TTV Dhinakaran urges Centre to withdraw EIA Draft 2020; asks TN cabinet to pass resolution

CHENNAI: AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on Sunday urged the Centre to withdraw Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Draft 2020 that does away with the need to carry out EIA before establishing an industrial unit.
"By permitting industrial units to commence production and opt for EIA later does not augur well. Further, by branding certain projects as 'strategic', a term used in defence, to conceal all information about an industrial project is undemocratic," Dhinakaran said.
The Draft permits projects with a built up area of up to 1.5 lakh sq ft, as against earlier 50,000 sq ft, to escape scrutiny.
He said that the fact that it permits release of just one advertisement in a national daily, instead of a local daily in addition, and giving just 20 days for people, in the site, to raise their objections is also not acceptable.
"The Centre should withdraw this draft. Tamil Nadu cabinet should pass a resolution against this draft," Dhinakaran said in a statement on Sunday.