New environment impact norm cuts time for public hearing
12 March 2020
A
set of key updates to India’s Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Act,
the law that governs how the threat posed by large infrastructure
projects to the environment ought to be evaluated, proposes to reduce
the time given to people to air objections.
The draft EIA
notification proposes to be an update to the EIA of 2006, which
specifies a “minimum of 30 days” for people to respond. The current
version of the update, which will likely become law in 60 days, gives a
“minimum of 20 days” of notice period. It also requires that the
public-hearing process be wrapped up in 40 days, as opposed to the
existing norm of 45 days.
The public hearing process is
considered a key component of the EIA. An organisation has to submit a
detailed plan, as part of the EIA process, that details the nature,
need, potential impact and remedial measures,
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