Project proponents can now access baseline environmental data on PARIVESH portal Env ministry

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The Environment Ministry on Monday said project proponents could now access baseline environmental data, which forms the foundation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies, on the PARIVESH portal.
     The data provides a comprehensive understanding of the existing environmental conditions of the project area before any activity commences and enables identification of potential impacts arising from the proposed project.
     "At present, the project proponents either rely on offline processes by collating data from multiple Central and State Government agencies and/or undertake primary data collection using monitoring equipment, which entails significant time and resource investment," said the Environment Ministry in a notification.
     Access to baseline environmental data on the PARIVESH portal aims to simplify and streamline this process.
     Use of the data is voluntary and optional, and the project proponents may, at their discretion, continue to generate or procure baseline environmental data independently in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, said the ministry.
     Launched on August 8, 2018, PARIVESH (Pro Active and Responsive Facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmental Single-window Hub) is a single window portal for environment clearance, forest clearance, wildlife and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearances.
     Subsequently, the Environment Ministry introduced PARIVESH 2.0 to help project proponents track their environment clearance applications.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)