Parivesh 2.0 portal to be default platform for all environment clearances

The guidelines signed on January 25 said that the applications on PARIVESH 1.0 that haven't shown progress in the past 90 days will be deemed inactive and rejected

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is planning to make its new and upgraded Parivesh 2.0 portal the default online platform for all proposals awaiting environment and forest clearances. The government introduced Parivesh 2.0 (Pro-Active and Responsive Facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmental Single-window Hub) to enhance transparency.

This updated version includes features such as mapping employees to project proposals, integrated GIS clearance, and the introduction of a payment gateway, among other modifications. The move to shift all proposals to the new portal comes as over 12,000 proposals seeking forest clearance under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, were stuck in limbo due to technical limitations of the Parivesh 1.0.

According to the fresh guidelines issued by the MoEFCC, the current platform (Parivesh 1.0) can be utilised for processing proposals during the specified 150-day duration. However, after this period, all proposals would be automatically migrated to Parivesh 2.0 for further processing. The guidelines signed on January 25 said the applications on Parivesh 1.0 that haven’t shown progress in the past 90 days will be deemed inactive and rejected.

“In such proposals, if the user agency desires to pursue their proposals for prior approval under the Adhiniyam (rule), fresh applications shall be submitted on Parivesh 2.0,” the guidelines said.

The fresh guidelines gave relief to the proposals already under process on Parivesh 1.0. Such proposals can be completed there, but they must adhere to the updated procedures of Adhiniyam. Moreover, applications that receive forest clearance on Parivesh 1.0 will be migrated to Parivesh 2.0 for compliance tracking.

Welcoming the upgrade, an environmental law expert said the government should not hide details of the projects on Parivesh 2.0.

“As long as all the information is kept in public purview, any upgrade is welcome. The government shouldn’t use the new platform to hide something," the expert said.

The government faced criticism from environmental experts and activists in 2022 when it stopped updating details on environmental impact assessments, forest clearances, wildlife clearances, and coastal regulation zone clearances. The MoEFCC decided to provide such information only upon request under the Right to Information (RTI) Act on the new website. However, the MoEFCC provides minutes of meetings of expert appraisal and forest advisory committees, information on environment and forest clearances, coastal regulation zone proposal details and clearances, and minutes of the regional empowered committee.

“The migration aims to increase the speed and transparency of environmental clearance,” a source at the MoEFCC said.

Parivesh is a web-based workflow application designed for the online submission and monitoring of proposals seeking Environmental (EC), Forest (FC), Wildlife (WL), and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances. The portal operates on a role-based system, facilitating a streamlined process for proponents. Its primary objective is to serve as a “single window” solution, employing process automation and leveraging technologies like GIS and Advanced Data Analytics. This approach aims to ensure expeditious, transparent, and effective decision-making while maintaining stringent environmental safeguards.

The government launched Parivesh 1.0 in August 2018 at the Central level and in August 2019 at the State level. From 2018 to 2022, a total of 33,533 projects were given clearances (EC, FC, WL, and CRZ), according to MoEFCC data tabled in Parliament in March 2023.

Parivesh 1.0 was instrumental in reducing the time in these clearances. The average time taken for the grant of EC and CRZ clearance at the central level was reduced significantly from more than 150 days in 2019 and 102 days in 2020 to less than 70 days in 2022, according to the MoEFCC. Similarly, the average time taken for a grant of ‘in-principle’ FC approval was also reduced to 180 days in FY22 against 188 days in the previous financial year.

DATA: 

Total number of clearances (EC, FC, WL and CRZ) granted on Parivesh since inception

Year: Number of clearances granted

2018: 577

2019: 3,498

2020: 8,169

2021: 8,793

2022: 12,496

Total: 33,533

Source: MoEFCC, Lok Sabha answers