to comment.

Changes in regulation are supposed to be open for public comment, but the government said these changes were made in the public interest.

But avoiding public commentary can have major implications, analysts say.

Essentially the purpose of public commentary is three-fold. It forces the government to be transparent, it is hoped the government will not take a decision that is not in public interest, and it allows input from stakeholders that can improve regulations. 

Chetan Agarwal, Environmental Analyst

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