Expect draft environment policy next week

After drawing flak from several quarters for months and the intervention of National Advisory Council (NAC) members, the Environment Ministr...

After drawing flak from several quarters for months and the intervention of National Advisory Council (NAC) members, the Environment Ministry is set to finalise the draft environment policy by next week and send it to the Cabinet for approval.

The draft, which has been in circulation since August last year, had engaged the Environment Ministry and NGOs, numbering over 60, in a bitter fight on the merits and demerits of the policy. Last week, NAC members, including Aruna Roy and Jean Dreze, intervened and there was an exchange of views on the policy.

While the Ministry says the contentious issues have been sorted out and the draft will be finalised, activists say the issues are far from resolution and that the last interaction was just ‘‘satisfactory.’’

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Environment Secretary Dr Prodipto Ghosh said, ‘‘We had an exchange of views with NAC members and NGOs. The next step is to consolidate all comments, and the final draft will be ready next week and sent to the Cabinet.’’

‘‘The NGOs were objecting to the regulatory reform. Different stakeholders have different objections. We are considering the suggestions,’’ he said. Differences range from the way the draft policy was prepared to its contents. Environmental activists feel they have been left out of the entire exercise.

NGOs have been opposing the Ministry on a variety of issues. ‘‘The draft policy was formulated in a non-participatory manner,’’ claimed Dr Ashish Kothari of Kaplvriksh. He charged that only a few select NGOs were invited for a round of consultations in Delhi and no efforts were made to call in activists from other parts of the country.

Three months ago, a group of 90 NGOs had sent an open letter to the Ministry criticizing the draft.

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Activists say the policy gives greater weightage to economic growth and development while environment comes a poor second, making it easier for the industry. The activists demanded greater transparency and more information to the public.

The other criticism is that the draft policy is ‘‘vague’’ and does not deal with specifics. ‘‘The draft talks about decentralisation and community, but there are no specifics on how this will be achieved,’’ Kothari said. According to activists, the policy could pave the way for weaker regulatory measures, including impact assessment and coastal zone notifications. It is also scientifically and technically unsound, leaving huge gaps in conservation measures, they added.