CHENNAI: With the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change issuing draft notification to exempt Waste-to-Energy (WTE) projects from mandatory environmental clearance, environmentalists and political parties opposed the move citing that the decision is dangerous and poses threat to the health of the people.

Geo Damin, a solid waste management researcher with Poovulagin Nanbargal, said that the central government has already shifted WTE plants from the “red” (highly polluting) category to the blue category. "Now, the government has initiated steps to categorise these projects as “Essential Environmental Services (EES),” thereby exempting them from mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under the 2006 notification," he added.

According to a recent draft notification, al

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