Strengthening checks and balances

The Delhi High Court's directive extending the period of receiving public opinion on the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2020, will keep the window open for green activism the north-eastern region till August 11 to file objection to clauses in the draft which have far-reaching consequences on fragile ecology of the region. One such clause in the draft which seeks to bypass the public scrutiny is that no information relating to projects determined as "strategic" by the Central government for defence, security and other strategic considerations, shall be placed in the public domain. The draft EIA also proposes exempting the "strategic projects" from public consultation. New Delhi's consistent approach of looking at the Northeast as a strategic region keeps the option open for the Central government to declare development projects that have been stuck in the region due to protest and objections over environmental concerns, as "strategic." It will help bypassing the public consultation process. Information blackout on such projects declared as "strategic" will be an impediment for environment activists for taking recourse to legal routes in the event of violations of environmental laws as they will have no access to the information required to build up the cases. With over 5,000 km-long boundaries with India's neighbours— China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Nepal – and only a narrow 22-km boundary with the rest of the country, the north-eastern region has been a prisoner of geopolitics in the South and Southeast Asia and the strategy of engagement between the two Asian giant neighbours India and China. Therefore, large development projects such as mega hydropower projects, national highways, railway projects along the border areas, hydrocarbon exploration and mining projects, coal mining projects in the region are viewed from the strategic considerations of national security and defence for the landlocked frontier. Protests over the post-facto approval by the National Board of Wildlife to the open cast coal mining project in Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve and the blowout and subsequent fire in a gas well at Baghjan in the vicinity of Dibru Saikhowa National Park reinforces the importance for holding public consultation and obtaining opinion of all stakeholders for correct environment impact assessment. New Delhi's push for hydropower generation in the region through construction of mega hydel projects, more particularly on the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries is guided by the principle of establishing incontestable first user right on use of water an international shared river. However, the concerns of downstream impact on lives and livelihoods remaining unaddressed, the implementation of several such projects have been delayed by protests and litigations. The draft EIA proposes reducing the notice period for the public to furnish their responses to 20 days from existing 30 days which appears to have been guided by the urge of "Ease of doing business" than by concern for public participation in the process. The draft says that there shall be no quorum required for attendance for starting the proceedings for the public hearing. There is genuine apprehension of abuse of such provisions in the EIA notification to manipulate public consent. The 43rd Report of the Standing Committee on Energy on Hydro Power presented to the Lok Sabha and laid in the Rajya Sabha in January 2019 states that the Ministry of Power submitted to the committee that "the existing timeline for seeking Environment Clearance (EC) is 570 to 750 days. However, actual time taken in getting EC ranges from 1680 to 2160 days. Likewise, actual time taken for Forest Clearance Stage – I and Stage – II is 210 to 600 days and 270 to 750 days, respectively." The Committee noted in its recommendation that the three types of clearances mandatory from three different wings of Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change i.e. environmental clearance from Expert Appraisal Committee, Forest Clearances from Forest Advisory Committee and Wildlife Clearances from National Board of Wildlife "makes the whole process very cumbersome which otherwise would be easier and less time consuming." The Committee called for striking a balance between the development and the environment "as both are important for the country". India's largest hydropower project – 2880-megawatt Dibang Multipurpose project in Arunachal Pradesh cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on July 17, 2019 will require felling of 3.24 lakh trees in forest land. This project gives an idea on the scale of environmental destruction the large hydropower or any mega development projects may cause in the region. The directive of the Delhi High Court is also a wake-up call for the State Governments in the region to articulate their response on the draft EIA notification as both land and water being state subjects, the States have key stakes in deciding the fate of the projects and ensuring that the prevailing system of checks and balances is not weakened.