NEW DELHI: Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jayanthi Natarajan, who resigned from the council of ministers to take up party work ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, on Sunday dismissed speculation that delay in environmental clearances for many high-value projects had led to her removal and said the majority of applications for green nod was actually processed and cleared by states.
"Only 8% projects come to the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). Ninety-two per cent of the projects are cleared by states. Nothing came to me. There are no pending projects," Natarajan told TOI.
She said the MoEF had followed a very transparent system and put out all details concerning environmental clearances on its website.
Citing a rule where an application for environmental clearance is deemed to be cleared if it is not processed within 60 days in most cases, Natarajan said, "The allegation of delay is out of sheer ignorance. If applicants follow all the procedures and come out with required details, the ministry never sits over it knowing the implication under the existing rules."
She also pointed to a rule for forest clearance where only projects covering above 40 hectares of land come to the MoEF for clearance.
Her resignation on Saturday triggered speculation over her stepping down from the key ministerial post as hours after she put in her papers, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi acknowledged unreasonable pendency in green clearances. Rahul expressed concern while addressing industry representatives at a business meet here.
Natarajan, however, said, "No projects have been put on hold (at MoEF's end). No projects at all ... I quit the government for party work. No other reasons. The prime minister has appreciated my work... I requested the PM to relieve me in order to let me devote my energy for party work."
Asked about real green concerns when she was at the helm of affairs, Natarajan said she was actually apprehensive about big dams and hydro-electric power projects in the wake of the Uttarakhand tragedy. She said there were "legitimate environmental concerns" and such projects needed very careful appraisal.
"All aspects have to be considered carefully after the tragedy in Uttarakhand. Therefore, we have to appraise the project very carefully if it involves thousands of acres of forest land," she said........http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMy8xMi8yMyNBcjAwODAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
"Only 8% projects come to the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). Ninety-two per cent of the projects are cleared by states. Nothing came to me. There are no pending projects," Natarajan told TOI.
She said the MoEF had followed a very transparent system and put out all details concerning environmental clearances on its website.
Citing a rule where an application for environmental clearance is deemed to be cleared if it is not processed within 60 days in most cases, Natarajan said, "The allegation of delay is out of sheer ignorance. If applicants follow all the procedures and come out with required details, the ministry never sits over it knowing the implication under the existing rules."
She also pointed to a rule for forest clearance where only projects covering above 40 hectares of land come to the MoEF for clearance.
Her resignation on Saturday triggered speculation over her stepping down from the key ministerial post as hours after she put in her papers, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi acknowledged unreasonable pendency in green clearances. Rahul expressed concern while addressing industry representatives at a business meet here.
Natarajan, however, said, "No projects have been put on hold (at MoEF's end). No projects at all ... I quit the government for party work. No other reasons. The prime minister has appreciated my work... I requested the PM to relieve me in order to let me devote my energy for party work."
Asked about real green concerns when she was at the helm of affairs, Natarajan said she was actually apprehensive about big dams and hydro-electric power projects in the wake of the Uttarakhand tragedy. She said there were "legitimate environmental concerns" and such projects needed very careful appraisal.
"All aspects have to be considered carefully after the tragedy in Uttarakhand. Therefore, we have to appraise the project very carefully if it involves thousands of acres of forest land," she said........http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JS00vMjAxMy8xMi8yMyNBcjAwODAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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