MANPREET SLAMS LIBERAL POLLUTION NORMS BY MODI GOVERNMENT AS SELL OUT TO CORPORATES

Chandigarh, September 4: Strongly advocating removal of all bottlenecks in the way of faster industrial growth in the country, People’s party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal today lambasted the reclassification of polluting industries by the Narendra Modi government as part of the policy of appeasement towards the corporate sector.

“None would disagree on the need to end red tape and unnecessary hurdles in the way of not only industrial but development of all sectors but that should not be at the cost of environmental degradation as that would adversely impact the human resource development. The cost of such a developmental process would be too high as compared to the gains by the select few. It is the process that needs to be speeded up by introducing transparent governance and facilitating faster clearance of the projects which should have minimum government interference”, he added.

He said already, people were raising their voice against social and environmental degradation and uprooting of the people in many areas of the country with the governments not addressing concerns of the people in those regions. This amounted to playing havoc with the lives of the people in the long run.

He pointed out that while re-classifying polluting industries, the Central Pollution Control Board had drastically changed the norms to benefit the corporates and in this case he referred to the reduction in the number of industries in the red zone from 89 to 59 that was a big concession. Moreover, certain categories had been exempted from environmental clearance. He said the need was to speed up the environmental clearance process rather than easing the norms.

Moreover, the new classification norms would also have to be followed by the state pollution control boards.

The former finance minister stressed that the development model must take into account the concerns and interests of all sections of society rather than recklessly overriding environmental concerns.