The Indian Express The BJP-NDA members, while underlining that environment is an important issue, are learnt to have suggested that the committee can discuss the final draft once it is released. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change began discussing the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 notification despite objections raised by some BJP-NDA members at a meeting on Friday. The ruling alliance members, it is...

-Down to Earth Tribunal calls for doing away with general permissions given to commercial entities to withdraw groundwater The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has called for commercial entities to follow new rules for getting permission to extract groundwater. Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) will now form the basis of granting such permissions, the NGT bench said. The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (water) and the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) were ordered by the...

-Newslaundry.com The draft EIA Notification 2020, activists say, is a major setback for environmental justice as it weakens public consultation and dilutes compliance norms for corporates. The Indian government is censoring three environmental advocacy groups that are raising concerns about the draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2020. Fridays For Future India, Let India Breathe and There Is No Earth B have had their websites blocked. In a statement on July 13, Let India...

-Down to Earth Such data is needed for assessing impact of a project on the environment; experts fear Environment Impact Assessment studies will become misleading Data from only one season can be used to create a baseline for projects under the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) 2020 unveiled by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) March 12. Baseline data is needed in EIA reports that predict the impact a...

-TheWire.in The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), a legal process that effectively grants projects like mines, dams and industries access to land, water, forests and other environmental resources has been used in India since 1994. On March 12, 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, the environment ministry put out a draft proposal to amend the EIA norms. The last date for public comments is June 30, 2020. The EIA was designed within...