Blowout puts spotlight on new environmental rules

摘要

NEW regulations that would ease the environmental impact assessment process for oil and gas exploration in India could lead to more incidents like the Baghjan oilfield blowout and fire, a prominent Indian environmental policy expert has warned. Incidents such as the Oil India Limited (OIL) blaze raise alarms about the country's commitment to environmental safety, said Manju Menon, senior fellow at the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research. Public hearings are mandatory for projects such as OIL's Assam operations under India's Environment Impact Assessment Notification, the law that governs the green clearance process, Menon told Upstream. "Although OIL has claimed that they took permissions under the 2006 Notification, projects under this sector have required a detailed scientific appraisal and a public hearing from the 1990s when this notification came into existence," she said. India has witnessed a number of environmental infractions due to project operations going awry, including several during the coronavirus lockdown alone, Menon said.