LIMITING DEFINITION OF THIRD PARTY TAKES AWAY FROM THE POTENTIAL OF THIS UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

On September 10, 2018, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change issued a draft amendment to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006. Through this the ministry has acknowledged that the compliance status of implementation of environmental conditions needs to be improved, and to do so it has proposed to include a randomised third party monitoring system. The ministry has proposed to carry out this third party monitoring through government institutions of national repute.

In response to this draft amendment, CPR-Namati Environmental Justice Program made a submission with the ministry. The submission highlights that such a process is still limited to the original two parties involved in environmental compliance i.e. government agencies and project developers. It emphasises on the need for a monitoring framework that addresses impacts and is not limited to routine inspections. To fill this lacuna the submission suggests that affected people be made part of third-party monitoring mechanism. This mechanism should enable them to collaborate with regulators towards better monitoring and compliance with environmental safeguards. It also raises questions regarding the credibility of the government institutions of national repute and urges the Ministry to disclose the funding details proposed for such an amendment. Read the full submission here.