(a) whether a large number of projects proposals are pending with the Union Government from North Eastern States including Assam for environment and forest clearance;
(b) if so, the details thereof including the reasons therefor, State, projects and location-wise;
(c) the steps being taken to expedite the clearances for overall development of North Eastern Region; and
(d) the time by which the clearances for pending projects are likely to be accorded?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) & (b): There are total 15 project proposals of various sectors under consideration of the Ministry for grant of environment clearance and 14 project proposals for grant of forest clearance. The State-wise details are given at Annexure-A & B respectively.
The project proposals received in the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change seeking Environment clearance are considered as per provisions of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, as amended from time to time, which inter alia provides timelines for various stages of consideration. As regards the proposals requiring Forest Clearance, the same are considered as per the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2014 which stipulate the time-lines for processing of forest clearance proposals.
(c) & (d): For expediting the process of grant of Environmental Clearance the Ministry has taken various steps which includes: (i) regular and longer duration meetings of Expert Appraisal Committees for consideration of projects in different sectors, (ii) regular monitoring of the status of the pending projects, (iii) Online submission of application for grant of Environment Clearance/Term of Reference, (iv) Constitution of State / Union Territory Level Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs) in 26 States/ UTs to deal with the Category ‘B’ projects, (v) Guidelines for Categorization of B Category projects into B1 & B2 Category, etc..
The following measures have been taken to facilitate the forest clearance process:
i. A Simplified format for obtaining Forest Clearance for processing in forest land has been stipulated.
ii. Four more new Regional Offices have been opened up at Dehradun, Ranchi, Nagpur and Chennai.
iii. On-line portal for filing and tracking the status of forest clearance applications under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been developed.