Abstract
The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is a regulatory framework adopted since 1994 in India to evaluate the impact and mitigation measures of projects, however, even after 25 years of adoption, EIAs continue to be of inferior quality with respect to biodiversity documentation and assessment of impacts and their mitigation measures. This questions the credibility of the exercise, as deficient EIAs are habitually used as a basis for project clearances in ecologically sensitive and irreplaceable regions. The authors reiterate this point by analysing impact assessment documents for three projects: the doubling of the National Highway-4A, doubling of the railway-line from Castlerock to Kulem, and laying of a 400-kV transmission line through the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park in the state of Goa. Two of these projects were recently granted ‘Wildlife Clearance’ during a virtual meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) without a thorough assessment of the project impacts. Assessment reports for the road and railway expansion were found to be deficient on multiple fronts regarding biodiversity assessment and projected impacts, whereas no impact assessment report was available in the public domain for the 400-kV transmission line project. This paper highlights the biodiversity significance of this protected area complex in the Western Ghats, and highlights the lacunae in biodiversity documentation and inadequacy of mitigation measures in assessment documents for all three diversion projects. The EIA process needs to improve substantially if India is to protect its natural resources and adhere to environmental protection policies and regulations nationally and globally.
Highlights
The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process is a standard framework for appraisal and evaluation of development projects
Assessment reports for the road and railway expansion were found to be deficient on multiple fronts regarding biodiversity assessment and projected impacts, whereas no impact assessment report was available in the public domain for the 400-kV transmission line project
We present a critique of the two assessment studies and a summary on the impact of the transmission line given that the project report is not available in public domain
Summary
The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process is a standard framework for appraisal and evaluation of development projects. EIA and other assessment reports have often been found deficient in documenting biodiversity, assessing direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts, and proposing mitigation measures (Datar et al 2019; Khera & Kumar 2010; Sheth et al 2020) In this Review, the authors present an analysis on three projects that will cumulatively affect Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (BMWS & NP), formerly known as Mollem, in the state of Goa (Figure 1, Image 1–3). The Parivesh website does not have the Biodiversity Impact Assessment Report of the transmission line project uploaded (as on 1 July 2020), despite in-principle approval being afforded at the 57th National Board for Wildlife meeting held on 7 April 2020 In this Review, we first present the biodiversity significance of BMWS & NP by reviewing published literature on taxonomic groups, and referring to Figure 1.
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