'Natural
abilities are like natural plants that need pruning by study'.-
Francis Bacon
1.0 The Study in Perspective The twentieth century has witnessed a profound
change in the relationship between the human world and the natural systems
of the only life-sustaining planet - the Earth. During this century population
increase coupled with enhanced technological puissance resulted in a situation
where the Man can radically alter the global systems. As the new millenium
settles down the increasing rate of adverse changes in the ecosystem is outstripping
the abilities of scientific disciplines to assess and advise (Uzwyshyn 1990).
It was only during the seventh decade of the century when a significant and
perceptible change in the intellectual concept of human development could
be noticed. A wide scale realisation emerged that the economic development
achieved out of the prevalent consumptive pattern of natural resource utilisation
could not be sustained over the long-term unless some drastic and radical
changes are incorporated in the paradigm of human development. In consequence
various alternatives, from 'zero growth' to 'ecologically sustainable development'
-, emerged. While the phrase sustainable development has struck, debates are
still going on to find the ways and means of achieving such development.
However, one effect of such environmental awakening was achievement of a general
consensus on the need for better management of human actions at various levels
of hierarchy, viz., policies, plans, programmes and projects. Such management
efforts may be realised through the following three different approaches -
1. Through inculcation of a change in the social value system.
2. Through adoption of a 'command and control' approach.
3. Through market mechanisms.
While need for changes in man's relation to environment can best be achieved
through the changes in social behaviour, the present system of governance
all over the world does not allow any time-bound and stand-alone mechanism
to achieve the same. Pragmatism, therefore, demands that immediate priority
be assigned either to 'command and control' or to 'market mechanisms' or preferably,
to both.
1.0.1 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
Much of the recent conscious efforts towards management of human development
in harmony with nature was through 'command-and-control' approaches. Notwithstanding
the inherent limitations of such approaches, the directness of the measures
taken often finds significant appeal among the conservationists. This is evident
through passage of numerous environmental enactments all over the world, cutting
across the North-South divide. The real fillip, however, came from the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (1969) in the USA. The Act, for the first
time, mandated obligatory environmental assessment studies for all federal
actions which may have an impact on man's environment. A very positive fallout
of NEPA in USA is that decisions on major federal activities can only be taken
with fore-knowledge of their likely environmental consequences (Wathern 1988).
The immediate influence of NEPA can be gauged from the fact that similar enactments
were passed not only in the states of the USA (the so-called mini NEPAs),
but also were soon followed in other developed and developing countries, which
established procedures for EIA. Many bilateral and multilateral agencies and
international financial institutes also framed guidelines for EIA studies.
Perhaps the most unfortunate fallout of the regulatory measures is that in
many cases EIA is conceived and implemented as a study needed to comply with
these legislative requirements and in the process the primary objective, -
environmental management to achieve optimal utilisation of natural resources
in order to ensure environmental sustainability is often lost.