Environmental Impact Assessment

Story hook

On the morning of 7 May 2020, when most of India was under a strict Covid-19 lockdown, the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) quietly uploaded a 138-page document to its website. The title was anodyne: "Draft Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2020". Public comments were invited within 60 days. There was no press release. The notification was published only in English. Most opposition MPs, civil society groups, and tribal organisations did not even know it existed.

When activists finally noticed in mid-June, they discovered something explosive. The draft proposed (a) post-facto clearances for projects that had operated for years without environmental clearance — making illegality forgivable; (b) reduced public consultation periods from 30 days to 20 days; (c) exemption of 40+ categories of projects from clearance altogether — including expansion of existing projects up to 50 %; (d) dropping the "violation" category that allowed citizens to flag illegal projects. Critics called it the demolition of India's environmental clearance regime.

The Delhi High Court intervened, extending the deadline. Three young activists were charged under sedition for distributing critical pamphlets (arrests later quashed). After 17 lakh public comments — most opposing — the draft was sent back for revision. As of 2025, it has not been notified; the EIA Notification 2006 still governs.

This file is about Environmental Impact Assessment — what it is, why it matters, how India's regime works, and why the 2020 draft became one of the most contested environmental-policy proposals in independent India.

Why this matters for UPSC

EIA is the single most-tested governance topic in Environment GS-III. Prelims asks 1-2 questions per year on project categories, expert committees, EIA notification dates, public consultation rules. Mains asks analytical questions on EIA 2020 controversy, post-facto clearance debate, and balance between development + environment. Interview boards probe EIA case studies and the 2020 draft. Very high weight.