PM wants fresh thinking from states on environment

It was the economist Prime Minister who spoke to state environment ministers today, when he said states should explore mobilising additional resources for river cleaning through innovative models like Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).

“We have established the National Ganga River Basin Authority as an empowered body under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. We hope that this model will be adopted for other major rivers in our country, based on the experience we gain in its implementation. We have substantially increased the allocation for river conservation programme in this year’s budget, including a special provision of Rs 250 crore for the river Ganga,” he told the state ministers.

He also came out in the open about corruption in environmental clearances and said the view was that “environmental clearances have become a new form of Licence Raj and a source of corruption. This is a matter that needs to be addressed head-on. There are trade-offs that have to be made while balancing developmental and environmental concerns. But the procedures must be fair, transparent and hassle-free. Decisions must be taken within a specified time.”

While mentioning discrepancies in the Environmental Impact Assessment Reports, he said procedures were being streamlined and rationalised for mandatory environmental clearance. But state governments needed to establish Environment Impact Assessment authorities at the earliest. He also urged states to create their own action plans, consistent with the strategies in the national plans.

He also said there was pressing need to modernise the existing forest and wildlife management system, especially filling the vacancies. Those who live in the forests must be taught conservation and were not necessarily the enemy, he said.

The PM paid rich tributes to Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh for the “new sense of purpose and earnestness he has brought to this department”. He referred specifically to the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (Campa) and predicted that the transfer of funds from the Campa account to the states “is the forerunner of things to come of greater collaboration, cooperation between the Centre and the States”. “I congratulate Jairam for this initiative,” the PM said.

Singh also urged states today to create their own state-level action plans for climate change consistent with the strategies in the national one on this issue. He said broader consultation with states was needed on this issue.

He also chose to adopt a more conciliatory tone on climate change than that of his officials, saying past mistakes of carbon emission ought not to be repeated. “As we go forward in the march of development, we have the opportunity not to repeat those past mistakes,'' he said. The government has consistently been saying it would not accept any Western pressure on emission caps and would not compromise on the country’s energy needs.