ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF

ENGINEERING PROJECTS WITH SUITABLE

EXAMPLES OF INDIA

NAME : PATEL KARNAV M.

M.SC SEM-4
GUIDED BY :Dr. MAJETHIYA SIR.
PAPER : GEL 508
ROLL NO : O7
 CONTENTS
• What is EIA ?
• Type of Projects & their environmental impacts.
• Sardar Sarovar Dam – A case study.
• Projected benefits.
• Environmental impacts of Sardar Sarovar dam project.
• Protest (Narmada bachao andolan).
• Current status of the project.
• Environmental safeguard measures.
• References.
 What is EIA ?
•Any engineering or mining projects involving development
surely cause some adverse effect on our surrounding.

•It forced us to make compulsory to evaluate these adverse

impacts on environment in detail.

•Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of evaluating

the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project, taking into
account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human health
impacts, both beneficial and adverse.

•EIA submission is compulsory for project clearance for execution.

 Types of Projects

• All such impact assessments should thoroughly examine and

discuss various possible environmental pollutions.

• EIA of following three major projects are discussed further.

1. Thermal power plants.
2. Mining.
3. River valley projects.
 Environmental impacts of thermal power
plant
• These plants generally use coal or fuel oil as fuel.

• If coal is used, pollutants like fly ash, sulphur dioxide(SO2) and nitrogen
oxides (NOx) are produced.

• If oil is used, only sulphur dioxide(SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are
produced as major pollutants.

• Fly ash from the thermal power plant is observed to fall out up to large
distances(3-6 Km) which is harmful to the air environment.

• For an instance, Indraprastha and Rajghat power houses in Delhi near ITO,
are responsible for polluting Delhi's air on a large scale.
 Environmental impacts of mining

• Discharge of acid-mine-water into surface water bodies.

• Discharge of toxic radioactive substances.

• It adds gaseous pollutants and dust particles to the air.

• Land subsidence due to underground mining.

• Land degradation due to open cast mining.

• Deforestation.

• Noise and ground vibration.

Environmental impacts of river valley project

1) NEGATIVE IMPACTS :
• Loss of forest & agricultural land.

• Loss of religious sites.

• Displacement of people coming in submergence zone of a dam.

• Water logging and salinity of irrigated land.

• Reservoir induced seismicity.

• Adverse impacts to fisheries.

2) POSITIVE IMPACTS :
• Availability of domestic water supplies.
• Overall increase in wood production.
• Development of tourism and recreation.
• Flood control.

 In total, we can say that multipurpose projects do notcause

environmental degradation and have environmental-harmony
nature.
 Sardar Sarovar Dam – A case study

• The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravity dam on the Narmada

river near Navagam, Gujarat in India.
• It is one of the largest water resources projects of India
covering four major states - Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• The project took form in 1979 as part of a development
scheme to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity.
• Most importantly, This dam is one of India's most
controversial project and its environmental impacts are
widely debated.
• It is, in fact, designed as a concrete gravity dam, having a
height up to FRL 138.68 m.
Projected Benefits :
 Environmental impacts of Sardar Sarovar
dam project
1) Submergence causing loss of forest and agricultural land :

• In order to minimize the adverse effects of submergence it

becomes necessary …

• To compensate and mitigate the losses due to deforestation.

• To reduce the dam height up to a minimum possible value.

• After thoroughly examining, dam height was finally decided

FRL 138.68m by constituted tribunal in 1979.
2) Loss of wild life :

• It was clarified that it will not cause any loss of flora and fauna.
• Also it will help to develop five sanctuaries.

3) Displacement of Tribals :

• Tribals, living in submergence zone, need to be displaced

elsewhere.
• Nearly 2000-3000 families may opt rehabilitation in Gujarat,
which is manageable.
4) Submergence of old monuments:
• No protected archaeological monument lies in submergence area.
• Only few temples, like Shoolpaneshwar Mahadev at village Supan,
are likely to be affected.

5) Water-logging and Salinity problem:

• The problem of waterlogging and soil salinity is little serious here.
• It is so because the command areas of the projects have largely
black soils, which have very good water retention capacity.
6) Seismic effect of the reservoir :

• By survey, it was concluded that formation of reservoir in this

area may cause earthquake to occur but not of destructing
dimensions.
• So the dams have been designed to withstand earthquake
shocks of magnitude 6.5 (Richter scale).
7) Health aspects :

• No risk of malaria & Schistosomiasis like diseases by irrigation

facilities for 17 years (As studied by teams of WHO).
 Protest (Narmada Bachao Andolan)

• A protest was being done by adivasis, farmers,

environmentalists against raising the height of the Sardar
Sarovar dam lead by Ms. Medha Patkar and Baba Amte.
• Principal ground of opposition were…
a) Non fulfillment of basic environmental conditions.
b) Insufficient plans & studies.
c) Local inhabitants not being taken into confidence.
d) Insufficient compensation.
• It was a protest by the NBA that caught the World Bank’s
attention and it's participation in these projects was cancelled
in 1995.
 Current status of the project
• The work of raising of dam up to 121.92 m is completed. The
Narmada Control Authority has given the permission on
12.06.2014 to raise the Dam height from 121.91 m to 138.68 m
The work has been started on 12.06.2014 and the same will be
completed within 2 years.

• 67.46 LCM concrete work completed in May-2016.

• All 29 piers are raised to full height. Construction of all 30 nos.

of bridge span are also completed.

• 6115 MT Radial Gates/Stoplog Gates are installed out of 7200

MT.
 Environmental safeguard measures

• Catchment Area Treatment works have been completed in the

entire catchment area (29157 Ha) within Gujarat.

• Compensatory afforestation has been carried out in 4650

hectares of non-forest area in kachahh district as well as 9300
hectares degraded forest area.

• Plantation in 5432 hectares has been completed in the vicinity

of the dam.

• The temples of Hameshwar and Shoolpaneshwar relocated to

higher elevations.
 References
• Garg, S.K. (2015) : Sewage disposal And Air Pollution Engineering, Khanna
publishers, New Delhi

• http://www.sardarsarovardam.org

• http://www.ripublication.com

• Narmada diary: A documentary from

• http://www.spannerfilms.net

• http://www.environmentportal.in

• http://www.wikipedia.org
THANK YOU…!