GUWAHATI, June 8 � Participants of an orientation programme on understanding the environment impact assessment (EIA) process in the country were told by noted environment lawyer Ritwick Dutta here today that the upper echelon of the country�s society has always been siding with the projects like the mega dams in the name of �development.�
He maintained that this has been creating problems for the genuine movements that have been opposing such development projects. These movements have been upholding the issues concerning livelihood, traditions, cultures etc of the indigenous peoples living in the areas chosen for such projects.
Moreover, the development models implemented in the country are also the replicas of those of the Western countries and China, said Dutta.
Students, activists, lawyers and other people from different fields of activities took part in the function and they discussed mainly the environment impact assessment process of the country.
The ways to assess such documents and how to effectively take part in the public hearings on the EIA reports were also discussed in the function. Case studies from across the country on the experiences in EIA-related legal challenges and the recent decisions of the Supreme Court of India and different High Courts of the country were discussed by the participants.
Cases like the Lafarge Cements mining in Meghalaya, Middle Siang Hydel Project and Lower Demwe Hydel Project in Arunachal Pradesh, among others, and the community responses to mining activities in Goa and Karnataka were also discussed by them.
The function was jointly organised by the EIA Resource and Response Centre, New Delhi and the Aranyak, Guwahati with support from the Duleep Mathai Nature Conservation Trust.