World Environment Day ...

The green Bangalore, perhaps this snap from cubbon park symbolizes the garden city greenery and remind us of the fact that we all should be aware of the year on year reduction of the coverage in the city...

The theme selected for 2007 focuses on the effects that climate change is having on polar ecosystems and communities, and the ensuing consequences around the world… I take this opportunity to introduce Green Tapisum, Review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification – 2006 by Environment Support Group (ESG) an independent not-for-profit voluntary organization from Bangalore.

“Given that it is the only piece of Indian legislation that explicitly mandates and defines the process for public involvement in decision making, it is natural to expect that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests which issued the Notification would meaningfully involve the public at all stages of the process. The Indian Ministry made no effort to actively involve the public and merely organized a couple of token consultations with a few invited NGOs (which, by no stretch of the imagination, can be considered to represent the wider public). During the finalization of the notification, the Indian Environment Ministry went so far as to firmly shut its doors on the public and admittedly, it only consulted the industrial and investor lobbies. Even State Governments and Parliamentarians were not accorded this privilege.
The resulting legislation clearly prioritizes the needs of industry and investment over environmental and social concerns. The legislation, hurriedly finalized in an effort to get it notified by 14th September 2006, happens to be a truly shoddy piece of legislation. Rather than simplifying the process of environmental decision making, it complicates the process to a point that even officials within the Ministry have difficulty appreciating how to implement its provisions.” Refer…

Cossposted on Metblogs..