Aaditya Thackeray raises objections on the Draft EIA Notification

Mumbai: Maharashtra environment minister Aaditya Thackeray has raised objection over the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification issued by the Centre.

According to HT,  In a three-page letter written to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, Aditya said that the Central government must hear the voice of the locals hit hard by a project and also the “unheard voice of Mother Nature”

He also said that there must be an exemption for environmentally destructive activities such as coal prospecting, crushing, and screening of iron ore, seismic surveys for oil and gas exploration, etc

HT also reports that the letter further stated, “By diluting the nature and scope of scrutiny of environmental impacts of proposed projects, and by not considering climate change impact in the decision-making processes, the proposed notification goes against the mandate given to the government under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,”

“The Sahayadris or the Western Ghats is listed in the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. They spread across Maharashtra and five other states and are home to 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, birds and many other species,”