| Frequently asked questions on EIA for Construction Projects |
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Q.1. What is EIA?
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Ans. EIA stands for Environmental Impact Assessment. EIA is a systematic investigation of existing environmental situation in and around the project site, based on which a technical report is prepared and recommendations are given to avoid any damage to the environment. Efforts are made to compensate any unavoidable environmental damage. The overall idea is to restore ecological balance of the area, even years after the projects starts functioning. |
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Q.2. Who is supposed to do EIA? |
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Ans. Although any type of activity can do an EIA but, in India it is legally required for 32 specified categories of developmental projects which includes certain industries, mines, infrastructure, tourism and the recently added building construction projects. |
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Q.3. The buildings unlike an industry do not discharge any effluent nor they release any stack emission or the toxic hazardous waste. Why it is so that buildings have been brought under purview of EIA and the clearance? |
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Ans. Though a building may not directly discharge all such things but there are a lot of environmental constraints with which a modern building operate. These are: change in land use affecting local drainage, construction safety & hygiene, disposal of construction debris excess load on municipal sewer system, solid waste management (mostly inorganic), heat island effect, depletion in ground water, traffic congestion & pollution, emission from DG sets, fire safety and disposal of electronic waste. |
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Q.4. Do all type of construction projects need EIA? |
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Ans. No. Only those new buildings, complexes, malls, hospitals and townships need EIA which come up after 7th July 2004 and qualify following criteria: |
- Investment cost is over INR 50 Cr
- Meant for people over 1000
- Discharge of sewage is beyond 50,000 lts/day
- Industrial Estate having area more than 50 hectares (122 acres)
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Q.5. What’s next after EIA? |
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Ans. After the EIA report is ready, project proponent has to file application with local State Pollution Control Board for obtaining ‘NOC to Establish’ with a processing fee. The SPCB in turn organizes a public hearing at district HQ wherein project proponent has to answer queries of local people, usually, with help of his consultant. |
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Once NOC from SPCB is obtained, project proponent has to apply to Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), New Delhi for obtaining Environmental Clearance, without any fee. MoEF organizes a presentation wherein proponent again with help of his consultant has to satisfy queries from MoEF’s committee members. Once this clearance is obtained, proponent can legally start construction. |
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Q.6. The process looks very cumbersome and time consuming. I will avoid it by splitting my project in parts so that it does not qualify for EIA. Alternatively I will set up in phases. Do I still require EIA? |
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Ans. As per the rules, a project is seen in totality. In such cases, if total project (with all phases/buildings/modules) exceeds the specified threshold, it has to obtain prior permission from MoEF, even without doing EIA. Without doing so, project will not get approvals from local land development, municipal and electricity authorities. |
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Q.7. I am going to occupy a building which needs EIA but since I am only a tenant, am I still suppose to take environmental clearance? |
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Ans. No. A tenant is not required to take environmental clearance. But as a good corporate, it is in his interest to ensure that the building he is occupying shall fulfill all legal norms, to avoid embarrassment at later stage. |
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Q.8. How much time does it take for doing EIA and getting statutory clearances? General impression is that the project lingers on once it is into regulatory mechanism. |
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Ans. It takes approx. 4 months to complete entire process and obtain statutory clearance, provided all relevant information is declared in first instance only. It is therefore all the more important to furnish all details and prepare a thorough EIA report so that it gets cleared in single instance and delay can be avoided. |
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Q.9. Can I do EIA myself? |
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Ans. Yes. But it is always preferable to hire a professional Consulting Agency as they are well versed with EIA methodology, environmental aspects involved in project, their assessment techniques, feasible mitigation measures and the desired structure of the report. |
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Q.10. What is the cost involved in whole process? |
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Ans. Depending on type of project and location, the whole process may cost between 2 lacs to 6 lacs, although exceptions are always there. |
