HOUSE THAT
Green norms for hsg plans to be relaxed ………Nitin Sethi | TNN
New Delhi: Does a housing project need to be treated on a par with a pollution spewing chemicals factory or a coal mine? The government having decided that the critical housing and construction projects cannot be equated with the much more inherently polluting sectors, is set to rationalize the environmental norms. It has decided to do away with environmental clearances for construction projects below 50,000 square metre area. At present, the cutoff is kept at 20,000 sq metre.
In a simultaneous move, the government is also going to make it mandatory for all project developers to proactively share information on the conditions that are imposed while giving clearances. This provision could provide citizens and communities with information to measure a projects environmental performance after the clearances are given, the government contends.
At present, the project developers are not required to share information on the conditions that have been imposed by the environment ministry while giving clearance under the Environment Protection Act. Once the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification is modified, they would be required to publish the clearances in local newspapers and share it with panchayats and municipal bodies. The environment ministry too would put up all clearances on its website.
While recommending these alterations to the existing EIA rules, the government admitted that though the existing rules and system were rigorous, the implementation was below par. At present, six regional offices of the ministry spread across the country are supposed to monitor hundreds of projects that get clearances every year. By this alteration, the government hopes to create a societal vigil to make enforcement more effective.
On the housing sector front, the move to exempt construction below 50,000 sq metre comes after a constant complaint by the industry leaders that it was being equated with far more problematic sectors of the economy. Recently, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh was reported by TOI as stating, Environmental concerns are extremely valid, but the present procedures involving mulittiered approvals from various bodies and the mandatory noobjection public hearings calls for an urgent assessment.