News Delhi, July 19: In a significant development, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has notified amendment to the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Rules, exempting highway projects of strategic and defence importance, which are 100 km from the Line of Control, among other locations, from an environmental clearance before construction, Indian Express said in a report on July 19.
This exemption would mean that almost all major road and other projects in J&K would be exempt from any EIA considering that most of the Kashmir valley and parts of Jammu province falls within the aerial 100 km range from the LoC.
In its latest amendment to the Rules, published on July 14, the ministry has made several exemptions to gaining this environmental clearance.
The EIA is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development. This assessment also takes into account human health and socioeconomic impact on the community living in the proposed project area.
