The Hindu Business Line : Govt to firm up national environ policy by Dec

THE Union Government is likely to finalise the national Environment Policy in this calendar year. The new policy will do away with mandatory Central clearance for industrial investment proposals worth over Rs 50 crore.

Talking to Business Line, the Environment and Forests Secretary, Mr Prodipto Ghosh, said that the proposed policy would stress on stringent environmental impact assessment (EIA) study for all investment proposals.

It may be mentioned that several state governments have already referred the existing practice as a major hurdle and called for larger autonomy to decide on environmental issues related to investment.

Though he did not disclose whether the Central agencies will be involved in carrying out the EIA, Mr Ghosh said that the proposed environment policy would move away from the existing practice of using the size of investment as a determinant for central interference to selective interference depending upon the degree of impact on the environment and irrespective of the project size.

Already drafted the policy, the ministry is currently seeking the suggestions of all stakeholders including state governments, educational and research institutes, industry, NGOs and others. The Union ministry has already convened a meeting of state environment ministers in Delhi in September this year, to be followed up by another meeting in end October or early November.

"The dialogues with the stakeholders are expected to be over by November 15, following which we will finalise the draft and place it for Cabinet approval some time in December. We are hopeful of getting it cleared in this year," he said adding that based on the policy paper the ministry will draft regulations on EIA.

"The policy paper will only outline the broader issues for protection of environment and the necessity of assessing the environmental impact of industrial activities. The detailed guidelines will be drafted once the policy is announced."

On issues related to mining activity, Mr Ghosh said that the policy would adopt a holistic approach. "While we are aware of the importance of mining activity for the overall economic development, effort should be taken to prevent environmental degradation."

Talking on vehicular population, he said that the Ministry had already constituted a committee to study the possibility of using CNG or LPG as an effective means to check vehicular pollution in major cities, based on the experiences in Delhi. The study was expected to be over in six months.