The environment ministry has simplified the clearance process for highways expansion and setting up townships and area-development projects, following intense pressure to speed up the process to aid infrastructure development.
Projects to expand national highways by up to 100 kilometres, which involve additional right of way or land acquisition up to 40 metres on existing alignments and 60 metres on re-alignments or by-passes, will no longer come under the purview of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. A similar exemption has been given for township and area development projects with an area of 50 hectares or more, and projects with a built up area of 1,50,000 sq mt or more.
A notification to this effect was issued by the environment ministry recently.
The decision is based on the recommendations of a committee headed by K Kasturirangan, Planning Commission member and former ISRO chief, set up to identify ways to speed up clearances for roads, buildings and special economic zones.
The changes would mean that developers of highways, township and area development projects will not be required to apply to the expert appraisal committee to determine the terms of reference for preparing environment impact assessment report and environment management plan to address the environmental fallout of the expansion. Developers can prepare both reports on the basis of a model specified by the ministry.
This is expected to reduce the time taken for environment clearance for highway projects considerably. The environment ministry has over the last nine months taken several steps to simply the clearance process for infrastructure projects particularly roads and highways. In January, the ministry amended guidelines issued under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 to allow clearance for linear projects such as roads and railways to be considered and processed in a phased manner. This amendment allows for linear projects to be split up into parcels of forest and non-forest land use. The change allows developers of linear projects such as roads, railways and transmission lines to begin construction in the non-forest area once the environmental clearance for the project had been obtained, even as clearance for diversion of the forest area is being considered.
As part of its efforts to reduce the time taken for clearance, in February, the ministry amended its order of August 2009 to exempt linear projects such as roads, canals, pipelines, optical fibre and transmission lines from the mandatory requirement of obtaining the written consent of gram sabhas, or village council, under the Forest Rights Act.
