Is the Environment Ministry Putting Business Before Nature?

Environmentalists say the Environment Ministry is diluting existing environmental protections.

Environmentalists say important protections are being diluted. (Photo: The Quint/Hardeep Singh)

A series of newly proposed environmental regulations show the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF) is more interested in business matters than in its mandate to protect the environment, activists say.

The rules, which have not yet been passed, would allow construction and other activities to take place in ecologically sensitive and potentially hazardous zones.

A flock of migratory birds fly across a wetland in Hokersar, north of Srinagar. (Photo: Reuters)

Proposed Wetlands Regulation

In a proposed overhaul of current wetland rules, the MoEF has taken out language that prevents activities like permanent construction and waste dumping on wetlands. Instead, only “wise use” of wetlands is advised, though what this ‘wise use’ would entail remains open to interpretation. Mentions of environmental impact assessments before activities are carried out on wetlands have also been removed.

Wetlands play an important ecological function both for the biodiversity they hold, and the role they play in preventing floods.

Also Read: Our Wetlands Under Threat: Diluted Rules Could Spell Disaster

(Infographic: Manon Verchot)

Proposed Environment Supplement Plan

Another draft regulation, released in May, would allow construction companies to bypass an environmental impact assessment altogether. Violators of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006 would be granted an Environment Supplement Plan, within which they would “reduce” the likelihood that they would cause environmental damage in the future, and “reduce” the destruction already caused. Large portions of the draft document appear to be copied from an existing US regulation.

But if companies are encouraged to “reduce” public and environmental issues after they occur, then the draft, as it stands, won’t stop them from claiming they don’t have the means to repair the damage, legal experts say. This could allow for unregulated pollution on construction sites.

Also Read: Environment Ministry’s Copy-Paste Job From US Can Spell Disaster

For now, neither of the proposed regulations have been approved, and the public still has time to comment on the Environment Supplement Plan.

Environmental lawyers and activists hope the change in leadership in the MoEF will result in a shift towards more environmentally friendly legislation, rather than the   business-friendly legislation developed under Prakash Javadekar.