One of the biggest challenges facing environmental law in India today is a weak implementation framework. Although laws, rules and regulations abound, compliance and enforcement are poor, with grave consequences for the environment and the rule of law. This is exacerbated by a lack of transparency-information about violations is hard to come by, making it more difficult to hold authorities accountable.
This Report Card for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is an attempt to make more information of this kind available. We have analysed over 550 environmental clearances granted by the MoEFCC to assess the performance of its duties under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification against three parameters-speed, quality of appraisal and post-clearance monitoring. Our findings demonstrate that although the time taken for granting environmental clearances has significantly reduced, there are still serious deficiencies in the quality of appraisal and a neglect of monitoring duties by the MoEFCC.
About the Authors
Debadityo Sinha
Debadityo is a Senior Resident Fellow and Lead, the Climate & Ecosystems team at Vidhi. His research interest lies in the intersection of ecology, law, and policy. He graduated with B.Sc. (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Delhi in 2009 and completed M.Sc. (Tech.) Environmental Science & Technology from Banaras Hindu University in 2012. He has also undertaken training on Tropical Forest Restoration from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2016. He has over 12 years of professional experience in issues related to the environment and wildlife protection. In the past, he has worked with organizations like Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Legal Initiative for Forest & Environment, WWF-India, Wildlife Trust of India and several grassroots organizations. He is founder and trustee of Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation (since 2012). He is a recipient of the Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award' (2019) and is member of IUCN-Species Survival Commission’s Bear Specialist Group and EKOenergy network, Helsinki. Debadityo has also initiated litigations in the National Green Tribunal on issues related to environmental clearance, declaration of eco-sensitive zones and compensation for environmental damage.
Dhvani Mehta
Dr. Dhvani Mehta {B.L.S. LL.B. (University of Mumbai); BCL, D.Phil (Oxon)} is a Co-Founder at Vidhi and Lead, Health. She has worked specifically on research projects on environmental clearances, the National Green Tribunal, organ transplant laws, end of life care, and pharmaceutical and medical device regulation. She has appeared in the Supreme Court of India in petitions filed by Vidhi on advance medical directives and discrimination against persons affected by leprosy. She has authored chapters on the implementation of environmental judgments and healthcare corruption in India.
Dhvani read for a doctoral degree at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, where she was Chairperson of Oxford Pro Bono Publico and an editor of the Oxford Human Rights Hub blog. Her doctoral thesis explores the idea of an environmental rule of law in India and was cited by the Supreme Court of India.