7. Summary and conclusions .

"Questa conclusione, benche' trovata da povera gente, c'è parsa cos? giusta, che abbiam pensato di metterla qui, come il sugo di tutta la storia" . - Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi

7.0 Introduction
Till the 1960s project planning paid scant regards to environmental considerations. It was only during the period between mid 60s and early 70s when an unprecedented increase in the interest in, and the awareness of, environmental issues emerged. The close interrelationship between environment and development were better understood. The early reaction of environment versus development was replaced by the idea of environmentally sound development. At the level of macroeconomics sustainable development emerged as the principal theme. At the level of project planning this called for the fulfilment of environmental sustainability criteria.

Within the larger challenge of sustainable development lies an intense challenge to ensure environmentally sound economic growth. During the last twenty years a huge literature has appeared on sustainable development yet, the concept of sustainable development could not be fully translated into operation. However certain consensus has emerged that decision making on development projects can no longer be based only on legal permissibility, technical feasibility and economic profitability. A fourth consideration, - 'environmental sustainability' must also be in-built into the decision making process. Environmental sustainability of a development project can only be ensured through integration of environmental considerations in project planning. While full scale success still eludes and, in spite of the rhetoric, appropriate methodology for such an integration still does not exist, gradually a situation has emerged when increased attention is being paid to improve our knowledge on how to prevent destruction of natural resource base. Over the years carrying capacity based planning concept have been emerging as the principal tool which promises to fulfil this objective.

Broadly speaking early attempts to include environmental considerations in project planning can be classified into three categories.
i) Converting performance indices of individual objectives (including environmental objectives) into a single monetary unit and then arriving at a grand performance index.
ii) Application of multi-objective framework analysis.
iii) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Because of inherent draw backs the first approach met with limited success and is no longer popular amongst planners.
Multi objective framework analysis gained wide popularity amongst project planners in general and water resources planners in particular. Interest in this approach may still be noticed in the developed countries.

Amongst the three approaches EIA received maximum institutional support and wide applicability all over the world cutting across the North-South divide. In 1970, the USA became the first country to adopt legislation requiring EIA of all major federal actions. It was followed by EIA legislation in many other developed and developing countries. In the conventional sense EIA is a formal study process used to predict the environmental consequences of a proposed project.

This study was conceived on the basis of the perception that EIA system can be suitably modified to address the changed context of human development. The author has made a humble attempt to present a synthesis of knowledge gathered through review of literature, analyses of existing EIA documents and appraisal of the existing EIA system.

In the following paragraphs a summed-up retrospection of the monograph is presented. The retrospection is followed by a discussion on the scope of further study.

7.1 Synthesis
Growing concern towards environmental problems has imposed upon development thinkers and planners a larger challenge of the requirement to environmentally sound economic growth. The challenge is greater for developing countries where ensuring economic development is of prime importance. Development projects are therefore subjected to scrutiny so that they do not inflict environmental damages beyond the assimilative capacity of the environment.

EIA was originally conceived as a formal study process to assess the environmental consequences of proposed or impending human activities. However, over the years EIA has been transformed and it is now looked upon as a decision making tool to ensure environmental sustainability. Changes in EIA indicate a gradually increasing emphasis on preventive, holistic and strategic approaches to environmental management.

Over the years significant developments have taken place both in EIA methodology and in EIA techniques. Such developments were oriented more towards ensuring legislative compliance than towards meeting the objectives of EIA.

In India formal EIA is being practised since 1979. It has received legal sanction in 1994. Despite a rapid growth in the number of EMP reports being submitted to the central government for environmental clearance, most of the parties involved in the EIA process in India do not possess necessary qualifications, training and experience. Following positive points may be noted in the institutional arrangements for environmental management in India: -

i) A clear policy on environment and development has been adopted.
ii) It is generally accepted that environmental issues should be considered in project formulation.
iii) The environmental management system is backed with necessary Acts, Rules and Regulations, Notifications etc.
iv) The impediments to developing an effective EIA system include: - i) Lack of accountability on the part of decision-makers. ii) Administrative structure is not sufficiently spruced up iii) Inadequate resources in terms of expertise and finance.

Important legal steps have been taken over the last two decades to ensure betterment of environmental management. However in absence of an appropriate strategy for providing market incentives, education and training, legal measures towards environmental protection are generally viewed as obstructions to project development. Undoubtedly an important fallout of the regulatory measures is that EIA is often conceived and implemented as an obligatory study needed to comply with legislative requirements. In the process the prime objective of any project level EIA, - ensuring that the project fulfils environmental sustainability criteria, is often lost.

Over the last fifty years there have been phenomenal changes in development thinking. The debate on economic growth vis-à-vis environmental crisis was intensified in the seventies and this led to the emergence of the concept of sustainable development as the new paradigm of human development. Sustainable development is a macro economic problem that sets environmental sustainability criteria as the domain within which development projects are to perform. Under this changed context EIA has been redefined as a 'systematic, reproducible and interdisciplinary evaluation of the potential changes in the natural capital stock (in terms of resource supply and waste assimilation capabilities) likely to occur due to a proposed or impending human activity or any of its feasible alternatives, and an evaluation of possible mitigation measures to ensure long-term environmental sustainability.'

In order to be affective as an instrument for sustainable development EIA should be tiered following the hierarchy of policy, plan, programme and project. Strategic environmental assessment, - till date a partially developed subject, aspires to deal with the environmental assessment of policies, plans and programmes. It can not be applied in developing counties in its present state and therefore should be considered as a distant goal. Project level EIAs can satisfy the conditions of environmental sustainability by remaining within the carrying capacity of the regional environmental setting. Under the situations prevailing in developing countries environmental bench marking jobs may be substituted by various standards prescribed to maintain the assimilative and regenerative capacity of the environment. Thus without bringing out any significant change in the conventional EIA process, the objective of ensuring environmental sustainability can be fulfilled by project level EIAs through incorporation of necessary focus shift in the key steps of EIA process.

EIA process comprises the following stages: -
i) screening;
ii) scoping;
iii) base-line study;
iv) impact prediction and evaluation;
v) mitigation planning;
vi) comparison of alternatives;
vii) decision making; and,
viii) study documentation.