Projects Running Up To 50,000 Sqm Don’t Need Green Approval

Amid rising instances of housing projects getting stuck at various stages of construction across the country, often owing to delays in approvals, the government has decided that housing projects that are developed in an area ranging between 20,000 and 50,000 square metre (sqm) would no longer have to undergo the environment impact assessment (EIA) process. In a recently issued notification, the environment ministry said that it had decided to “re-engineer” the EIA rules, based on how matters unfolded in the past.

Under the existing rules, projects with a built-up area of up to 20,000 sqm do not have to undergo the EIA process. EIA is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impact of a proposed project.

Now, developers undertaking projects that measure up to the area mentioned above will only have to submit an undertaking with the urban-local bodies, saying that it would ensure environmental safety in their project. Urban-local bodies will issue a completion certificate to these projects only after ensuring the developer followed all the norms, that would include having provisions for rainwater harvesting, waste management, green energy and water management at the project. Developers of such projects would also have to strictly follow air and noise pollution norms. 

Such projects not requiring an environmental approval would also mean they would not fall under the purview of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), a fact that has attracted environmentalists’ ire. Experts are of the opinion that the new draft, which is trying to give benefit to builders, mining companies and industries by weakening the EIA notification of 2006, defies several directives of the NGT and the country’s judicial system.

It is worth mentioning here that India ranked 177^th in a list of 180 countries on the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) in 2018. However, the country’s ranking on the ease of doing business index has improved in the past.