Environment norms for builders get further delayed

There could be further delay in finalising the norms for Environmental Impact Assessment for the construction sector. In a meeting held today

There could be further delay in finalising the norms for Environmental Impact Assessment for the construction sector. In a meeting held today, the PMO has asked the Ministry of Environment to 8216;8216;review8217;8217; the set of criteria laid down by them for builders to get a go-ahead for constructing a residential complex, cinema hall or a mall.

Meanwhile, the list of pending projects is growing. There are more than 226 projects pending 8212; 90 from Maharashtra alone 8212; waiting to be considered by the expert committee, which meets once a month.

Presently, when a building worth Rs 50 crore, emitting certain amount of waste is planned, the builders have to come to an expert committee at the Centre for clearance. The MoEF has been trying to re-engineer the process of EIA for all sectors. The construction sector has been the most contentious with the builders saying that there is no justification for them to come to the Centre for environmental clearance after they have acquired all the necessary clearances from the town planners.

According to the PMO, there is a need to re-look at all the norms which would determine whether the project should come to the Centre or not. These are the sticking points:

8226; To look at thresholds. For now, the Ministry proposal is that all projects above 20,000 metre square and 1 lakh would be cleared by a state-level committee. Those involving areas more than one lakh metre square would be cleared by the Centre. The PMO wants a rethink on these limits.

8226; The PMO has questioned the need for public hearing for the construction sector. The Ministry has proposed that all projects above one lakh meter square need to have a mandatory public hearing.

8226; For metros, the view is that there has to be another set of norms as land prices are high and the projects are usually at a mega scale.

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According to sources in the ministry, it will take another three to four weeks before they can go back again to the PMO with a revised proposal. This is the second time the PMO has sent the Ministry to the drawing board. The last time was in May when they had said that the Ministry should do another round of consultations.