The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) admitted that it has lost four letters from civil society members who had raised critical issues relating to environmental impact assessment (EIA) and made some suggestions to amend the provisions from 2012 onwards.
According to Samir Mehta of the NGO River Basin Friends, he and two others, Himanshu Thakkar of South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP), and Latha Anantha of River Research Centre, had written four letters to the Ministry, one in 2012 and three in 2013 on changes required to the EIA notification and on environmental governance.
The Ministry did not respond to any of the letters till the activists filed an application in August, 2013, under the Right to Information Act demanding to know to whom these letters were circulated.
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It did not reply either to the application or the first and second appeals.
However, it replied on January 1, 2015 saying that none of the four letters could be traced.
While regretting the delay, it asked for the letters to be sent once again so that they could be put up to the competent authority for directions.
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