Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change urges for Clearances in Eco Sensitive Zones and Protected Areas

As notified vide Ministry’s Office Memorandum dated 17.05.2022, projects/activities in notified Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around the Protected Areas shall be regulated and governed by the concerned ESZ notification.  Such regulated activities, if covered under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 as amended, shall require prior environmental clearance as per the provisions of the said notification whereas, if the ESZ is not notified or is in draft stage, prior environmental clearance shall be required for projects/activities located within the default ESZ, i.e., zone within 10 km of the boundaries of the protected areas including National Parks and Sanctuaries. Such projects shall require consideration by the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL)/Standing Committee for National Board of Wildlife (SCNBWL).  Accordingly, proposals are granted environmental clearance after due approval by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), constituted by the Ministry for the purpose. 

As per information available with the Ministry, during last five years, total of 53 proposals were received, of which 40 proposals were granted Environmental Clearance (EC) by the Ministry in the default Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) as per the provisions of the EIA Notification, 2006, as amended. The number of proposals that were granted EC each year for the last five years are as under:

 (c) During last five years, total following 669 proposals were recommended by the SCNBWL. The number of proposals that were recommended each year for the last five years are as under: