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TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: In an attempt to clean up the environmental clearance stable, environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said the controversial chairman of Expert Appraisal Committee, P Abraham, who was also on the board of several power companies, had resigned. The move came after NGOs raised the issue but even then it took more than a week for Abraham to resign.
Ramesh said it was part of the plan to improve the clearance process and make it more transparent. As part of the move, he made it mandatory for companies to disclose the clearance letters and periodic status of compliance.
At the same time, hinting that clearances would become tougher to secure, Ramesh said, “The ministry has an unnaturally healthy rate of accepting proposals — 98%. I would be much happier with a higher rate of rejection.”While promising to reduce the time taken for clearances and bringing them down to the stipulated times as per the rules, the minister said he was studying how to do away with the business of in-principle clearance.
While pointing out that the tendency of promoters to lay foundation stones of projects that had not yet received clearances was not above board, he said he didn’t have any legal powers to prevent it. “Even the PM, in his last tenure, had done so with a hydroelectric project in the Northeast,” Jairam admitted.
As part of reforms, starting on June 1, the status of all pending cases would be put online. Pending cases have reportedly dipped from 740 in early May to 250 by June end.
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