Chhattisgarh CM objects to draft EIA notification, writes to Javadekar

Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], Aug 15 : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has objected to draft EIA Notification, 2020, saying it will not be able to achieve the goal of sustainable development.
In a letter written a letter to Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, the Chief Minister said he understands the objective of making the new process of environment clearance more expedient to align it with the government's policy of ease of doing business but the provisions of draft EIA Notification, 2020 were not in consonance with environmental jurisprudence of `precautionary principle' and 'sustainable development' and defeats very objective of the EIA process.
"I am writing you as a concerned public representative of the Chhattisgarh's pristine ecology, embedded with dense forest and huge mineral resources," he said.
Baghel said the draft EIA Notification does not incorporate views of the state government in the process of grant of environmental clearance.
"There is no provision in the draft EIA Notification, 2020, which ensures constitutional rights guaranteed under Schedule V and VI of the Constitution of India, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, (FRA) 2006, and the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA)," he said.
The letter said that the draft EIA Notification, 2020 in its present form has "completely ignored the sensitivity required for the conservation of the environment and for achieving the objective of sustainable development".