Lakhimpur MASS demands scrapping of 'regressive' draft EIA-2020

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS) has strongly opposed the proposed Environmental Impact Assessment - 2020 Draft which is considered to be harmful for the north-eastern region with its adverse impact.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has published the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2020, with the intention of replacing the existing EIA Notification, 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The government wants to incorporate modifications made to the regulations through amendments in the interim period.

As a mark of opposition against the EIA-2020 Draft, the Lakhimpur district unit of MASS staged sit-in in North Lakhimpur town on Tuesday. The Lakhimpur district unit of All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and its North Lakhimpur regional committee, All Assam Unemployed Association and its Lakhimpur district unit, Tai Whom Yuva Chatra Sanmilani, Lakhimpur Silpi Samaj (Artistes' Forum), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, Lakhimpur Small Scale Businessmen's Association, Satyam Sewa Samiti and many other organizations and individuals extended their support to the stir. By staging the demonstration, Lakhimpur unit MASS demanded the Centre to scrap the draft immediately. In support of the demand, the organization submitted a memorandum to Prakash Javadekar, the

Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, through the Deputy Commissioner of Lakhimpur. In the memorandum, countersigned by Lakhimpur unit MASS adviser Raju Singha, in-charge chairman Sumu Dutta and secretary Ibrahim Ali, the organization expressed vehement resentment for adopting various key changes in the EIA which are prone to impact the environment adversely causing threats to the biodiversity. "We, the people of Assam and the Northeast, reject this draft EIA 2020 as a potential law of this country for several reasons. The draft does not acknowledge the best practices in EIA from across the world. Many countries have EIAs that are implemented at the sectoral (power or transport), strategic (energy transition) and crosscutting (health and biodiversity) scale for greater effectiveness and better environmental governance. The draft is regressive because it aims at approving projects more than assessing them. This kind of law is the reason why India remains unprogressive. Moreover, the new draft exempts a long list of projects from public consultation. For example, linear projects such as roads and pipelines in border areas will not require any public hearing. The 'border area' is defined as "area falling within 100 kilometres aerial distance from the Line of Actual Control with bordering countries of India. That would cover much of Assam and the Northeast, the repository of the country's richest biodiversity. So our rights to raise questions, our rights to raise our concerns will be diluted. Again, by not allowing us to raise our concerns, the proposed EIA 2020 is creating inequality among citizens defying the very object of a democracy," the memorandum stated.

According to the organization, the proposed EIA Notification, 2020, if implemented, will only precipitate the negativity in Assam and Northeast further, which will be in contrast to what the Prime Minister Narendra Modi often says about making the Northeast the engine of growth for the country.

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