Centre revives Haryana’s environmental clearance panels

Retired IAS officers head the new bodies after months of vacancies that stalled appraisals. Panels will prioritise pending Category B projects across NCR.

The Centre has reconstituted the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for Haryana, appointing a new chairman and members to oversee environmental clearances for projects across the state, according to a notification issued by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change.

Authorities will scrutinise real estate, mining and infrastructure proposals, with meetings expected soon to address regulatory delays of recent months. (HT Archive)

The reconstituted authority will play a key role in decentralising the environmental clearance (EC) process by empowering states and Union Territories to clear category B projects, which would otherwise require approval at the central level. These projects include real estate developments, infrastructure projects, mining, industrial units, and urban expansion proposals.

As per the Gazette of India notification, retired IAS officer Ankur Gupta has been appointed chairman of the SEIAA, Haryana, while Ram Sarup Verma, also a retired IAS officer, has been named as a member. The director of Haryana’s environment and climate change department will serve as the member-secretary of the authority. HT is in possession of the letter.

For several months before their recent reconstitution, the SEIAA and the SEAC in Haryana remained either vacant or only partially functional. The absence of key members slowed project appraisals and environmental clearances, leading to a mounting regulatory backlog until the government moved to reconstitute the two bodies.

The reconstitution is significant as SEIAA plays a decisive role in granting or rejecting environmental clearances for Category ‘B’ projects, many of which are concentrated in fast-growing districts such as Gurugram, Faridabad and Sonipat.

The rejig plan

Under the same notification, the Centre has also newly constituted the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), whose recommendations will form the basis of SEIAA’s decisions. The SEAC will evaluate project proposals and carry out technical and environmental scrutiny before forwarding its recommendations to the authority.

According to the notification, the SEAC will be headed by Mahabir Prasad Sharma, a retired Indian Forest Service officer, as chairman. Other members include retired senior scientist Jai Bhagwan, environmental expert Naresh Kumar Bhardwaj, Kapil Kumar, head of the civil engineering department at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Delhi, and Sanjeev Kumar, a senior environmental engineer with the Haryana State Pollution Control Board. The chief environmental engineer of the pollution control board will act as member-secretary.

Officials said the tenure of both SEIAA and SEAC members will be three years from the date of publication of the notification.

All decisions of the SEIAA will be taken in formal meetings and are expected to be unanimous, officials said. In cases where decisions are taken by the majority, dissenting views will have to be clearly recorded and forwarded to the central government.

The notification also prescribes strict conflict-of-interest norms. Members are required to declare any past association with consulting organisations or project proponents and must recuse themselves from appraising projects where such links exist. Members are also barred from undertaking consultancy or environmental impact assessment work for projects that come up for appraisal during their tenure.

Environmental experts said the reconstitution comes at a crucial time as Haryana continues to witness intense development pressure, particularly in NCR districts. Vaishali Rana, an environmental expert and trustee of Aravalli Bachao Citizens Movement, welcomed the reconstitution, calling it a timely and necessary step. “With Haryana facing intense development pressure, especially across NCR districts, the reconstitution of SEIAA and SEAC is crucial. Functioning appraisal bodies are essential to ensure that environmental safeguards are not treated as procedural hurdles but as substantive checks that balance development with ecological protection,” she said.

The state government will provide logistical, financial and secretarial support to the authority and committee, while sitting fees and allowances will be paid as per Haryana government rules. “A functional SEIAA and SEAC are critical to balancing development with environmental safeguards. Delays or vacancies often stall projects or weaken scrutiny,” said Rao Narbir Singh, forest and environment minister of Haryana.

Officials said the newly constituted panel is expected to begin functioning immediately, with several pending project proposals awaiting appraisal and clearance.Officials said the newly constituted panel is expected to begin functioning immediately, with the first round of meetings likely to be held within the next few weeks. The authorities aim to take up pending project proposals on priority, with an initial target of clearing a significant portion of the backlog within the next two to three months, subject to the complexity of cases and compliance requirements.