New Delhi, Jun 26 (PTI) A senior official of the Ministry of Environment on Friday said public opinion on the new draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be accepted only till June 30, without any further extension of the deadline.

The response came from the ministry a day after over 50 student unions and youth groups from across the country urged the ministry to “put on hold” the draft EIA, saying it has “controversial amendments” and that it should be re-written after COVID-19 crisis ends. 

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R P Gupta, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, told PTI, "There will be no extension of deadline."

"The ministry has already given a lot of time for inviting public suggestions on the draft EIA notification. Legally, we are bound to give 60 days, but we have already given 75 days," the secretary said.

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He said the ministry has already received a huge public response on the draft and those seeking extension of the deadline or holding the draft are not interested in giving opinion. 

"Those who are asking to extend the time for public opinion due to COVID-19 situation, are those who do not want to give their suggestions. I do not understand how the pandemic has affected them in giving or not giving their opinion on the draft.

"We have already received public comments in large number. This is just a draft. We will come out with the final EIA notification while considering those opinions," Gupta said.

"We are not extending the deadline of June 30 for inviting public opinion on the draft," he said.

The Draft EIA notification was published by the ministry on March 23 this year with the public opinions and suggestions being invited till May 22.

However, after several representations expressing concerns over the publishing of the notification during COVID-19 lockdown, the government had on May 7 extended the notice period for inviting public opinion till June 30. PTI AG

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)