'You Bypassed SEIAA In Granting Environmental Clearance': Environment Body Seeks Action Against PS, Member Secretary

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The chairman of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Environmental Clearance, has written to Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, accusing a Member Secretary and the Principal Secretary (PS), Environment, of bypassing the body in granting environment permissions, thus violating the rules and regulations. 

He said that from May 7 to June 9 this year, despite his organising them, no meetings of the Authority were held, claiming that the Member Secretary and the PS were deliberately not allowing them.

He alleged that the duo was hand in glove with the mining mafia and anti-environmentalists. 

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Moreover, they were wrongly defining the Indian Government EIA Notification 2006, para 8 (III) and surpassing SEIAA to issue permission of Environment Clearance (EC) on a pick and choose basis, he alleged.  In cases wherein SEIAA has issued the clearance, the PS has either not uploaded it or hasn’t issued it to the applicant.

On the contrary, there have been cases where the PS has issued the clearance despite the SEIAA not doing so. He accused the duo of issuing environmental permission in the garb of deemed approval from the SEIAA.  

He demanded that guilty officials be immediately suspended and a criminal case be registered against them.