New Delhi: after a central government panel Stalled Setting up of a soda ash manufacturing plant in Gujarat over inadequacies in the environmental clearance process, the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) has now found that the agency that conducted the environmental impact study for the project was not licensed to do so Was. ,
NABET has suspended the project from getting environmental clearance till June.
Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (GHCL) – a branch of the Dalmia Group – wants to set up a soda ash manufacturing unit at Bada village in Mandvi taluk on the coast of Kutch. Soda ash is commonly used in the manufacture of detergents, glass and ceramics.
NABET – one of the statutory boards under the Quality Council of India – accredits agencies that want to conduct Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
Bada village residents and environmental activists have against The project is due to fears of pollution and contamination in an area known as a nesting site for endangered turtles. The project requires EIA for both terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
In an order dated December 23, 2022, NABET found that the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) – which conducted the terrestrial EIA – had “violated the terms and conditions of their accreditation”. Subsequently, the board barred NEERI from applying for recognition in the soda ash sector for six months.
while neeri is able to While EIA for some other sectors like mining, chemical fertilizers and textiles, no license is required for such assessment for soda ash industry.
Local residents, however, are planning to appeal against the NABET order, seeking more action against the other agency ‘conducting marine EIA’. In October, he lodged a complaint with NABET alleging that the assessing agencies were not qualified to carry out the exercise.
EIA is an essential component of large development projects that require environment clearance from the government. As part of the environment clearance process, GHCL had submitted its EIA report along with public comments to the central government on November 24 last year.
On 7 December, Member Secretary of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) M Ramesh returned the proposal and sought more details from the company before allowing the project to go ahead.
An autonomous body under the Union Environment Ministry, the EAC is in charge of reviewing projects before recommending them for environmental clearance.
In a statement to ThePrint on January 4, GHCL said it was committed to complying with all norms as a “responsible corporate body”.
“At the time of taking the decision, no other NABET-accredited EIA consultant was informed for soda ash. Accordingly, CSIR-NEERI, which is NABET-accredited, was selected by GHCL,” the company said. It states that the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) – which It appears that he wrote the Marine EIA – Acted as a consultant, and did not conduct an “Entire Marine EIA”.
“The captive co-generation power plant along with the soda ash plant will be equipped with air pollution control systems such as scrubbers, dust collectors, electrostatic precipitators (ESP), desulphurization equipment, dust suppression mechanisms, etc. and will have adequate stacks. height,” the statement said, adding that the company will release “treated waste” in line with the norms and recommendations by the government.
Locals will appeal against NABET’s order
The local residents plan to appeal against the NABET order and file another complaint seeking action against the NIO as well.
“NIO is not authorized to conduct EIA, and NABET completely ignores it. They have claimed that NIO has only done special studies, while the final EIA report submitted by GHCL clearly states that NIO conducted the ‘Marine EIA’,” Kutch-based environmental researcher Dhvani Shah, who is one of the complainants, said on Thursday.
“This stand taken by NABET will not only allow other unaccredited consultants to conduct poor quality studies but will also violate the law that requires accreditation. It is based on reports that the Environment, Forest and Climate Expert Appraisal Committees of the Ministry of Change (MoEFCC) decide the fate of thousands of people.
(Editing by Anumeha Saxena)