NGT advocates single window for all green clearances

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has called for a single window to provide all the green clearances to industrial projects, a step the tribunal feels can drastically cut down time to obtain various permissions.

"Why can't we have one single window that can provide all clearances to industries? There can be one window that can provide environment clearance, forest clearance, wildlife clearance and also pollution clearance. I have discussed the idea with the Union environment minister and he is very receptive to it. Presently, obtaining the different clearances is very time consuming", NGT chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar said here.

Kumar trained his guns on the industry for its lack of awareness and understanding of the environment laws.

"The industry does not understand what the law is. There is total lack of communication between the state and the industries on the laws, their impact and repercussions. It is for the state to ensure that the laws are made known to the industries before putting up their projects", he said.

Kumar was speaking at an interactive session on 'Impact of Environment Laws and the NGT on Industries' organized by the apex industry body Utkal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (UCCI).

The NGT chairman also pointed out that most industries were not aware of the CSR (corporate social responsibility) doctrine and those aware of it were only doing it for cosmetic purpose.

Asked if the Ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) planned to strip the NGT of its judicial powers, Kumar said, "I am not aware of any such development."

On the controversial mining in Meghalaya, he said, "The NGT has never passed any order to prohibit legal mining. In Meghalaya, rat hole mining was being carried on without any methodology or laws in force. There were serious protests by the mining lobby in Meghalaya. My contention is that if you permit such mining, the rich class will get richer and the common people will not benefit. All the NGT said in the Meghalaya case was that if you have permission from the Government of India or from the concerned authorities, you can go ahead with mining."

The NGT had on August 2, upheld its April 17, 2014 interim order banning coal mining in Meghalaya after observing that the right to life was far more significant than the economic interest of a state or an individual. But an expert panel constituted by the NGT recently gave consent for transportation of extracted coal under strict environmental guidelines in six districts of that state.