Road and Transport Ministry awaits Environment Clearance
Clearances have been received by The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways by the Environment board for the projects planned in states along the border. These projects will be handled by the state government which can lessen the burden and pile-up of files at the Centre which in turn will speed up the process.
As pointed out by a senior ministry official, the previous BJP led NDA government had relaxed norms for roads that were in a proximity of 100 kms from international borders. A similar rule has been implemented by the present government in for which the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has received clearance from the environment board.
Similar clearance requested for other states: the Highways Ministry has appealed to the Ministry of Environment to provide clearance for other states near the borders such as West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, and Mizoram among a few others.
The official requesting anonymity stated his opinion saying that the requests for clearance from these states are pending at the Centre and leading to further delays. He feels that the regional officers must be delegated with the power of clearances to speed up the process.
There are 2 broad categories of projects under the Environment Protection Act that requires clearance either from the Centre of the State which would depend on the size and scale of highway projects, all of which are awaiting the green signal from the Centre. The Ministry has also signed a MoU in collaboration with the Railways Ministry that is targeted at achieving clearances for the rail over-bridge projects pending.
The Ministry feels that expediting the projects can also irk the environmentalists who feel that it will dilute the importance of the environmental clearance. Most states are ill equipped and have limited capacity to conduct any environment impact assessment studies, feels Senior Research Associate, Centre for Science and Environment, Srestha Banerjee.
Some feel that the Green Clearances are not the only reason for the pending projects of high construction. However, these clearances can definitely speed up the process and in turn foster inter ministerial cooperation as well. The lack of the latter too ends up in project delays.
Source: The Economic Times
BJP-led NDA government, Centre for Science and Environment, Ministry of environment, Ministry of Road Transport, railways ministry
