Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)

• Context (IE): According to the EIA report, the trapping of workers in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand might not have happened if there had been a separate escape tunnel.
• The project had dismissed the idea of a separate escape tunnel, citing increased construction time, cost, and low anticipated traffic volume.

A separate escape tunnel is a duct running next to the main tunnel with access at regular intervals.

Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)

• EIA is a tool to anticipate the likely environmental impacts of the proposed developmental activities and suggest mitigation measures and strategies.
• EIA was introduced in India in 1978 for river valley projects.
• Later, the EIA legislation was enhanced to include other developmental sections.
• EIA comes under Notification on EIA of Developmental Projects 1994 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 provisions.
• EIA is now mandatory for more than 30 categories of projects, and these projects get Environmental Clearance (EC) only after the EIA requirements are fulfilled.
• EC is granted by the Impact Assessment Agency in the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

Salient Features of the 2006 Amendment to EIA Notification

• The EIA Notification of 2006 has decentralised the environmental clearance projects by categorising the developmental projects into two categories:
  1. Category A (national-level appraisal)
  2. Category B (state-level appraisal)

Drawbacks of the EIA

• Applicability: Certain projects with significant environmental impacts are exempted due to category classification or investment thresholds provided in the notification.
• Lack of expertise: EIA teams may lack diverse expertise from environmental science, wildlife, and social sciences, leading to incomplete assessments.
• Ineffective public hearings: Public comments are not considered at the early stage, which often leads to conflict at the later stage of project clearance.
• Weak compliance monitoring
• Biased EIA reports
• Data and information gaps

Case Study: Char Dham Project

• Chardham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojna seeks to improve connectivity between four pilgrimage sites – Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri – in Uttarakhand.
• The project was started in 2016 and is now nearing completion.
• It focuses on the widening of the existing roads in the region.
• The entire length of the highways will be two-laned with paved shoulder.
• It is implemented by three executing agencies of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways:
  1. Uttarakhand State Public Works Department
  2. Border Road Organization (BRO)
  3. National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL)

How the Char Dhan Project Escaped EIA?

• The Char Dham project was broken down into “53 civil works” to avail the exemption from environmental clearance provided to all linear projects under 100 km since 2013.