19. A STUDY ON THE CHALLENGES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Environmental Impact Assessment can be understood as a technique for
evaluating the environmental effect of a planned activity. It’s a crucial
management technique for ensuring that natural resources are used
optimally to achieve sustainable development. Impact evaluations are
conducted to evaluate the outcomes of individual projects or for any
policies and also for programs carried out on environmental
sustainability. During an Environmental Impact Assessment, the
interconnected socioeconomic, cultural, and human health aspects are
considered. Environmental Impact Assessment originated in the 1970s.
Industrialized countries first used Environmental Impact Assessment, but
it was gradually adopted by developing countries such as India. This
operates as a web-based distributed network of subject-specific databases.
The primary goal of environmental impact assessments is to identify,
anticipate, and evaluate the economic, environmental, and social
consequences of development operations. Providing information on the
environmental
impacts
of
decision-making
and
promoting
environmentally sound and suitable development through the
identification of appropriate alternatives and mitigation strategies. The
process includes several steps for assessment, from screening to scoping a
public hearing and appraisal. It comes up with various challenges in the
implementation process, like awareness amongst the general public to
convince them to move further, lack of expertise in conducting the
evaluation, or a possibility of restricted data. This study will provide a
clear understanding of the importance of EIA in Environment Protection
and sustainability by highlighting the issues and challenges faced during
the implementation process. It shall suggest ways to evaluate in a manner
that reaches its utmost goal.
Keywords: Environment, Environment Protection, Assessment Process,
Challenges, Government Initiatives