NEW DELHI:A pragmatic judicial review of existing environment restrictions is the need of the hour, says Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal. He was addressing the valedictory session of the International Conference on Global Environmental Issues.
The Minister said development can happen without the destruction of the environment but cautioned against sensationalisation of issues.
“Sometimes a judicial over-reach or sensationalisation of a particular issue can do more damage than good. Take the example of hill stations. In the name of the environment we restrict construction activity. But with the growing aspirations of the people there are more and more traffic jams on the roads leading up to the hill stations, causing more pollution and greater harm than building better roads” said Goyal.
He added that the time has come to map out India’s forest cover and natural resources again.