The Hindu : Kerala News : Environmentalists criticise MoEF

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Sep 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Environmentalists criticise MoEF

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, SEPT. 3. Fifty leading environmentalists have criticised the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) for `systematically undermining the participation of citizens in its decision-making process'.

In a joint letter to the Ministry, they criticised that lack of transparency in its functioning, while reducing public participation, had paid way for avoiding serious scientific scrutiny of various projects and proposals.

The activists also complained of severe reduction in opportunities available to citizens to provide input into the decision-making process of the MoEF.

The signatories to the letter include Samir Acharya of the Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Medha Patkar, Ravi Agarwal, Toxics Link, New Delhi, Sunderlal Bahuguna, the Supreme Court lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, M.K. Prasad, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, Kochi, Suman Sahai, Gene Campaign, New Delhi, and Gam Shimray of the All-India Coordinating Forum of Adivasi and indigenous People, New Delhi.

Declining ability

They expressed concern over the "declining ability and willingness of the Ministry to ensure that development processes and projects were oriented towards integrating environmental and social concerns". The environmentalists also urged the Ministry to provide a "legally mandated and explicit role for citizens, especially local communities, in the decision-making process within the Ministry".

Steps for ensuring the citizens' inputs in draft notifications and legislation and strengthening of public hearing process for various development projects should be ensured, they demanded.

Dilution

The activists were critical of the notification of the Biological Diversity Rules 2004 and the "dilution of notifications under the Environment Protection Act and the delay in issuing approval for the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan".

The Biological Diversity Act was "scientifically unsound and undermined the role of local communities in safeguarding biodiversity and traditional knowledge".

It also ignored the sound inputs provided by NGOs and activists, they complained.

They were of the view that the MoEF considerably reduced the scope and weakened the provisions of various notifications and rules under the Environment Protection Act 1986.

Clearance

There were instances when MoEF gave clearance to dams, mining, roads, ports, industries, and other projects without adequate environmental impact assessment and ensuring that environmental safeguards were built into the project, they complained.

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