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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

UNIT -I

EIA: an activity carried out to determine the and minimize the impact of any project on physical,
chemical, biological parameters of environment and also on human health termed as
“environmental impact assessment” the main aim of environmental impact assessment to
determine the overall impact of a project on environment.
Generally, EIA carried out before any project started and ensure that any activity in project will
not harm the environment either in small duration of time or in long duration. Every project should
involve the detail assessment of its effects on environment besides being assesses for analysis cost
and benefits
FUNCTIONS OF EIA:

 To identify the impact.

 Quantification of impact.
 mitigation of impact through EMP.
 Monitoring and Evaluation of impact

Features of EIA:

 To identify both the positive and negative impacts of project on environment. The
assessment is done for both short- and long-term periods
 The plan of the project such as a way that the negative impacts of a project on environment
are reduced to a considerable extent. The reduction of negative impact may be done either
by considering an alternative project or modifying the proposed project
 To check the implementation of planned project and its effectiveness using a monitoring
program.

IMPACT:

The term environmental impact refers to a positive (beneficial) or negative (adverse) change to
ecosystems or human health as a consequence of human intervention in the environment through
proposed public and private developmental activities such as projects and programs. first type of
study is undertaken to enable environment and heritage protection, and biodiversity conservation
in order to avoid or reduce the significant impacts

Some examples of projects that are impact on environment include, industrial estate development
projects, urban development projects, waste water treatment plants, oil and gas pipelines, fish meal
and fish oil factories, petroleum, extraction and refineries, cement manufacturing industries,

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nuclear power plants" dams, transport infrastructure (example, airport runway and roads), natural
resource exploitation (example sand extraction).

INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION:

Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) is a process of reviewing environmental integrity of a

project for determining whether the full-scale study of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
is required or not.
If the result of IEE specifies that the study of full scale is not required, then the analysis of EIA
for such projects are completed by using any environmental management parameters (like
environmental protection measures or monitoring programs). Under the requirement of full-scale
study in EIA, the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) is adopted for identifying the key
issues. These key issues are used for analyzing the EIA completely. IEE will also determine other
environmental review and consultation requirement in order to make the study concurrent with
EIA" Initial environmental examinations are required before going for final environmental impact
assessment.
As it serves the following reasons,
• Initial environmental examination for projects oriented with environmental management
will minimize or reduce their effort, expense and delay in planning.
• IEE eliminates or reduces the extraneous or unneeded discussion from EIA reports.
• IEE prepares a suitable environmental management plan with or without a full-scale EIA.

For most of the industrial development projects, IEE is desirable from economical point of view

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ELEMENTS OF EIA / EIA PROCESS / STAGES OF EIA

1. Screening: Screening of developmental program is usually done by an EIA authority/

environmental consultant/ government agency consisting a variety of experts as a
multidisciplinary team like environmental science engineers, ecologist, botanist,
zoologists, agricultural scientist, economist and sociologist
the component is thus quick, easy to use and considered to be the best method of decision
making

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Key contributions of screening to a good EIA:

 Facilitates informed decision making by providing clear, well-structured, factual

analysis of the effects and consequences of proposed actions.

 Influences both project selection and policy design by screening out environmentally
and/or socially unsound proposals, as well as modifying feasible action.

2. Scoping: this step recognizes the important issues of concern at a preliminary level of
planning process. It helps in site selection, possible technical options and avoid all kinds of
delays that arise during the project. The step of the development process involves the
developer, planning or environmental agencies, local communities and other stakeholders.
In essence, the scoping process should be focused. Comprehensive, Flexible but systematic,
as well as provide sufficient information to the public about the proposed project and
understand the project and issues

• Identifying all relevant issues and factors, including cumulative effects, social impacts, and
health risks.
• Facilitating meaningful public engagement and review.
• Determining the appropriate time and space boundaries of the EIA.
• Identifying the important issues to be considered in the EIA, such as setting the baseline
and identifying alternatives

3. Impact Assessment
 This step is the core part of an EIA.

 It refers to the detailed evaluation of the environmental and social impacts of the planned
project and identified alternatives, compared to the baseline conditions. This includes
qualitative descriptions such as measuring high, medium and low impacts, and quantitative
descriptions, such as indicating the cubic meters of water withdrawn, sewage produced,

and pollutants released. This is done for the planned project as well as the identified
alternatives, allowing for comparisons. Once the detailed assessment is complete,
mitigation measures to reduce or avoid impacts are identified

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Mitigation

IT refers to minimizing or avoiding the described impacts. Overall, mitigation measures are a
response to the findings of impact assessment; they need to cover all the areas identified. The key
focus of mitigation actions should be on:

 Preventive measures that avoid the occurrence of impacts and thus avoid harm or even
produce positive outcomes.

 Measures that focus on limiting the severity and the duration of the impacts.
 It provides a clear and itemized list of relevant impacts on the environment and people,
including cumulative effects, social impacts, and health risks.

 Based on the results of the impact assessment, a detailed list of mitigation actions is
identified

4. Impact Management:

Essentially, impact management is the creation of a series of plans and protocols aiming to manage
and monitor the identified mitigation measures and risks that may occur over the project lifetime,
such as technology failures and natural disasters. Some of the plans are compulsory, such as an
environmental management plan (EMP), which is required as part of an EIA report in most
countries. Other plans are context-specific and/or depend on guidance from national legislation.
For example, if the project takes place in close proximity to a community, a resettlement plan may
be needed; if there are no communities close by, a resettlement plan would not be necessary. Impact
Management begins during the project’s planning phase and continues on after project
implementation

6.EIA Report:

The EIA Report is a compilation of several important project components, including the project
description, the assessment of its environmental and social impacts, mitigation measures, and
related management and monitoring plans. During this step, all the information gathered during
the previous steps is compiled into a comprehensive report that analyzes and synthesizes the data,
structuring it as stipulated in the terms of reference (TOR).

A quality EIA Report has the following characteristics:

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 It is well-structured and uses non-technical language supported by data and well-executed

analyses.

 It provides information that is helpful and relevant to decision making.

It results in the satisfactory prediction of the adverse effects of the proposed actions and their
mitigation using conventional and customized techniques

7.Review:

Review and Licensing is the final check on the quality of the EIA report submitted to obtain a
project license. Once the EIA report is submitted, designated authorities will usually go through it
thoroughly, weighing the methods used, data, interpretations, measures and conclusions to assess
the impacts of the planned development. Their review will determine whether or not the project
adequately addresses major environmental and social impacts and other risks, and whether or not
to grant a license to the project proponents, or to request project changes. This means that a good
quality EIA might still lead to the planned development not being permitted to go ahead based on
the identified impacts. Often, the review process leads to a requirement for additional information
on potential impacts, mitigation measures or other aspects.

The review is carried out to confirm the quality of the information and methods used in the EIA,
and to verify that the EIA report addresses all the relevant mitigation measures as well as all the
critical and cumulative impacts.
The key objectives of EIA review are to:

 Assess the adequacy and quality of an EIA report.

 Take into account public comments.
 Determine if the information is sufficient for a final decision to be made.

 Identify any deficiencies that must be addressed before the report can be submitted.

8.Monitoring or Follow Up:

Monitoring provides data on the environmental and social impacts of the project for the whole
project lifecycle. As part of their operations, most development projects involve regular monitoring
of indicators (including such things as quantity of ores extracted, materials processed, energy used
and sewage released, etc.). More specifically, the information collected during monitoring
activities helps to ensure that the priorities listed in the Environmental Management Plan (EMP),

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mitigation measures, and contingency plans are properly implemented, and that these plans and
measures are effective in addressing the project’s impacts.

Monitoring is critical to ensuring the fulfillment of all the commitments made in the approved EIA.
It is one of the ongoing outcomes of EIA for a given project. Monitoring is also important for
keeping track of any changes that happen in the environment and in communities because of the
project and other local and/or global events, such as changes in livelihoods due to economic crisis
or migration, or differences in water availability due to drought. After the project is implemented,
basic monitoring efforts will continue during project remediation.

Factors Affecting EIA

The study on the factors affecting the ElA process helps to evaluate, analyze and report on the
environmental conditions from the activities resulting from several developments. An EIA should
include details of the following aspects at the proposed project site,

i. Meteorology and Air Quality

It includes:
• The effect of temperature
• Precipitation, relative humidity, evaporation and fog conditions
• Wind patterns
• Severe weathers (such as hurricanes, volcanoes)
• Air quality and odor levels
• Sound levels and sources of sound at the proposed project development site
These studies are carried out with the help of computer models, satellite data and climate theories.

ii. Topography
It includes the local and regional geology studies, major land formations, geologic structure and
resources, and seismic hazards.

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iii. Water
The quality of surface water and ground water along with hydrological studies.

iv. Demographics
This refers to the population distribution, change in population numbers, population
characteristics (such
as sex-ratio, age structure, rate of migration), municipal services (such as demand for social
services, hospital beds, school places, housing etc).

v. Land Use
This includes the purpose for which the land is used, namely agricultural activities, industrial
activities or mining activities, regional planning for future use, zoning etc.

vi. Soil Conditions

Type/classification of soil, properties of soil, soil mapping.

vii. Mineral Resources/Activities

The mineral resources available at the proposed project development site. Examples: Uranium,
coal, other minerals, oil and gas etc.,
Ecological studies involving data on type and dominant species of flora, fauna, avifauna, aquatic
biota. reptiles, amphibians. endangered species, threatened species, man introduced species,
timber value densities and distribution of species, habitat, migratory species and species of
commercial importance.

The other additional factors affecting EIA evaluation and analysis are:
• Population density
• Extent of the developmental activity.
• Relocation/displacement of inhabitants of the area.
• Resource availability
• Environmental resilience
• Sustainability of the environment
• Absorptive capacity of the environment.

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The proposed development activity must have minimum negative impact on the environment and
deliver positive, social, environmental and economic outcomes and thus contributes to healthy and
resilient ecological system.
All these factors have to be taken into consideration during EIA process to enable to better design
buildings, plan heating and cooling systems as well as practicing sustainable agricultural activities.

IMPACT EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS:

Environmental impact evaluation is one of the complicated steps in EIA process. The project
related environmental impacts first need to be predicted based on the scientific understanding of
Cause - effect relationship. Experts in this field are of the view that different approaches are used
to evaluate the impact significance.
The magnitude of an impact and its characteristics can be determined by the following criteria:

a. The nature of impact weather it positive or negative, or neutral

b. The extent to which the impact has spread and its duration
c. Intensity of impact, weather low, moderate or severe
d. Duration of impact, weather is temporary or permanent or continuous
e. The possibility of mitigation of negative impact and to what extent
f. The changes occur of impact.

When there is other project which are either in development stage or completed, the result would
be a cumulative impact prediction. However, prediction of impacts is usually ascertained by case
studies as example or analogies studies related to quantitative models, statical models and
experiments
Following the identification and prediction of impacts interpretation of impact is carried to find
out alternatives so that appropriate decisions are taken to reduce the environmental impact
Some of the several evaluation methodologies for evaluation of environmental impacts for human
activities include the following

RISK ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY: This method includes the following steps

Hazard identification
Risk estimation.
Risk communication

All these steps aim at identifying the risks and reduce their impact to acceptable level

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The objectives of risk assessment during any project activity are

 Identification of chemical and physical sources of contaminants and pollutants of the
environment
 Identification of specific construction activities that generate pollutants
 Identification and adoption of pollutant control method
 Identify the locations where the inhabitants are likely to encounter air-borne pollutants

Base line data

A base line data refers to the collection of information and data before a project begins. It is
actually the description of the proposed project. it should include the project purpose, technical
aspects such as engineering and design with proper visuals such as maps, figures, tables and graphs
to communicate the technical information. The project description should be clear, understandable,
concise and with relevance for decision making
The base line data is used to provide a comparison for assessing program impact This is important
to enable the policy makers, government officials, development managers, civil society and
beneficiaries to monitor and track changes.
A baseline data is important. firstly, to set future targets of the project and secondly, to estimate
the changes during the progress of project. When proper baseline data is not collected, indicates
the following:
• Insufficient project planning and oversight
• Budget constraints
• Time constraints
• Lack of political will
• disinterest by the management and decision-makers.

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BASE MAP

A base map is an aerial photograph, which simply means the photograph taken from air, with the
help of an air-drone camera fitted to a light aircraft / helicopter. Such special survey aircraft consist
of a flight management system with 2-3 technicians or specialist, aerial metric camera etc. the
camera used are film based, single lens frame camera. The photogrammetric scanner enables the
conversion of analog images into digital files and represented as a pixel.
EBM is one of the important stages of project development activity. It consists the plan and final
design of the proposed construction in the form of a schematic drawing. It also includes the basic
information of the project site such as environmental situations, population distribution, soil
conditions, meteorology and air quality, topography, surface and ground water hydrology and
ecological resources. It provides information on the exiting status of the ecosystem potentially
threatened by the developmental activities
The environmental base map is prepared by using computer aided AutoCAD map 3D environment
or the other powerful technologies such as graphic information system

ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS /components of EIA

The environmental data at the site, where a particular proposed action is being considered for an
EIA study, is collected
by the EIA team members, comprising of administrators, biologists, local politicians, geologists,
journalists, sociologists, economists and engineers. The environmental parameters are broadly
categorized into the following types;
Land
The following details of the land are necessary:
• Land ownership
• Land tenure
• Existing land use
• Crop productivity
• Natural vegetation.
The land data enables less adverse social impacts on the indigenous people to provide equitable
benefits to local communities.
Climatic profile:

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The climatic profile of the site, where a particular proposed action is being considered, should,
include data on rainfall, evaporation, wind speed and direction, relative humidity minimum and
maximum temperatures, barometric pressure etc.
Flora
The study of flora at title proposed development site should
include:
• Inventory of terrestrial and aquatic flora
• Population of different types of vegetation
• Density data of different types of vegetation
• Identification of valuable species
• Identification of rare/endangered species.
Fauna
The study of fauna at the proposed development site should
include;
• Inventory of terrestrial, aquatic and arboreal fauna
• Population of different types of fauna
• Density data of different types of fauna  Data on permanent and migratory population
• Data on endangered species.
• Terrain Analysis
The study of terrestrial analysis at the proposed construction site
should include:

Geology and geomorphology

• Classification of land(such as arable land, grazing Iand, wetland and wilderness land)
• Drainage
• Hydrogeology
• Soil classification, characteristics like fertility of
• soil, erodibility; depth etc.
• Erosion potential.

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Air Quality Studies

This includes:
• The amount of suspended particular matter, and fallout dust in air
• Concentration of gaseous emissions like sulphur dioxide, noxious fumes. etc.

Water Quality Studies

This study should include:
• The quality of surface water and groundwater resources.
• Temperature, pH, turbidity; conductivity, total dissolved solids, hardness. total alkalinity,
acidity, contents of calcium, magnesium, dissolved oxygen, dissolved carbon dioxide,
chloride, sulfate, silica, iron, copper, manganese, sodium, potassium, carbonate,
bicarbonate, hydroxide, total anions, total anions, suspended solids, sulphites, chlorine,
fluoride, phosphate, silica, suspended solids, biological oxygen demand and . chemical
oxygen demand.

Some examples of various impacts are:

Biological
Vegetation - Destruction of forest cover, changes in species, diversity, etc.
Health - Free from natural disasters etc.
Ecological - Food chain, diseases etc.
Psychological - Stress, challenges etc.
Economical
Economic and occupational - Displacement of population services, distribution pattern etc'
Social
Cultural -- Leisure, fashion etc.
Lifestyle - Food, housing, recreation etc.
Relationships - Family life, feelings etc.
Amenities - Hospitals, schools etc.
Traditional belief - Symbols, values etc.
Aesthetic -Visual physical challenges, moral conduct etc.
Legal - Public policy, change in taxes etc.

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Political. - Authority, structure of decisions etc.

Statutory Laws - Quality standards, bye laws etc.

Physical.
Air - Degradation, type of emissions released. Water
-Availability, quality, use, pollution etc., Solid waste
- Excess generation etc.
Natural. Resources -- Effects on natural resources etc.
Soil - Effects on stability of soil
Geology - Availability of energy sources etc.
Man-made facilities -'structures, transportation etc.
Physical Amenities - National parks, monuments etc.
Technology '- Hazards, safety measures etc.
Processes - Floods, erosion, deposition etc

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Government of India Ministry of Environment and Forest Notification:

i. Project locations:
The site(s) selection can be an effective approach in minimizing the requirement of
mitigation measures.
Proposed project locations should be reviewed based upon regulatory and non-regulatory criteria.
Project siting restrictions depend on the sensitivity of the surrounding environment.
Sensitivity should be assessed in relation to proximity of the project to the places/sites listed in
Annex II A list of identified ecologically sensitive zones (ESZ) notified by MOEF is given

ii. The siting criteria delineated by MoEF include:

I. As far as possible prime agricultural land/forest land may not be converted into an
industrial site
II. Land acquired should be minimum but sufficient to provide for a green belt wherein the
treated wastewater, if possible/suitable, could be utilized from wastewater treatment
systems
III. Enough space may be provided for storing solid wastes. The space and the waste can be
made available for possible reuse in future
IV. Layout and form of the project must conform to the landscape of the area without unduly
affecting the scenic features of that place
V. Associated township of the project if any to be created must provide for space for photo-
graphic barrier between the project and the township and should take into account
predominant wind direction.

In addition, the following distances should be maintained:

• Coastal Areas: at least 1/2 km from the high tide line (within 0.5 km of High Tide Line
(HTL), specified activities as per CRZ notification, 1991 are permitted) (The HTL is to be
delineated by the authorized agency only.)
• Estuaries: At least 200 meters from the estuary boundaries
Flood Plains of the Riverine systems: at least 500 meters from flood plain or modified
flood plain or by flood control systems
• Transport/Communication System: at least 500 meters from highway and railway Major
Settlements (3,00,000 population) at least 25 km from the projected growth boundary of
the settlement
• An addition to the siting criteria listed above, the proposed project location should be
reviewed in relation to the following salient issues: Ambient air, water and noise quality
standards
• Critically polluted areas
• Natural disaster prone areas

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• Ecologically sensitive areas

• Availability of water and other critical infrastructures like electricity, roads with adequate
width and capacity

List of Projects Requiring Environmental Clearance :

1. Nuclear Power and related projects such as Heavy Water Plants, nuclear fuel complex,
Rare Earths.
2. River Valley projects including hydel power, major Irrigation and their combination
including flood control.
3. Ports, Harbours, Airports (except minor ports and harbors).
4. Petroleum Refineries including crude and product pipelines.
5. Chemical Fertilizers (Nitrogenous and Phosphatic other than single superphosphate).
6. Pesticides (Technical).
7. Petrochemical complexes (Both Olefinic and Aromatic) and Petro- chemical intermediates
such as DMT, Caprolactam, LAB etc. and production of basic plastics such as LLDPE,
HDPE, PP, PVC.
8. Bulk drugs and pharmaceuticals.
9. Exploration for oil and gas and their production, transportation and storage.
10. Synthetic Rubber.
11. Asbestos and Asbestos products.
12. Hydrocyanic acid and its derivatives.
(a) Primary metallurgical industries (such as production of Iron and Steel, Aluminum,
Copper, Zinc, Lead and Ferro Alloys).
(b) Electric arc furnaces (Mini Steel Plants).
13. Chlor alkali industry.
14. Integrated paint complex including manufacture of resins and basic raw materials required
in the manufacture of paints.
15. Viscose Staple fiber and filament yarn.
16. Storage batteries integrated with manufacture of oxides of lead and lead antimony alloys.
17. All tourism projects between 200m—500 meters of High Water Line and at locations with
an elevation of more than 1000 meters with investment of more than Rs.5 crores.
18. Thermal Power Plants.
19. Mining projects (major minerals) with leases more than 5 hectares.
20. Highway Projects except projects relating to improvement work including widening and
strengthening of roads with marginal land acquisition along the existing alignments
provided it does not pass through ecologically sensitive areas such as National Parks,
Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves, Reserve Forests

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21. Tarred Roads in the Himalayas and or Forest areas.

22. Distilleries.
23. Raw Skins and Hides 24. Pulp, paper and newsprint.
25. Dyes.
26. Cement.
27. Foundries (individual)
28. Electroplating
29. Meta amino phenol

Application Form:

1. (a) Name and Address of the project proposed :

Location of the project:

• Name of the
Place:
• District, Tehsil:
• Latitude/Longitude:
• Nearest Airport/Railway Station :
• Alternate sites examined and the reasons for selecting the proposed site: 
Does the site conform to stipulated land use as per local land use plan:
2. Objectives of the project:

3. (a) Land Requirement:

• Agriculture Land:
• Forest land and Density of vegetation:
• Other (specify):
(b)
• Land use in the Catchment within 10 kms radius of the proposed site:
• Topography of the area indicating gradient, aspects and altitude:
• Erodibility classification of the proposed land:
(c) Pollution sources existing in 10 km radius and their impact on quality of air, water
and land:
(d) Distance of the nearest National Park/Sanctuary/Biosphere
Reserve/Monuments/heritage site/Reserve Forest:
(e) Rehabilitation plan for quarries/borrow areas:
(f) Green belt plan:

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(g)Compensatory a forestation plan:

4. Climate and Air Quality:
(a) Windrose at site:
(b) Max/Min/Mean annual temperature:
(c) Frequency of inversion:
(d) Frequency of cyclones/tornadoes/cloud burst:
(e) Ambient air quality data:
(f) Nature & concentration of emission of SPM, Gas (CO, CO 2, NOx, CHn etc.) from
the project:

5. Water balance:
(a) Water balance at site:
(b) Lean season water availability; Water Requirement:
(c) Source to be tapped with competing users (River, Lake, Ground, Public supply):
(d) Water quality:
(e) Changes observed in quality and quantity of groundwater in the last years and
present charging and extraction details:
(f) Quantum of waste water to be released with treatment details:
• Quantum of quality of water in the receiving body before and after
disposal of solid wastes:
• Quantum of waste water to be released on land and type of land:

(g)
• Details of reservoir water quality with necessary Catchment
Treatment Plan:
• Command Area Development Plan:
6. Solid wastes:
 Nature and quantity of solid wastes generated  Solid
waste disposal method:
7. Noise and Vibrations:
• Sources of Noise and Vibrations:
• Ambient noise level:
• Noise and Vibration control measures proposed:
• Subsidence problem, if any, with control measures:
8. Power requirement indicating source of supply: Complete environmental details to be
furnished separately, if captive power unit proposed:

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9. Peak labour force to be deployed giving details of: o Endemic health problems in
the area due to waste water/air/soil borne diseases:
o Health care system existing and proposed:
10.
 Number of villages and population to be displaced: 
Rehabilitation Master Plan:
11. Risk Assessment Report and Disaster Management Plan:
12.
• Environmental Impact Assessment  Environment
Management Plan:  Detailed Feasibility Report:
• Duly filled in questionnaire
Report prepared as per guidelines issued by the Central Government in the MOEF from
time to time:
13. Details of Environmental Management Cell:

I hereby give an undertaking that the data and information given above are due to the best
of my knowledge and belief and I am aware that if any part of the data/information submitted is
found to be false or misleading at any stage, the project be rejected and the clearance given, if
any, to the project is likely to be revoked at our risk and cost.

Signature of the
applicant with name and full address

Given under the seal Organization on behalf of whom the applicant is signing
Date:

Place:

Composition of The Expert Committees for Environmental Impact Assessment:

1. The Committees will consist of experts in the following disciplines:

• Eco-system Management

• Air/Water Pollution Control

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• Water Resource Management

• Flora/Fauna conservation and management

• Land Use Planning

• Social Sciences/Rehabilitation

• Project Appraisal

• Ecology

• Environmental Health

• Subject Area Specialists

• Representatives of NGOs/persons concerned with environmental issues.

2. The Chairman will be an outstanding and experienced ecologist or environmentalist or

technical professional with wide managerial experience in the relevant development
sector.
3. The representative of Impact Assessment Agency will act as a Member- Secretary.
4. Chairman and Members will serve in their individual capacities except those specifically
nominated as representatives.
The Membership of a Committee shall not exceed 15

Indian Policies Requiring EIA:

The environmental impact assessment in India was started in 1976-77 when the Planning
Commission asked the then Department of Science and Technology to examine the river-valley
projects from environmental angle. This was subsequently extended to cover those projects, which
required approval of the Public Investment Board. These were administrative decisions, and lacked
the legislative support. The Government of India enacted the Environment (Protection) Act on 23rd
May 1986. To achieve the objectives of the Act, one of the decisions that were taken is to make
environmental impact assessment statutory. After following the legal procedure, a notification was
issued on 27th January 1994 and subsequently amended on 4th May 1994, 10th April 1997 and 27th
January 2000 (Annex 1) making environmental impact assessment statutory for 30 activities. This
is the principal piece of legislation governing environmental impact assessment.
Besides this the Government of India under Environment (Protection) Act 1986 issued a
number of other notifications, which are related to environmental impact assessment. These are
limited to specific geographical areas.

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• Prohibiting location of industries except those related to Tourism in a belt of 1 km from

high tide mark from the Revdanda Creek up to Devgarh Point (near Shrivardhan) as well as
in 1 km belt along the banks of Rajpuri Creek in Murud Janjira area in the
Raigarh district of Maharashtra (6th January 1989)
• Restricting location of industries, mining operations and regulating other activities in Doon
Valley (1st February 1989)
• Regulating activities in the coastal stretches of the country by classifying them as coastal
regulation zone and prohibiting certain activities (19th February 1991)
• Restricting location of industries and regulating other activities in Dahanu Taluka in
Maharashtra (6th June 91)
• Restricting certain activities in specified areas of Aravalli Range in the Gurgaon district of
Haryana and Alwar district of Rajasthan (7th May 1992)
• Regulating industrial and other activities, which could lead to pollution and congestion in an
area north west of Numaligarh in Assam (5th July 1996)

ECO SENSITIVE ZONES (ECZ)

Eco-Sensitive Zones or Ecologically Fragile Areas are areas within 10 kms around Protected Areas,
National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

ESZs are notified by MoEFCC, Government of India under Environment Protection Act 1986.

In case of places with sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial
for landscape linkage, even area beyond 10 km width can also be included in the eco-sensitive
zone.

The basic aim is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries so as
to minimize the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystem encompassing the
protected areas

ACTIVITIES ALLOWED IN ECZ

Prohibited activities: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution(air, water, soil,
noise etc), establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism
activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or
production of hazardous substances.

Regulated activities: Felling of trees, establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of
natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of
heavy technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.

Department of civil engineering, SBIT.

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Permitted activities: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting,

organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, adoption of green technology for all activities

Challenges and Threats to Eco-Sensitive Zones

Developmental activities:
Activities such as construction of dams, roads, urban and rural infrastructures in the ESZ, create
interference, negatively impact upon the environment and imbalance the ecological system.

For example, construction of road would lead to cutting down of trees which would further impact
upon, soil erosion thereby destroying the habitats of the species preserved under the ESZ.

Governance and new laws:

By failing to recognize the rights of forest communities and curbing poaching of animal,
legislations like Environmental Protection Act 1986, and Wildlife Protection Act 1972, undermine
the ESZs in favour of developmental activities.

For example - the new draft notification for reducing the ESZs of Bannerghatta
National Park.
Tourism:
As the pressure of tourism is rising, the government is developing new sites and gateways to the
ESZ.
To cater to the increasing demand for eco-tourism, land around parks and sanctuaries is being
cleared through deforestation, displacement of local people etc.

The tourists leave behind garbage such as plastic bags and bottles etc. which lead to
environmental degradation.

Introduction of exotic species: Exotic species like Eucalyptus and Acacia auriculiformis etc.,
and their plantations create a competing demand on naturally occurring forests.

Climate change:

Biodiversity and climate change are interconnected, for example, the rise in global temperature
has generated land, water and ecological stress on the ESZs.

For example, forest fires or the Assam floods which badly affected the Kaziranga National Park
and its wildlife.

Local communities: Slash and burn techniques used in agriculture, pressure of increasing
population and the rising demand for firewood and forest produce, etc. exerts pressure on the
protected areas.

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Department of civil engineering, SBIT.