PAPER REVIEW-3

Title of the paper: EIA practice in India

and its evaluation using SWOT analysis

PREPARED BY
AVIJEET CHAKRABORTY
DATE: 21 July 2018
Review:
The title of the paper under review is “EIA practice in India and its evaluation using
SWOT analysis” and was written by RituPaliwalfrom Centre for Regulatory and Policy
Research, TERI School of Advanced Studies, Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, Delhi-110003,
Indiain March 2006.

A SWOT analysis taken up in this article has suggested that there are several issues
that need to be readdressed for EIA in India. It highlights several constraints,
ranging from improper screening and scoping guidelines to ineffective monitoring
and post project evaluation.

The SWOT is based on authors' own experiences duringfield visits, professional's views
(i.e., government officials, consultants and managers) revealedduring informal talks, and
semi structured interviews and available literature on the subject.

Some of the major issues identified in this paper are as follows:

 Strengths : Well-defined legal structure, Presence of well-knitted regulatory

structure
 Weaknesses : Screening and scoping processes are not well defined, Insufficient
baseline data, Inconsistent application of evaluation and predictive tools, Improper
monitoring and implementation, Inadequate public participation, Poor quality EIA
reports and non-accountability of EIA professionals, Lack of coordination and
poorly defined decision-making process
 Opportunities : Increasing public awareness, Growing consciousness through Non
GovernmentalOrganisations (NGOs), Self-regulation in industrial sector,
Integration of EIA with plans, policies and programs
 Threats : Poor governance and corruption, Effect of economic reforms, Lax
regulations for small-scale industries (SSI)

Following recommendations were suggested in the paper to improve EIA process

of Bangladesh:

 Increase the accountability of the EIA experts: Certification of consultants is

deemed necessary so that only licensed agencies shouldaccomplish EIA.
Authorship should be specified in the EIA reports with the intention that

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 projectdeveloper or consultants should feel responsible and each piece of
information could be tracedback to its original source.
 Manage baseline data properly: it is suggested to organize a common database
exclusively where all relevant agenciesmay pool in the data and this data could be
made available to the project proponents on request.
 Improve monitoring and implementation: The EMPs should clearly suggest
mitigation, monitoring and institutional measures toeliminate, compensate, or
reduce impacts to acceptable levels during construction as well asoperation phase
of an activity.
 Focus on SSIs: Concept of industrial estate should be promoted for SSIs.
 Integrate environmental concerns into plans and policies.
 Capacity building of stakeholders.

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