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The IWAI contended that clearance was not necessary, as the proposed terminal at Varanasi was not a “port” and that only “maintenance dredging” was required. This activity was required to make an existing channel suitable, and was not a greenfield, dredging effort. Therefore, as per the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, it was “exempt” from an environment clearance process. The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), a committee of experts constituted by the Environment Ministry and tasked with recommending whether major infrastructure projects ought to be given the go-ahead, has differed. Such exemptions were valid, it said, as per records of a meeting on May 18, 2017, only if the “project had applied for a prior environmental clearance.” The Union Environment Ministry supported the EAC’s recommendation, even arguing that “…a terminal was part of a Port.” However, a meeting on October 24 between Union Shipping and Roads Minister Nitin Gadkari, Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan, and senior Secretaries of the Environment, Water and Shipping Ministries, decided that an environment clearance was not required. This was because the EAC had not provided “cogent reasons in support of their observations and recommendation” and that existing laws exempted jetties and multi-modal terminals (like the one in Varanasi) from an EC process. At this meeting, too, the Union Environment Secretary C.K. Mishra recommended that the project should apply for an EC “in view of the involvement of dredging component.” On December 21, 2017, the Environment Ministry issued an office order agreeing that no environmental clearance was required and approved the project for further processing by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, with some “environmental safety measures.” Being a World Bank funded project, it was necessary for approvals to be in place before December 31.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ganga-waterway-project-cleared/article25529175.ece
