No change in ban on mining, power projects in Western Ghats

Orders imposing restriction on new mining, thermal power and other polluting industries in the designated Western Ghats area continue to stand, Environment and Forests Minister Veerappa Moily told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Answering a slew of questions, he said the Ministry had issued directions under Section 5 of the Environment Act, 1986 “with a view to providing immediate protection to the Western Ghats and maintain environmental integrity.” Mr. Moily was referring to the orders issued by the erstwhile Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan. The orders under Section 5 of the green law imposed an immediate ban starting November 13, 2013, on entertaining proposals for environmental clearance pertaining to mining, thermal power plants, large building and construction projects in the Western Ghats area. In Parliament, Mr. Moily further clarified that “Considering the seriousness of the matter, the Ministry has written on January 16, 2014 to the Chief Ministers of all six States in the Western Ghats region seeking their views on the HLWG recommendations, especially on concerns which might not have been addressed in the Office Memorandum of the Ministry dated December 20, 2013.” Indicating that the official position of the government, banning any new mining and other polluting projects even as the formal process of demarcating a final boundary of the ESA is done in consultation with the States, the Minister said, “Their views have been sought within one month so that the Ministry may consider the same before issuing the draft notification for declaring the Ecologically Sensitive Area in the Western Ghats.”