ABSTRACT
India is the first country, which has made provisions for the protection and improvement of environment in its Constitution by 42nd Amendment 1976. Environmental Impact Assessment is an important management tool for ensuring optimal use of natural resources for sustainable development. The process of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in India has been one of parallel evolution with the development of an institutional capacity to co-ordinate and monitors the environmental policies and procedures going hand-in-hand with the formulation and implementation of the necessary legislation and regulations. Various laws have been framed out in order to make out some clearances for environment protection. It is important to note that the demand for environmental assessment of industries was taken up as an executive order in 1994 through Ministry of Environment and Forests notification – without any legislation being passed, or the Parliament being involved. The prioritisation of development and the dilution of regulation have had predictable consequences. Although an assessment may lead to difficult economic decisions and political and social concerns, environmental impact assessments protect the environment by providing sound basis for effective and sustainable development. Today, NGO’s and communities continue to struggle with fraudulent EIA reports, staged public hearings, and unscrupulous environmental clearances. As public opposition to specific projects has become increasingly intense – it is growing more evident that the questions that were passed by too quickly about environmental impact assessment in the beginning must be asked and answered again.
