Environmental Assessment Draft 2020

Additionally, the study area for Category A projects is within 10 km and for Category B projects is within five km, this completely overlooks the fact that several power plants, mines, etc. build large scale transportation system which substantially degrades large areas and have been the root cause of several complaints.

One thing which can’t be overlooked in the myriad problems associated with the draft is the fact that the government decided to release it in a pandemic. In any normal time, such a law would have invited so many civil societies, and media attention that criticism would have pushed the government to do away with such an act which only looks at one side, i.e. the profit makers and completely do away with whatever environmental principles it stands for. However, using this Covid-19 as a clock when people are struggling to survive the government gets away with such an unjust law.