Eco clearance must for public buildings

NEW DELHI: Be it a multi-storeyed residential complex planned by the government, or a private builder's jazzy mall, all construction projects, including hospitals and hotels, will now have to get an environmental clearance.

After sitting on a Union government legislation on environmental impact assessment (EIA) for eight months, Delhi government has finally notified it in the Capital.

The legislation makes it mandatory for all construction projects over Rs 50 crore. This could mean hotels, hospitals, new townships, industrial estates, anything planned for 1,000 people or anything that discharges more than 50,000 litres of sewage daily will have to get a clearance from the Delhi government.

Any business house or a government agency will apply to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) with project details and prescribed forms for clearance within 21 days. The Delhi government's environment department has written to the DDA and MCD asking them to apply for clearances for all construction projects.

Though the ministry of environment and forest had amended the Environment Protection Act last year, Delhi had not bothered to notify this earlier. According to sources, union minister for environment A Raja recently wrote to L-G B L Joshi asking him to ensure that construction projects are examined and allowed only if found safe. It was only then that the amendments were notified.

So far no government body has come forward to seek the EIA. Only HPCL and BPCL applied to the Delhi government for clearances to lay the pipelines.

A senior official said, "Both the companies gave presentations and were given clearances. About 4-5 smaller companies have applied for EIA but we have not cleared their cases so far."

With the new clauses in effect, even those projects that had started last year and had reached the plinth level in July last year will also need this clearance. The department can enforce penalties if the environmental clearance is not taken.

The environment department is facing does not have the requisite staff strength for undertaking the EIA.

The official said, "We do not have technical staff trained in this. We can conduct physical verification and on-site surveys but we do not have the expertise to ascertain the impact of these projects on environment