dna edit: Environment can wait

Jayanthi Natarajan’s surprise exit from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has triggered speculation that she has paid the price for keeping corporates waiting on environmental clearances for key mining and industrial projects. Natarajan’s claims that she volunteered for party work has found no takers. Since the economic downturn began, ministers in key portfolios who are known to be sticklers for rules have found the going tough; think Jairam Ramesh and S Jaipal Reddy. Natarajan took the reins of the ministry in 2011 after Ramesh’s tempestuous, but pathbreaking, tenure at the MoEF. Ramesh was instrumental in changing the perception that the MoEF was a rubber-stamp ministry and the handmaiden of the industry, despite its mandate to protect and conserve the environment. The environment versus GDP battle, that has been raging ever since, has not been quite resolved. But every once in a while we get chilling reminders of the perils of environmental degradation like the Uttarakhand disaster that legitimises the cautious stances taken by “obstructionist” ministers like Ramesh and Natarajan.

Before Ramesh, there was A Raja at the helm of the MoEF in UPA-I. Raja’s friendships with builders like Shahid Balwa of DB Realty and Sanjay Chandra of Unitech that began at the MoEF spilled over to his ill-fated stint at the Telecom ministry and culminated in the 2G spectrum scam.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s charge of the MoEF in the latter half of UPA-I is poised to land in controversy too. The Shah Commission report on illegal mining reportedly delves into serious violations of norms in permissions given to iron mining in Goa during the period that the PM held charge. What Ramesh brought to the MoEF was an adherence to rules, enforcement of norms, conducting public hearings, and mandating of environment impact assessment. As a result of the procedural hurdles, projects were delayed and raised the industry’s hackles. The MoEF’s revolutionary transformation into environmental activism under Ramesh saw a new public discourse around environmentalism. Environment and anti-land acquisition movements against the Vedanta’s bauxite-mining plans at Niyamgiri, POSCO’s steel plant in Odisha, the Mumbai airport project, the Lavasa housing project, and hydel and nuclear projects received a new lease of life.

Like Ramesh, who succumbed to pressure to clear most mining, nuclear, and industry projects despite proposing a no-go zone in forests for mining projects, Natarajan has also copped blame of shaving a few percentage points off the GDP by delaying projects. The strains of the growth-environment debate have shown with Natarajan quipping that she felt like the mridangam, a percussion instrument, that can be beaten on both ends. To her credit, she has continued the transparency measures introduced by Ramesh like uploading all clearance-related documents on the MoEF website, for public perusal.

Her successor, Veerappa Moily, comes to the ministry with a pro-industry reputation, having replaced Jaipal Reddy as petroleum minister, following the latter’s steadfast refusal to heed Reliance Industries Limited’s demand for increasing gas prices. Moily is expected to take a call on pending projects worth an estimated Rs1 lakh crore. His challenge will be to introduce time-bound approvals for various stages of the clearance process without diluting the existing norms. But Moily would do well to remember that the environment, forests, rivers, and the fauna are natural heritage that future generations deserve to enjoy too.