A reasonable sequence of construction and the appropriate location of the project`s labour camp and settlement, etc., can go a long way toward reducing environmental damage. The following factors should be taken into account: (iii) The Union Ministry of Water Resources has also set up an environmental monitoring committee at national level to monitor the implementation of environmental protection measures. It is led by the member (Water Planning & Projects), CWC and consists of members from the Ministries of Environment and Forestry, Agriculture, Welfare and Water Resources as well as the Planning Commission. Chief Engineer (EMO), CWC is the Vice-Chair of the Committee. It is supported by state-level environmental monitoring committees and project-level environmental management committees. The following projects or activities require a prior environmental permit from the competent regulatory authority appointed at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for matters classified as category “A” and at the state level of the State Environmental Impact Assessment Agency (SEIAA) for matters in category “B” of the said list: Before the construction works or the preparation of the land for the project or the activity is launched: through the project management, with the exception of securing the property, in simple terms, we can describe environmental deforestation as the clearing of forests, etc., in order to design a particular area for a specific purpose. The goal may be the establishment of industrial, industrial or mining operations, etc. This manual contains aspects of describing the basic state of the environment that are likely to be significantly influenced by the river valley and hydroelectric projects. The manual also describes the methods to use to generate master data. However, data generation must be optimized based on location attributes in the scope phase. The location, size and type of the proposed river valley project mainly influence the choice of parameters to be studied. This is a very important aspect, and it is strongly recommended that a plant taxonomist be included in the EIA team to deal with the relevant issues.
According to the court, obtaining an environmental permit after a project can result in fines, but legal experts say it creates an inverse situation where a fine is used to compensate for environmental damage and remedy these situations. “Ex post facto seems to almost eliminate public participation,” Kodiveri said. One of the reasons this change is being introduced is the desire for speed in environmental decision-making, she explained, adding that while ex-post release is possible, consent is implied and it is assumed that the community accepts it. “If the state decides to carry out a project despite citizen participation, municipalities have to go to court, which is a much longer process.” It is mandatory to first obtain government approval for projects that may cause high environmental damage or high levels of pollution of any kind. The method consists of estimating an environmental index using factor analysis. Conceptually, it has not been possible to develop environmental indices that can be used for the planning and management of water-related projects, except in a simplified form. The system of making changes to India`s green regulations through a series of bylaws without public consultation, rather than presenting them all together in an amendment to an environmental policy or law, is not new. Industry experts say it has been an integral part of the country`s green regulatory ecosystem for many years. On February 1, India`s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a unified form in the budget speech (pdf) to expedite the approval of proposals for green versions. The long-term performance of a project can be easily assessed by the degree of deviation from the baseline values for various environmental parameters, i.e. the baseline data (baseline) of a project.
From the EIA point of view, there are a number of important baseline data, each composed of a number of environmental parameters. Often, a project proponent reports only a few of them, some of which do not reach the required number of parameters, uses old scientific units or other units for the same parameter, often reports incorrect units for some, etc. Ideally, there should be some basic data set. The Ministry of Environment issued a memorandum from the office in 2010 stating that projects built illegally without prior approval required can apply for regularization. This was replaced in 2012 by another memo confirming the same. However, the two memoranda did not explicitly use the term “ex post facto”. The CAT plan aims at an overall improvement of the environmental conditions of the region and should be limited to the direct drainage of watersheds. For this purpose, the relevant CWC guidelines should be used. All activities are aimed at treating degraded and potential areas with high soil erosion. The plan offers benefits due to biological and technical measures and its benefits for maintaining ecosystem health.
The plan addresses issues such as preventing gutter erosion, improving forest cover to increase soil water storage capacity, and stopping all sediment flow into the reservoir and running water. The national government`s environment ministry has proposed a new set of environmental approval rules that appear to be heavily burdened in favour of industry. “Instead of focusing on environmental protection, the 2020 EIA project undermines the orders of the National Green Tribunal, which ruled against retrospective permits. The aim of this Communication is to legitimise illegalities committed by industry. It seems to be pointed out that an industrial project that has violated environmental regulations has the right to apply for a permit for it as long as the project is authorized in the area. It`s a travesty of the law,” Dutta said. Before starting the project, it is important to determine the baseline values of appropriate environmental parameters that could be significantly influenced by the implementation of the project. The baseline status assessed as part of the EIA study includes both fieldwork and verification of data collected from secondary sources.
Impact forecasting is a process of predicting the future environmental conditions of the project. Although it is necessary to quantitatively predict future environmental conditions, some factors can only be determined qualitatively for many reasons. In some cases, even if quantification is possible, the degree of uncertainty associated with predicting many variables can often influence the prediction process of theoretical interest due to many inherent constraints and complex interrelationships. Table 1: Relevant baseline data (initial baseline) to be submitted in the River Valley and Hydroelectric project EIA report submitted for environmental permit (HP = hydroelectric project, PI = irrigation project, FP = flood control project) Previous attempts to challenge the legality of ex post facto authorization An industry must apply for an environmental permit before starting a project, in accordance with the 2006 Environmental Impact Assessment Opinion. However, in a March 2022 order, the Supreme Court found that an environmental permit could be granted once the industry was operational in exceptional circumstances. The court heard an appeal from Pahwa Plastics Pvt Ltd against an order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to cease operations at Pahwa Plastics` chemical production facility in Haryana because it had not received a prior environmental permit. The above-mentioned request was replaced by the EIA notification filed by the Ministry of Environment on 14 September 2006. In this chapter, topics such as legal requirements for release into the environment, procedures for release into the environment, release deadline, single-window release, validity of the release letter, post-project monitoring, right of access and inspection at the site, misrepresentation/manipulation or concealment of data and the requirement for a new version for expansion/modernization projects are discussed in detail. The environmental protection measures/conditions generally established by the Indian MoEF government for HPVR are also mentioned. “Environmental law is based on the precautionary principle, which states that before you start an industry, you need to assess, consider and navigate environmental impacts,” said Arpitha Kodiveri, a postdoctoral fellow in environmental justice at New York University School of Law.