Construction of several bridges in Delhi has compromised the ecological integrity of Yamuna. Construction of several bridges in Delhi has compromised the ecological integrity of Yamuna.

The Narendra Modi government is going full throttle on the infrastructure highway.

With the aim of boosting the economy and reclaiming the nation's future from the morass in which the previous United Progressive Alliance government left India, the National Democratic Alliance government has been removing green hurdles that have been blocking construction projects and townships.

The latest such move is the toning down of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006 to exempt many categories of buildings and construction projects from seeking environmental clearances.

Under the new draft notification, the government has made it mandatory only for residential buildings, commercial structures, hotels, hospitals, hostels, office blocks, IT parks and software development units - with built-up area more than or equalling 20,000 sq m but less than 150,000 sq m - to be assessed for their impact on the environment.

In contrast, the original notification of 2006, issued under the Environment Protection Act of 1986, made it mandatory for all kinds of building and construction projects to seek environmental clearances before the construction could begin. This clearance was to be given by environment impact assessment authorities in the states. Talking to Mail Today about the development, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "We have plugged the loopholes in the system and tried to correct them in the interest of the environment. We are doing what the UPA government did not do."

The move appears to be consistent with the NDA government's announcement of 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in construction as part of its larger "big bang" initiative for "make in India" to be unveiled by Modi on September 25 ahead of his visit to the US.

The government is expected to further ease norms for FDI in the construction sector, sources said. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, has floated a cabinet note on the issue for further consultations.

The government is planning to cut the requirements for built-up area for FDI from 50,000 sq m to 20,000 sq m and the capital conditions from $10 million to $5 million, sources said. The measures are also aimed at encouraging the construction of smart cities, another of Modi's dream projects. However, the toning down of environment impact assessment norms has angered green activists.

According to Manoj Misra, an environmentalist from Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, the draft notification is based on the premise that only certain structures have an impact on the environment whereas other buildings like educational institutions, sporting infrastructure like stadiums, religious buildings like temples and mosques, industrial units like factories of industries not covered in the 2006 notification and public utilities like bus depots and metro stations, which are neither commercial nor residential, will have no impact on the environment.

"This means that non-building construction activities, it seems, would as per the ministry have no environmental impact. These could include construction of large parking spaces, monuments and statues over large areas, and ghats and similar construction on river banks," Misra said.

"Already, structures like barrages, bridges and embankments on rivers, with huge environmental impacts, and the railways sector, also with huge environmental impact, continue to remain unaddressed in the EIA notification," he said.

Misra cited the example of the Yamuna, saying a "series of bridges in Delhi have seriously compromised the ecological integrity of the river". Environmental lawyer and expert Ritiwck Dutta said, "Environmental impacts should not be linked to the legal status of a project. How will the environmental impacts be different if the project is commercial or noncommercial so long as the impact is the same?"

According to Pushp Jain, director of EIA Resource and Response Centre, an environment assessment think-tank, the government, instead of addressing the existing loopholes in the notification, went on to diluting whatever little was there in it.

"The government should have stressed on including railways, in addition to the existing category of roads and highways, for ecological assessment, especially after learning lessons from so many elephant kills along railway tracks. Railway projects open up forests, leading to the fragmentation of habitats and rise in poaching," he said.

Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Upadhyay said, "The new notification makes us feel that construction is limited only to these kinds of structures. It is ridiculous. It dilutes the very comprehension and interpretation of the original EIA notification that was made to address the environmental impacts of every structure."