Assam government constitutes statutory bodies for environmental impact assessment, clearance

The Assam government has formally constituted the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), strengthening the state-level mechanism for appraisal and decision-making on projects requiring environmental clearance.

The constitution of the two statutory bodies follows a notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) on October 6. Both bodies will have a tenure of four years from the date of publication of the Central Government notification in the Official Gazette.

The SEIAA will take decisions on environmental clearance matters based on recommendations made by the SEAC and will exercise its powers and follow procedures prescribed under the relevant Gazette notification.

The newly constituted SEIAA will be headed by Shyamanta Bezbarua, retired former Secretary of the Assam Public Works Department (Building and National Highway), as its chairman. Dr Socindra Kumar Borthakur, retired professor of the Department of Botany at Gauhati University, has been appointed as a member.

The Secretary to the Assam government's Environment, Forests and Climate Change Department will serve as the Member Secretary of the authority.

The SEAC will be chaired by Jatindra Sarma, IFS (Retd.), former Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

Its members include Prof. Parthankar Choudhury of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Assam University, Silchar; Dr Rahul Mahanta, Associate Professor of Physics at Cotton University, Guwahati; environmentalist Dr Arup Barpujary; Dr Arup Kumar Sarma, Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Guwahati; Dr Bhagwat Pran Duwarah, Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at Gauhati University; and Dr Narayan Sharma, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Biology and Wildlife Sciences at Cotton University.

The Member Secretary of the Assam Pollution Control Board will serve as the Member Secretary of the SEAC.

The expert committee will function on the principle of collective responsibility. Its chairman will seek consensus on each case, while the majority view will prevail in the event of a lack of consensus.

The state government has established the offices of both the SEIAA and SEAC on the third floor of the Assam Pollution Control Board office building at Bamunimaidam in Guwahati.

The Assam Pollution Control Board will function as the secretariat for both bodies and provide the necessary financial, logistical and manpower support. The state government will also provide accommodation, transportation and other facilities required for the statutory functions of the two bodies.

The remuneration, sitting fees, travelling allowances and dearness allowances for the chairmen and members will be paid in accordance with the existing rules of the Assam government. A separate notification will be issued regarding the payment of these allowances.