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Environmental group criticises SEZ policy

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI:

NEW DELHI: The Environment Support Group has criticised the Government’s special economic zone (SEZ) policy, particularly for failing to address the environmental issues related with it.

Following nationwide agitations, the Government’s approach to SEZs has been thrown completely in flux, according to Green Tapism - A report of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006, a book brought out by the Gro up. A growing number of voices across the country continue to echo the need to “walk away” from the SEZ mindset.

The absurdity of a situation where the coercive state apparatus takes land away from the people at the behest of the profit-maximising companies can no longer be ignored, it says. The need for a careful scrutiny of the environmental and social impacts of SEZs has never been on sounder footing. “India’s SEZ policy is set to undergo a comprehensive re-think in the coming days and, hopefully, the full environmental and social impacts of such zones will be recognised and appropriately regulated.”

Describing the new EIA notification as convoluted and unclear, the book says it presents such zones with a large number of loopholes to escape the environment clearance process. Unclear terminology provided in the “specific conditions” of the notification could seriously limit the possibility of effectively regulating the zones in the light of their potential social and environmental impact.

The notification’s treatment of SEZs ignores the Special Economic Zones Act 2005, the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006 and the SEZ Policy. There are sharp inconsistencies with regard to the clearance process and decision-making authorities under the EIA norms and the single window clearance process under the SEZ legislation.

In the past, the Commerce Ministry paid scant attention to the environmental or social impacts of SEZs. The evolving criteria have, so far, reflected a scant regard for environmental, health and social concerns.

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