New Delhi, Jun 30 (IANS): "The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, while partly allowing the petition filed by environmentalist Vikrant Tongad, extended till August 11 time for giving suggestions and objections to draft Environment Impact Assessment 2020.

A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan passed the orders while hearing Tongad's petition which had sought extension of the timeline granted to the public to give suggestions regarding the EIA 2020, ending on June 30, to September 30 or till the time the Covid-19 lockdown subsists.

The bench extended the time after the Environment Ministry failed to address the query of the court regarding "ambiguity" in its decision extending time till June 30 for giving objections and suggestions to its draft EIA 2020.

Earlier, the High Court had observed that there is ambiguity in the notification concerned and had asked the Central government how it will be resolved. In the last hearing, the court had issued notice to the Centre to file its response on the matter.

On March 23, this year, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF& CC) published a draft notification on Environmental Impact Assessment and sought objections or suggestions from members of the public. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government extended the notice period until June 30 hoping that the lockdown would end, the plea said.

"However, even this time is woefully inadequate, since cases of COVID-19 are on the rise, and there are still several restrictions of people's movements and access to technology and resources. The extension notification itself is contradictory and unclear as to the exact duration of extension of notice period," the plea said.

The petitioner further contended that the postal services have been suspended, in cities like Mumbai and Delhi, on account of which citizens cannot send their objections to the government.

"As a result of this, the members of public have been unable to comment on a substantive notification that completely supersedes and replaces the existing environmental norms," the petitioner said.

Tongad further states that in order to facilitate a fair and meaningful consultation, the notification needs to be translated into all official vernacular languages and shall be placed at a prominent position on the MoEF& CC website as well as the websites of the Central and State Pollution Control Board and the Environment Ministries of all the States.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.