Maharashtra Industrial Development corporation (MIDC)- a Maharashtra State Government undertaking allots industrial plots to entrepreneurs with pre-condition to finish construction-work in a time-bound period of perhaps five years. But rules of Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) require construction-work to be started only after getting environmental-clearance from the ministry, which in several cases is not provided till much after the period by which allotment of plot is likely to be cancelled by MIDC. It is significant that application for environmental clearance is kept pending being neither rejected or approved. There is a system of accredited consultants at the ministry for assisting entrepreneurs in getting environmental-clearance, which at times act like touts or black-mailers as also is clear from files of the ministry. An entrepreneur got punishment for seeking information under RTI Act, when the ministry rushed up to send a back-dated rejection-letter of the application for environmental-clearance as seems to be clear from file-notings.
At a time when the ministry is now headed by one of the most honest politician of the country, officers of the ministry should follow ideals of the minister by reviewing all such cases of rejected or pending applications for environmental clearance, and change its working-style to set in ideal for others to be followed.
SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL
