Keep draft EIA in abeyance: Jairam writes to Javadekar

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday asked Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar to keep the draft Environment Impact Assessment notification in abeyance, pending consultations by a parliamentary panel.

Ramesh, who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change, said the panel has been inundated with requests from various stakeholders to give them an opportunity to present their views on the draft EIA, 2020.

"I am sure you will agree that this is both desirable and necessary," Ramesh said in a letter to Javdekar.

The Congress leader had flagged five key concerns about the draft EIA, including on provision to grant post facto approvals to projects.

Ramesh had argued that such a provision would "routinely legitimise illegality".

The Congress leader had claimed that the draft EIA also sought to increase validity of environment clearances by allowing projects to secure land for long duration even when they are not constructed.

"This promotes land grab, not development," Ramesh had said.