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Asserting that "good times" are ahead for both environment and people, the Government today gave an assurance that development and environment protection will go hand in hand.
"We want to bring development along with environment protection. I think without the protection of environment, development is not possible and without development, it is not possible to protect environment. My slogan is development without destruction," Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said.
He was responding to questions during an event organised by Aaj Tak India today Group.
He said the Narendra Modi government was committed to bringing transparency which is why his ministry had started the process of online submission of application for forest clearances and from August this year, forest clearances will too be done online.
The Minister said that process of giving four different clearances such environment, forest, wildlife, tribal can be be done simultaneously which will save a lot of time. "It will converge at some point and process will become simpler," he said.
Quoting the Prime Minister's speech in Lok Sabha, Javadekar said BJP does not say that earlier governments have not done anything but the Modi Government's fight is about how much and in what way the work should have been done.
"Good times will come both for environment and people. There was important thing which Narendra Modi said in Lok Sabha. We do not say that earlier governments have done nothing. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee also said this all the time. Our fight is about how much and in what way it should have been done," Javadekar said.
Blaming the states for delay in environmental clearances during UPA regime, former Union minister Manish Tewari, who was also in the panel, said that it is the responsibility of the environment ministry and its minister to ensure that Environment Protection Act is operational while Finance Ministry should ensure a smooth running of the economy.
"It's important to create a coordination. Was the UPA government a failure in making this coordination? I am not ready to accept this. As far as I know, there were many such clearances in which there was delay and the UPA had to face the repercussions.
"The basic role was that of the state governments... Because when these issues came to the Cabinet Committee of Investments, it was found that most of the environmental impact assessments, mining or forest clearances and others....They were supposed to come from the state governments," Tewari said.
