THANJAVUR
Implementation of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) notification in the current form will ruin the agricultural operations and the natural wealth in the delta districts, according to the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath and farmers’ associations.
Addressing the members of the Jamath in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts through videoconferencing on Thursday, B. Abdul Rahman, State Vice-President of the organisation, claimed that the EIA notification carries certain modifications which would directly impact the agricultural operations in the delta districts though the State government had declared the Delta as a protected agriculture zone.
The natural wealth of the region and as well as in the country would get ruined by the corporate companies as the draft notification exempt the public hearing process before issuing environment clearance certificate for the projects intended to be taken up in the areas where natural wealth exist in abundance, he claimed.
Stating that drafting a notification paving way for plundering of natural wealth while the other countries were struggling to safeguard their natural wealth was absurd, the TNTJ urged the Union government to withdraw the current notification in order to save the natural wealth.
The TNTJ members who participated in the video conference from Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts displayed placards demanding the withdrawal of the draft notification.
Meanwhile, the Coordination Committee of All Farmers Associations in Tamil Nadu has called upon the Union government not to dilute the existing EIA notification apprehending that certain modifications proposed in the 2020 draft notification would have a direct impact on the agriculture operations, particularly in the delta region.
Expressing similar view, P.S.Masilamani, State Deputy Secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, said that the modifications and exemptions included in the draft notification would only result in the destruction of natural wealth on a large scale in the name of industrialisation and infrastructure development.
