ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Environmental impact assessment is the formal process used to

predict the environmental consequences that may be positive or negative
of plan, policy, program or project prior to the decision to move forward
with the proposed action. It is also process of evaluating the likely
environmental impacts of proposed project or development, taking into
account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human health
impacts, both beneficial and adverse.

Figure 1.environmental impact assessment relation with other

disciplines
Environmental impact assessment mainly focuses on assessing the
likely environmental impacts of a proposal and identifying options to
minimize environmental damage. The main purpose of environmental
impact assessment is to inform decision makers of the likely impacts of
proposal before a decision is made. It provides an opportunity to identify

key issues and stake holders early in the life of proposal, so that
potentially adverse impacts can be addressed before final approval
decisions are made.

Figure2. Environmental impact assessment process diagram

Environmental impact assessment is no way of allowing an
environmental veto on development proposal. Environmental
considerations including economical and other benefits of going ahead
the common wealth and each state, territory, country or nation has
legislation relation to this assessment. According to United Nations
environment program is structured approached for obtaining and
evaluating environmental information prior to its use in decision making
in the development process. This information consists basically of
predictions of how environment is expected to change if certain
alternative actions are implemented and advise on how best to manage
environmental changes if one alternative is selected and implement.

Figure 3.
Block flow
diagram of
environmental
impact
assessment
Until relatively recently with a few notable exceptions ,it focused on
proposed physical developments such as highways, power stations,
water resource projects and large scale industrial facilities. Slowly but
increasingly, its scope of application of expanding to include policies,
plan and other actions which also form parts of the development process.

Figure 4, strategic environmental impact assessment diagram

Decision makers are provided by environmental impact assessment with

information and often recommendations on the anticipated consequences
of their choices. Environmental impact assessment is therefore a
management aspect, this distinction is crucial to an understanding of the
objectives of environmental impact assessment and how it can best be
implemented.
 Environmental impact assessment has been in existence since
1970(when it was introduced into the United States of America
following the international policy act coming to effect) and has spread
rapidly since then to all parts of the world.

Figure 5, life cycle of environmental impact assessment

Environmental impact assessment is still relatively young and the
number of countries which use it, as a legal or administrative
requirement, is still increasingly. At the same time, environmental
impact assessment practice (and the techniques used) is evolving as
experience has been gained on its utility in a wide range of development
and geographic contexts.

Figure 6, Related issues of Environmental impact assessment

The use of environmental impact assessment has been formalized by the
introduction of national laws and regulations and regulations and in
some cases, policies which establish systems of institutionalized
procedures to ensure that all proposed physical development, expected
to be environmentally damaging is assessed prior to authorization and
possible implementation, by the time that a project proponent or initiator
has applied for an approval, it may be that a significant number of
studies on financial, economic, and technical matters have been
undertaken.

Figure 7, life cycle material- end of life

A series of internal decisions will have been taken at each point, a
decision made on whether the proposed project should be abandoned,
amended or proceed directly to the next stage. Projects may be
abandoned, after pre-feasibility studies, before any formal application
for an authorization is submitted. It is important that environmental
issues are considered, fully and appropriately, at these stages. It is
unwise for any proponent to undertake such studies, omitting
environmental issues and be told, subsequently, to prepare an
environmental impact assessment report at stage a site and project
design may have become fixed and it is time consuming and
expensive to have to alter or even abandon, a project if an environmental
impact assessment shows that significant adverse impacts will occur and
cannot be mitigated to make them acceptable. This is a waste of time
and money for all participants in the authorization procedure.

Environmental impact assessment therefore is a process which has

influence at many stages and over a considerable period of time. It is not
an activity which is aimed at producing one set of results for use at
specific decision-making stage.

However, there is no doubt that the role of the results of this process
(in report form) at the permitting or authorizing stage is very important
because it is at this point that environmental impact assessment after
enters formal, statutory decision-making systems. The overall
effectiveness of environmental impact assessment and related studies is
enhanced if they incorporate a systematic analysis of reasonable
alternatives. Basically, development objectives can be achieved, often,
in the variety of ways.

There are two types alternatives, although the distinction between

them is not always clear. There are alternatives to proposed action, for
example changing sites for a conventional power station or, as in the
case of flood control proposal, structural and non-structural options.
Additionally, there are alternative should be incorporated automatically.
Finally, and specifically with reference to Environmental impact
assessments, one of the alternatives should be the no action option; that
is no development. This provides an objectives baseline against which
the other alternative can be measured.

Objectives of environmental impact assessment

Ensuring environmental factors are considered in the decision-

making process.
Ensuring that possible adverse environmental impacts are
identified and avoided or minimized.
Informing the public about the proposal.
Advantages of environmental impact assessment

Allows people to examine the underlying need for a project;

Gives people the opportunity to identifying problems;
Helps a developer to design a more publicity acceptable project;
Exploration of alternatives can help identify cost-saving and other
beneficial changes;
Improves project design and siting;
Helps to be more informed decision-making and environmentally
sensitive decisions;
Facilities the design of a monitoring program;

Increases accountability and transparency during the development

process;
Improves integration of projects into their environmental and
social setting;
Reduces environmental damage;
More effective projects in terms of meeting their financial and/or
socio-economic objectives;
It has positive contribution toward achieving sustainability.
 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FROM CONSTRUCTION
ASPECT

Roads, highways, bridges, dams, walls and building projects are life
line of any country. They are also important for the building the nation
and are mirror of countrys development. However, most of these
projects on account of their location, route alignment and associated
activities are invariably accompanied by significant environmental and
social impacts during different phases (pre-construction, construction
and operational phase) of the project.

Figure 8, construction and environmental impact assessment relation

diagram
The nature of these impacts could be either positive or negative
depending upon their potential to favorably to adversely affect the
surrounding environment and also the resident community. While
favorably viewing the positive impacts on environment and community,
it is also imperative to develop an appropriate and sound environmental
management plan and execute it on the field/impacted area of the project
to minimize and mitigate various adverse environmental and social
impacts. In their significant environmental implications such projects
have been brought many merits.

Although these projects were driving the development to new

era of technological advancement, but the complexity of the current
construction industry imparts a big wastage in cost and dalliance of the
projects. These effects are currently can be highly minimized through a
continuous application and modification of planning projects. So now a
days planning activities of construction project is not only important
but it is necessary as the world has limited resources. Project
management has evolved in order to plan and control the complex and
diverse activities of modern construction projects.

Clearly man-made projects are not new monuments from the

earliest civilizations testify to the incredible achievements of our
forebears and still evoke our wonder and admiration. Modern projects,
for all their technological sophistication, are not necessarily greater in
scale than some of those early mammoth works.

But economic pressure of the industrialized world, competition

between rival contractors and greater regard for the value and well-
being (and hence the employment cost) of the people who constitute
the project workforce have all led to the development of new
techniques for managing projects.

Project management becomes more effective when powerful and

appropriate techniques are applied. Planning, inspection and control
are from the most sophisticated parameters of the management.

Even though construction management organization at a site

obviously depends on the size, duration and location of the site, the
need for coordination is self evident. Otherwise, may electricians would
turn up too early, the roofing contract may arrive after scaffolding had
been removed, and construction plan and materials would be
unavailable when wanted and so on. When the project is very large, the
situation becomes more complex and then setting up the site facilities
and making all local arrangements becomes a big project by itself.

Planning and control must, of course, be exercised over all the

activities and resources involved in a project. In construction category
planning and controlling incur special attention for the well use of the
amount of finance and other resources. The duration, complexity, and
cost of modern construction are incompatible with trial and error
corrections as the work proceeds. Therefore planning is undertaken to
understand the potential problems and to develop causes of action. In
general planning is an anticipatory decision making process in which
one choose courses of action that will be performed in the future or
when certain events occur.

Figure 9, picture of construction site

Systematic planning requires screening of variables and alterations

that potentially affects the success of the project. The level of
responsibly and authority given to project mangers vary from one
organization to another. In some cases they act simply as planners and
coordinators. In other business project managers will have complete
responsibility for achieving the objectives of the project assigned to
them, although they may not granted direct authority over all the
participants. Projects have different organizational orientation based
on their own choice of application and type of the project.

Often team organization and functional (matrix) organization are

applicable in most construction projects. In team organization the
project manger is in direct command, with complete authority for
directing the participants so that the project meets all the objectives.
But in matrix organization every project handled by the firm with in the
functional organization has its own project manager, but all these
project managers draw up on the same specialist groups for their man
power and other resources. Each project managers influence is
functional and the people in the specialist groups remain
administratively responsible to their own departmental line managers.
 ANROPOLGYCAL CLIMATE CHANGE

This refers to the production of greenhouse gases emitted by human

activity that causes climate change and disorder of seasons. Many
researches that are done all over the world examined from polar ice
cores and from their anthropological findings convinced that human
activities are increase the proportion of greenhouse effect gases in the
atmosphere.

Figure 9,

The most potent of the greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2),
carbon mono oxide (CO), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), chloro
floro carbon (CFC), sulfur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen fluoride (HF),
hydrogen chloride (HCL), arsenic (As), boron (B), and lead (Pb). These
green house effect gases cause ozone depletion, melting of polar ice,
smog and many other environmental problems, this have direct effect on
climate change.
Anthropologists provide fundamental understanding of the culturally-
grounded behaviors that contribute to decrease the effects of green house
gas emissions and to cultural, social and economic processes that result
in human vulnerability or resilience to climate change impacts on human
beings such as acid rain, drought, famine, flood, unseasonal rain,
immigration, disease, death etcwith collaboration of civil engineers,
chemical engineers, environmental engineers, water and hydrological
engineers atmospheric and earth scientists. Anthropology as a science
has vital and crucial role on controlling climate change and general
unseasonal conditions by defining well designed ways like diverting
green house gas emissions, forestation, proper disposal ways of
industrial solid and liquid wastes and converting it to usable forms,
proper usage of row materials that has high emission and production of
pollutant gases. Finally from anthropological aspect climate change is
caused by human activity around 99%. So by controlling our activities
and by following modified ways to solve problems arises from those
activities to multi usable forms we can handle climate change.