Former Union Minister of Environment Jairam Ramesh, on Monday, took a swipe at incumbent minister Prakash Javadekar for staking claim over the launch of an ambitious programme for Smart Patrolling Protocol of Tigers called M-STrlPES. The programme has been extended to all the 50 tiger reserves.
Ramesh in a tweet said, “Another misleading claim. M-STrlPES was launched on April 14, 2010, and that is a matter of record. That it has been extended is good.’’ He further added, “Even the acronym M-STrlPES was coined on April 14, 2010, and is not the brainchild of the Ustad of Acronyms.’’
Ramesh’s move to target Javadekar comes two days after they were engaged in a war of words over the draft Environment Impact Assessment notification. Ramesh, who is currently the chairman of the Standing Committee on Science and Technology, wrote to Javadekar raising concerns about the draft EIA sment (EIA) notification.
The Congress Member of the Parliament said the EIA reduces public participation in all the steps of the environment clearance process ‘by lessening the notice period for public hearings and doing away with them for a large category of projects.’ He further said that the EIA increases validity of environment clearances, allowing projects to ‘’secure’ land for long durations even when they are not constructed. This promotes land grab, not development.
However, in his response, Javadekar termed Ramesh’s suggestions as ‘unfounded’ and based on ‘misinterpretation.’ He further said, “Draft notification is kept in public domain for comments and suggestions. Your observations are noted. There are 15 more days for suggestions. All your suggestions are unfounded and based on misinterpretation. I will reply you in detail.’’
Again Ramesh in his tweet said, “In your response, you accuse me of misrepresenting the provisions of #DraftEIA2020 Notification. As you can see from my detailed response, these concerns are founded on what’s there in black and white in the Draft Notification.’’
