THE Union government is reformulating environmental clearance procedures in order to speed up green clearances for projects. Officials in the environment ministry have completed almost 90 per cent of the work. The new procedure is expected to be ready within a month.

The questionnaire which accompanies the application form for setting up a project is being re-designed . The new form will exclude redundant information and add categories relevant for the project under clearance like site details, distance from national parks and socio-economic profile of the people living in the neighbourhood.

At present, we get several applications with unnecessary information and the appraisal committees have to invariably ask for additional data, according to ministry officials. Industrialists and environmentalists both are unhappy with the present clearance norms.