Protesters
#WithdrawEIA2020
A massive public opposition exercise against Environment Impact Assessment Act (EIA) notification 2020

While the pandemic lockdown has quelled all dissent in the past three months, one protest has only gathered steam. Environmental aActivists, lawyers and common citizens across the country are raising their voice against the central government's controversial draft Environment Impact Assessment Act (EIA) Notification 2020.

Aimed at making the EIA process "more transparent and expedient," the draft EIA 2020 notification, first published on April 11, 2020, seeks to remove public consultation entirely in specific developmental projects, reduce the time for public consultation from 45 days to 40 when it comes to specific projects, and finally, allow post-facto approval of these projects. Given the dangers that this poses to communities likely to be displaced by industrial projects, several environment protection groups like Let India Breathe, Greenpeace India, Aarey Conservation Group, Adivasi Lives Matter came together three months ago to raise public awareness and demand the EIA draft's immediate withdrawal. But it's the little known informal groups rallying around the big guns that make this a unique digital protest comprising Twitter storms, artwork on social media , as well as celebrity engagement. The result—lakhs from every corner of the country have sent in their written objections to the Modi government.