In Jan, 2020, the @PrakashJavdekar-headed @moefcc issued an order to amend EIA notification to categorise all on and offshore oil & gas exploration projects as 'B2', thereby waiving public hearing requirements. This is a major step to undermine public scrutiny in EC processes.

Ex: There was public opposition to drilling inside Dibru-Saikhowa National Park but @OilIndiaLimited managed to skip it.

Dec 2019 EAC meeting: “… due to the vulnerability of the area, the project will meet its death”; so, conducting such hearings was “practically impossible.”

Earlier too, @OilIndiaLimited has tried to evade public hearing processes. Minutes of the EAC meeting in Feb, 2017, show that OIL requested that “they may be allowed to use the earlier public hearing details” from the same district.

This shows that companies are wary of public hearings and the oil well blowout and subsequent fire in Bhagjan only prove that people were right in their resistance to such projects

But with the Jan, 2020 EIA amendment, public opposition will have no formal meaning in EC process.

One of the most immediate impacts of the amendment: No public hearing for three more drilling proposals in Assam by @OilIndiaLimited

More here: https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/environment/three-oil-exploration-proposals-up-for-consideration-in-assam-even-as-baghjan-smoulders-72068