18 August 2020 | 4 to 5 pm IST

The Environment Impact Assessment (Draft) 2020, was introduced for public consultation on 23 March 2020 (see here). Since then, there has been a widespread backlash, questioning the time chosen for the public consultation process, the unavailability of the draft in vernacular languages and the short period open for any public consultation (see here). With the interventions of the High Courts (see here), the last date to submit objections/suggestions was extended. As the public scrutiny began, several questions were being raised over the possible dilution of the process and red flagging the imminent dangers (see here and here). The recent industrial accidents at LG Polymer factory at Vishakhapatnam and the blowout at the Oil India Ltd. well at Bhagjan Assam, reiterate the importance of stronger regulations. The very regime of Environmental Laws is being scanned for fundamental flaws to be rectified.

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) came into being in the early 1960s as a part of increased environmental awareness to technically evaluate and assess objectively the impact of the new and existing industry over the environment. The idea, in a utilitarian sense, could be better understood with a concept of ‘spaceship earth’, i.e. the earth is a vessel carrying all its life through space and we live drinking the limited fuel it carries for its voyage. Once the vessel breaks, the life support system will fail, sinking all the life forms it carries. Therefore, an EIA helps us to gauge the impact of our actions over the health of ‘spaceship earth’. Unfortunately, not everyone in the vessel has achieved the same comfort (socio-economic development) guaranteeing an equal opportunity for the fullest enjoyment of their journey. While the global north grew during its age of industrialisation, the south is yet to see one, as the earlier opportunity was stolen during colonial times (see here). Therefore, the global south faces a double burden, firstly to develop a stronger economy and secondly, to address environmental concerns while balancing the former interest.

This global south argument is rooted in equal opportunity to develop and how a uniform environment protection strategy and development scheme would stifle this process. In other words, to generate livelihood and eradicate poverty at the earliest, industrial expansion is necessary and stronger environmental norms would stifle the same. When conceptually sustainable development sounds brilliant, in the practical sense we are confronted with a question on how to reconcile the needs of a developing nation and its people without compromising the security of nature. There are also other important ancillary questions to be answered:

  • The affordability and capability of developing countries in conducting EIA 
  • The capabilities of the general public in understanding and participating in the process.

Rarely such questions are raised and even more rarely do we endeavour to find answers to them. Ultimately EIA regulations are a tool that aid in the exploitation of the environment and not to deter, by balancing conservation with development.

Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, in this upcoming webinar, will take these questions head-on and try to analyse and visualise how and where we draw the line in an environment vis-a-vis development debate.

Click here to register.

Panelists:

  • Shyama Kuriakose, Senior Resident Fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
  • Nitin Sethi, Award winning journalist with Reporters’ Collective. He has written extensively on environment and government policy matters
  • Adv. Maitreyi Hegde, Lawyer, High Court of Kerala and Supreme Court of India, Founder and Chief Editor atNyayanishta.com (Kannada’s first online law magazine)

Queries: sreenath.namboodiri@cvv.ac.in