Rapid impact assessment matrix for municipal material disposal for Agartala City- a case study

Abstract

The non-planned development of cities has created numerous problems especially with respect to waste material management system. Many aspects of environmental impact of waste material disposal methods are not addressed properly in normal planning system. Thus Environmental Impact Assessment with respect to different waste management techniques is indispensible. Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix is an effective tool of Environmental Impact Assessment which can provide transparent results in a limited time frame and can reduce the impact related uncertaininty that arise due to subjective nature of impact assessment. In the present study to evaluate the impact of solid waste material disposal techniques for Agartala city shows that Sanitary Landfill with 16 no of positive impacts among 27 no selected criteria followed by Composting with 14 no positive impacts are the most appropriate alternatives of waste disposal from environmental point of view. Such a study is a novel one with respect to the city of Agartala which will definitely contribute towards attaining the sustainable town planning & smart city goal of Agartala.