The ministry of environment has appointed former coal secretary Alok Perti as chairperson of the expert appraisal committee on river valley and hydroelectric projects.
Green activists question the credentials of Perti, who, as coal secretary, has been quoted as saying, “India has to decide whether she wants electricity or tigers.” During his tenure as coal secretary, he repeatedly accused the environment ministry of being a roadblock in clearing several coal projects.
Green lawyer Ritwick Dutta pointed out, “It is extremely disturbing to see a person with no expertise on crucial issues of environment, biodiversity and rivers to be heading an EAC.” The other nine members of the committee also repeatedly possess little expertise in rivers, climate change or disaster management. “These issues have come to the fore in the light of the Uttarakhand disaster and the environment ministry should have paid heed to them,’ said Parineeta Dandekar of Sandrp. The appointment of Hardip S. Kingra is intriguing. He was involved in organisation of the Commonwealth Games and was chairman of National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development corporation.