Public hearing has been made mandatory for those projects which require environmental clearance as per the provisions of EIA Notification S.O. No. : 60(E) OF January 27, 1994. The procedure for public hearing has been notified in the Notification S.O. No. 318 of April 10, 1997. In respect of certain projects such as laying of pipelines, highways and projects located in inaccessible regions, clarification has been sought whether the public hearing should be conducted in one place or a number of places. The matter has been examined. It has been decided that the venue and number of public hearings to be conducted for a particular proposal may be left to the discretion of the State Pollution Control Board.
The State Pollution Control Board / Pollution Control Committees may take a decision on the venue and number of public hearings for projects which require environmental clearance as per provisions of the EIA Notification, keeping in mind ramification and feasibility of grouping of people at nearest convenient locations.
In an amended notification, dated April 10, 1997, the Ministry of Environment & Forests has further examined the question of site clearance for mining projects involving surveys for prospecting or reconnaissance operations undertaken for preliminary prospecting . It has been noted that test drilling exercise for confirmation of mineralisation in the already identified anomalies involves on an average one bore hole in a block of approximately 100 square kilometers (10,000 ha.).
It is hereby clarified that for test drilling on a scale on exceeding one bore hole per hundred square kilometers, no prior site clearance including public hearing is needed under the provisions of the EIA notification of January, 1994 as amended from time to time. However, necessary approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has to be obtained in case of involvement of forestland.
Site clearance, however, has to be obtained before undertaking prospecting and exploration exercise. In this respect, the normal procedure in force will mutatis mutandis apply.
On October 20, 1998 at 05.00 p.m., a joint raid was conductedon the premises of Mr Devashish Ghosh, by the Wildlife Regional Office and the State Wildlife Department with assistance from Mumbai Police.
Four live leopards along with three Pariah kites were seized and recovered from the premises of Ashoka Farm, Film City Road, Goregaon (East), Mumbai. During the raid operations, the owner of the firm, Mr Ghosh, was not available and his Manager, Mr Shah, was present. The seized animals and birds have been transported to Borivili National Park for safe custody. Necessary offence case has been booked under Wildlife (P) Act, 1972 against the accused for illegal possession of the wild animals and birds. The said case is now being dealt by the Deputy Conservator of Forests (WL), Thane. The entire raid and seizure operations were conducted under direct supervision of Dr S Panda, Regional Deputy Director and Mr N Kakodkar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (WL), Thane on October 26, 1998. Further developments of the case will be intimated to the Ministry in due course of time.
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Are you satisfied with what you get from your own sources?
Are you aware that you can get environment related information/data free of charge on a wide range of topics from one single source?
The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) of Ministry of Environment & Forests collects, collates, stores and disseminates information to its users on a wide range of subjects of environment through its focal point located in the Ministry. The ENVIS focal point networks with 24 ENVIS centres working on diverse specialised areas of environment. These centres are located in different regions in the country. ENVIS, thus, has a rich information base to respond to your queries related to environment and sustainable development.
So, the next time you look for environmental information, do not forget to get in touch with the ENVIS focal point at the following address:
Senior Adviser (HS)
Environmental Information System (ENVIS)
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Paryavaran Bhawan, C.G.O. Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110 003
Tel : 011- 436 4687
Fax : 011- 436 0740
Email : envis@envfor.delhi.nic.in
harjit@envis.ernet.in
Homepage : http://www.nic.in/envfor/envis