The Environmental Impact Assessment process is a way of assessing the potential dangers and risks of any proposed industrial or infrastructure project on theenvironment, biodiversity, and people. The impact assessment process helps to decide whether a project is to be given approval to go ahead after weighing the costs/impacts against the benefits of the project for people. The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has issued a Draft EIA Notification 2020 that is put up in the public domain and invited public comments.The proposed notification will replace the Draft EIA Notification 2006 and considerably relaxes critical existing guidelines and safeguards that ensure environmental and public health. The new clauses dilute several earlier provisions and make it easier for environmentally destructive projects to avoid public scrutiny and disregard environmental concerns.

NCF has written to the MoEFCC with constructive comments and concerns on the Draft EIA Notification 2020. The letter can be found here.