Mumbai University > First Year Engineering > Sem 1 > Environmental Studies

Marks: 5M

Year: Dec 2015

1. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the formal process used to predict the environmental consequences (positive or negative) of a plan, policy, program, or project prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action.
2. The environmental clearance process is required for 39 types of projects and covers aspects like screening, scoping and evaluation of the upcoming project. The main purpose is to assess impact of the planned project on the environment and people and to try to abate/minimize the same.

1. PUBLIC HEARING:- Involvement of the public is one of the fundamental principles of a successful EIA process. It not only provides an opportunity to those directly affected by a project to express their views on the environmental and social impacts of the proposal but also brings about transparency in the environmental clearance system. Nearly all EIA systems make some sort of provision for public involvement. This could be in the form of public consultation (or dialogue) or public participation (which is a more interactive and intensive process of stakeholder engagement). Most EIA processes are undertaken through public consultation rather than participation. Public consultation refers to the process by which the concerns of the local people regarding the adverse impacts of a project are ascertained and taken into account in the EIA study. This concept was legally introduced in India in the form of ‘public hearing’ in 1997. Since then the public hearing process has been conducted as a mandatory step of environmental clearance for most projects and activities.