The Government of India  is proposing a major rollback of environmental protection that will put forests, rivers, lakes, airsheds, and millions of people at risk. 

On 03 October 2025,  Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued Draft Notification S.O. 4531(E), seeking to exempt landfills and Waste-to-Energy (WTE) incinerators from the Environmental Clearance (EC) process across India.

If this draft is approved:

• No Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be conducted.
• No public hearing will be held.
• Communities will have no warning that a landfill or incinerator is being planned near their homes.
• Polluters will operate without the highest level of scrutiny, despite being among the most hazardous facilities in the country.

Landfills and WTE incinerators release cancer-causing pollutants such as dioxins and furans into the air, water, and soil. Karnataka’s experiences with Mandur and Mavallipura landfills and Delhi’s experience with the Okhla WTE incinerator show the devastating and often irreversible harm to public health and the environment—even under existing regulations. A rollback will only make pollution extensive and irreversible.

By removing Environmental Clearance, the government is dismantling the only preventive and precautionary safeguard that evaluates environmental and social impacts before a project is approved. It also silences public participation—the only democratic avenue through which citizens can object to hazardous projects in their neighbourhoods.

We cannot allow environmental regulation to be weakened in the name of “ease of business” or the misleading label of “Essential Environmental Services.”

We urge the MoEFCC to withdraw Draft Notification S.O. 4531(E) immediately.
Landfills and WTE incinerators must remain subject to full Environmental Clearance—without exception.

We call upon citizens, students, civil society groups, academics, researchers, and policymakers across India to stand together and protect our health, our rivers, our forests, and our constitutional right to a clean environment.

Email your objections to MoEFCC directly by 02 Dec 2025: diriapolicy-moefcc@gov.in

Sign this petition, email and demand accountability, transparency, and environmental justice for all.

A detailed analysis available here => https://mappingmalnad.com/a-license-to-pollute/

Link to Campaign: STOP removal of EC for Landfills and WTE => https://mappingmalnad.com/campaign-stop-license-to-pollute/