Regulator for green okay in the works

New Delhi, July 24 (PTI): In the backdrop of the controversy over environmental clearances to major projects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said an independent regulator would soon revamp the process and help to protect the ecology without bringing back “the hated licence permit raj”.

“We hope to establish an independent regulator — the National Environment Appraisal and Monitoring Authority — soon. This authority could lead to a complete change in the granting of environmental clearances. Staffed by dedicated professionals, it will work full time to evolve better and more objective standards of scrutiny,” Singh said.

He was speaking at a seminar on global environment and disaster management.

The development follows the stalling of several industrial and mining projects in the absence of clearance from the environment ministry, till recently led by Jairam Ramesh.

Singh expressed hope that in future there would not be much litigation in projects because of environmental issues. “I must also mention that but for the enduring wisdom of our judiciary, we will not have the bulk of what we proudly call ‘environmental jurisprudence’.”

He said in the 1990s, because of rapid industrialisation brought about by economic liberalisation, there was a threat of depletion of natural resources. However, the judiciary had ensured there was no compromise on this issue.

“A major challenge ahead is to put in place a legal and regulatory framework, which is effective in protecting the environment but without bringing back the hated licence permit raj of the pre-1991 period,” Singh said.

He hailed the new “comprehensive law”, which established a specialised tribunal for the settlement of a “broad spectrum of environmental cases of civil nature”.

“We have joined a handful of forward looking countries to have such a dedicated mechanism. This tribunal has started functioning and I expect it will help to reduce the workload of our courts,” he said.