Published in Dwarka Express on 18.6.22

When it comes to environment, it appears that this topic is the soft target for all. Environmentalists are criticised for being conservative and negative about development. The term ‘Sustainable development’ is emerging as an easy excuse to push forward many projects in India. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is slowly becoming a futile ‘Kagaz puri karo’ exercise. When South Delhi redevelopment project was going on and environmentalists question the massive tree felling, one court was shocked to see that the EIA was consisting of some sentences pertaining to a Tamilnadu Project, clearly evidencing that the EIA was just a COPY-PASTE exercise. This clearly raised the brows of the environmentalists and economists alike as to whether the sustainable development paradigm bears any rhyme or reason. Ultimately such glaring mistakes or so called paper work colloquially, ends detrimental to the environment with a resultant irreversible damage for the very human civilisation. A classic example is we replace the potential urban biodiversity parks into amusement parks after environmental clearances. So many native species of flora and fauna become extinct in such unabated onslaughts. Environment clearances should follow stringent norms and also be vetted by a multi-disciplinary panel of ecologists and economists, not just by bureaucrats.

Unless the mindset of the policy makers changes, such environmental threats will continue. No wonder, a child participating in the drawing competition on ‘Save environment’ theme stands clueless when their moms push them to participate in such vexatious drawing competitions. Are we doing justice to the gen-next? A child quips, ‘should I carry this plastic water bottle to school or not? ‘Save environment’ is just in paper, whether it is a school going child or drafter of EIA document. This is the bitter reality!