Water & Wastewater regulation. Public consultation is also an important element of the EIA regulation. Because of the involvement of Japan we were also obligated to adhere to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Guidelines for Confirmation of Environmental and Social Considerations. Environmental Impact Assessments and Environmental Audits were important developments impacting the study. India In 1974, the 42nd amendment to the Indian Constitution brought about two new Articles. The first, under the Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 47), makes it the responsibility of the State Government to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. The second, under Fundamental Duties (Article 51(g)), makes it the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. In addition to these Constitutional provisions, the Indian Environmental Assessment process is guided through a series of Acts, Notifications, Rules, Standards, Amendments, and Policy
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Statements. There are principally five Acts in India, which define the overall Indian Environmental Legislative Framework. They are: • The Environment (Protection) Act and Rules, 1986. • The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. • The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. • The Public Liability (Insurance) Act, 1991. • The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Besides these Acts, there are five different additional national policies which govern the environmental management in the country and have recognized the need for sustainable development in their specific contexts and formulated necessary strategies to give effect to such recognition. Until January 1994, obtaining environmental clearance from the Central Environment Ministry was only an administrative requirement intended for mega projects undertaken by the government or public sector undertakings. A more comprehensive and formal process started by enacting the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 1994 and subsequent amendments.
About 32 categories of projects/activities were included which required environmental clearance prior to the start of any activities. Building upon the experience gained over the years, a new EIA Regulation has come into effect since September 14, 2006, suppressing all previous EIA notifications and amendments. This is a completely re-engineered process and has included a wide range of projects and activities with different threshold limits under the purview of prior environmental clearance. The physical infrastructure projects/activities in the schedule of the EIA Regulation have, however, excluded municipal water supply and treatment systems, and municipal wastewater treatment systems from the screening process of environmental clearance prior to project implementation, anticipating minimal impact on the environment. Therefore, no formal screening process was followed, as required under the new EIA Regulation. There exists a sound institutional framework in the country to deal with various environmental issues. Notable among them are - the Central Ground continued overleaf...
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