Is India scientifically sound as far as the EIA's are concerned?

[Dr Munmun Sinha Deshpande]

India, rather each state in India is extensively involved in the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment).Everyday new consultants are cropping up which promise best quality reports.

Definitely, the reports are of the best quality..no doubt over it. It is good to have the development in terms of Industrial setup but at the same time the sustenance of the ecosystem is also important.

The EIA reports in India are restricted to Government mandates.But is there real science involved in these reports which supports the ecological sustainability? Very often the project site is already pre-decorated in the project format before the EIA is given to consultants.For example, mangrove is already destroyed before any EIA is conducted for port development.Similarly, trees are already felled before the EIA is done in forests. What report can a consultant give for barren land, everyone knows there will not be any adverse effects of using that land.

How will we know the truth and even if the EIA report has quality, will it help Mother Earth to sustain the consequences?

It is a big question and we hope Indian Scientist/EIA specialists have an answer since India is still very rich in Biodiversity.

[GOPI KANTA GHOSH]

Unfortunately our decisions are political...no one bother about science

[DR. KAWALJEET SINGH]

Well there we go again. This debate has been on on Paryavaran for long. The malaise lies in the fact that the consultant is being hired ( paid) by the project proponent. Its like the Inspector who comes to investigate a crime scene is paid to do so by the suspect. The result is a foregone conclusion. Has any one of us come across a Consultant carrying out say a REIA and telling the project proponent to forget it?. I have been seeing this parade since the large part of my adult life. Of course the consultant can find out the state of the land if he/she looks deep enough. But then this is never done.

[Vinodh Valluri]

Glad to see these important questions asked. I'd have to concede that this will not be addressed as long as the EIA consultants are 'employed' and 'paid for' by the same people who want the report. Its too inconvenient for the truth to be told when the scientific observer is bedfellows with the perpetrator of environmental damage. Would an honest, but negative EIA report ever be filed for a company, and lead to a bonus, promotion, good reputation for an environmental impact assessor? THERE!!! The very system of seemingly democratic science, which is unwittingly prostituted to the corporate interests is the reason why these dilemmas remain. Just making a point..

[S.P.ANANDAN]

Yes. I agree with Gopi Kanth Ghosh. We are in a democratic country.  Our country's natural resources are governed by political wills.  Even our ancient forests are under threat and we all know the politics in all development agenda.  The Western Ghats is one of the global biodiversity hot spots and its biodiversity is very rich (found no where on earth!).  Yet, forests are fast disappearing because of introduced tree species  (eucalyptus, wattle etc) and invasive species.  No EIA has been made on the impact of invasive species and introduced tree species (due to wrong policies) and as a result, we have lost our native tree species in our ever green Shola forests.  Who is to blame?

[Anil Kumar Gupta]

EIA science in India has never been established in ecology and by ecologists nor by civil engineering, but the professional benefits have been well taken by business community engaged in liasion and consultancy/facilitation job. EIA in US was introduced in 1969 with USEPA whereas Govt of India too a long a notified EIA requirement in 1994 and that with lots of flaws, if and buts and with every year lots of withdrawal/changes and amendments in unpredictable directions.

What Govt does is upto Govt and depends upon the public perception and pressure on policy makers. However, what ecological and scientific community can do shall be done without any further delay. There are count on fingers EIA is well taught in environmental science schools in Universities and colleges in India, just notes are provided and some material downloaded and exams are written.

 

It is high time we introduce Masters and Diploma courses in EIA and also in EIA & Disaster Management at University level and specilization at MSc environmental sciences/ecology. University of East Anglia, University of Bradford and so many others have full EIA courses at MSc level started in 1990s or so. Why we didnt learn anythong from our own past and from the experiences and initiatives of others, none other than us are faulty.

Ecologists and scientists have been treating EIA most often as untouchable as it doesnt easilty yields in high impact factor journal publications due to its being highly interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional and sectoral and nature. Real EIA is not that easy as is done by these consultants and liasion firms. It needs, science, it needs coordinated efforts, it needs correct perception and understanding of science.

I greet on the initiative of this discussion and hope it yields some impact

Best regards

 

AK Gupta

[Dr Satya Priya Sinha]

Our former environment minster during his tanure quoted something about the EIA which I am not going repeat again.

As a matter of fact EIA/EMP studies are time bound and within one year if all the seasons are covered than report must be ready.In our country due many reasons organisation which are doing EIA/EMP have no field base personal who can deliver good results.Usually after single visit and with help of DPR/PFR reports are produced which is really unfortunate.Some organisation produce the report based on secondary informations.Some how it become a business.Long back in 1987 I had oppurtuinty to survey the Gori Ganga valley upto Milam Galcier during that period there were no clear cut provision of Impact assessment eventhough reports were produced well.Later on we copied down the provision of EIA/EMP from weatern countries.

[Dr Munmun Sinha Deshpande]

Maam, 

This concept of copy- paste itself is the culprit as the western countries atleast do some sort of science. That is why being responsible for most of the pollution around the world, u wont find even a piece of paper on their roads. Indians have lost their thinking power and have become slaves. Apologizing if i hurt anyones feelings but in real sense, it is now that we have become the slaves of the western culture,following blindly. Atleast before freedom fight we were forced to follow and now we willingly follow :-)

[Anil Kumar Gupta]

Munmun I agree with you, we need a serious introspection, a re-work on our science and education philosophies rathar than just copying and imitating others. EIA has to be understood and realised as science and subject of study as well.

 

[Paromita Ray]

This whole concept of EIA is a farce in India. Agreeing with anil sir, it has become just another way to earn good money for the various consultancies. But they forget that it requires a highly scientific mind and analytical approach to do such kind of studies. Its not a simple game of collecting data and monitoring. I had been associated with one of Delhi University's research centre which was one of the pioneers in EIA studies. It still conducts such studies in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal. But who cares about such scientific EIA studies...atleast not our government. 

It really doesn't matters whether the project proponent or the govn pays to conduct the EIA or if its done by an independent body. It is very very easy to get your project passed- you simply have to cough up a hefty amount to the committee responsible for passing your project. Thats it....it wouldn't even matter if your EIA report isn't upto the mark...you just have to pay the money. And if you aren't that rich then either count your blessings or really make your report strong enough which can't be ignored. But that seldom happens in our country. 

Unless this under-table phenomenon is cured no kind of policy or any notification can be successful in t his country!!

 

[Prof. L. Ramakrishnan]

As far as the EIA Report is written for the Client (Project Proponent) and not for the customer (Government and citizens) you cannot expect any scientific rigour in the reports.  If the client pays for the report, market forces will play an important role; after all the consultant should get the job from the client.  We have seen the market forces killing the ISO-9000 and ISO-14000 initiatives; the same thing is expected for EIA too.  If a proper mechanism is developed (without the interference of markets) where the EIA report is prepared for appropriate decision making by the Government, I am sure many of the issues that we face today will disappear.  I am yet to see an EIA report which carries a SWOT analysis of the project with respect to environmental and social issues.  I have interacted with many experts who are involved in EIA preparation; substantial percentage of them are excellent scientists and engineers - given a free  hand they will deliver excellent EIA reports. Keep them away from Market Forces !

[Prof Dr V N Sivasankara Pillai]

Genuine conern!

 Wise consultants advise the clients to destroy the evidence in advance: wetlands are reclaimed, old houses are relocated to CRZ, aquatic ecology is ignored. Photographs of the site are taken after destroying the evidence.

"Indian Consultants" operating in India are sufficiently knowledgeable and sufficiently manipulative to save the PPs. EACs have never looked in to the reliability of measurements, and we can argue that it is not their concern. River water quality is presented without description of sampling site and weather conditions in the immediate past. Not because our people are ignorant, but the system does not demand it. Revamp the system and its operational style.

[SHAILESH ISHWARRAO TELANG]

I've studied EIA in my post graduation but not have enough technical knowledge about it. But I think the above said words are real and parallel to the situation. In India EIA reports are just for the government mandates and not for real asseesment of impacts associated with the project activity. I agree, the regulations and guidelines mentioned in EIA notification are nicely framed but there is always a loophole to manage all those things that required by the company to go with the project even if its environmental impacts are worst. One news on TOI stated that the Union environment ministry cancelled several proposed mining leases at Maharashtra but actual mining is operational in the regions with some support from the officials (What can be done if the administrative support is not there). News like this provide lot of information about the EIA status and its credibility in india where the things can not be made good by just having good regulatory framework and tight legislation. Instead it need public awareness, good personal intention, government support and scientific approach.