Environmental Appraisal of Projects

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every
man's greed."
- Mohandas K. Gandhi quoted in EF Schumacher, Small is
Beautiful
The famous balance of nature is the most extraordinary of all
cybernetic systems. Left to itself, it is always self-regulated."
- Joseph Wood Krutch (1893-1970), Saturday Review, June 8,
1963
Until man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his socalled scientific knowledge."
- Thomas Edison

Need for environmental appraisal

- Awareness about impact of environmental pollution has
increased
- Courts have ordered closure of units found to be polluting
- Controlling pollution and providing a clean environment
can be a profitable proposition to corporate
- Clean image boosts corporate image
What is Environment?
- Environment in relation to a project is can be defined as
the surrounding areas within which the life and non life
components are subject to the influence of the project.
- As per Environment Protection Act (1986) environment
includes water , air and land and the interrelationship that
exist among them , and human beings , other living
creatures plants, micro organisms and property.
- The definition also includes the interactions between the
non life components and their interactions with the living
creatures.

What is pollution?
- Pollution is the presence of any extraneous substances in
any of the components of the environment
- In such quantity that it causes harm to life directly or
indirectly.
- As per the Act 1986, it means the presence in the
environment of any solid, liquid, or gaseous substance in
such concentration that may be or tend to be injurious to
the environment.
- Such substances are termed environment pollutants under
the Act.
Factors which could induce the corporate to behave in
environment friendly manner
-

Pollution control regulation

Consumer pressure
Pressure from local people
Pressure from the investors

Sources of pollution
- Air pollution
o Industries are the major perpetrators
Smoke from chimney
Industries using any type of fuel oil ,
natural gas , coal .
Power plants Thermal, nuclear
Fly Ash from coal
o Transport vehicles
Road vehicles
Air crafts
Ships
Rail Engines
o Domestic use of fuel
- Water pollution

o Dumping of effluents and seepage into ground

water
o Sewage and organic matter, vegetable decay
o Pesticides
o Fertilizers
o Discharge of industrial wastes directly into
canals and rivers
Pollution released by various industries
- Tanneries
o Carbonates and chlorate chemicals, hairs,
suspended solids, colours
- Textile industries
o Colour dyes, chemicals, suspended solids
- Distilleries
o Organic matter which reduces oxygen content
drastically in water
o Acids, potash and sulphates
- Fertilizers
o Ammonium salts, acids, amines, arsenic,
fluorides, phosphates and carbon particles
- Steel mills
o Wastes from coke oven , blast furnace ,
scrubbers, cooling towers.
o Ammonia, phenols, organic acids, cyanides,
sulphates, alumina magnesia and compounds
of iron.
- Oil Refineries
o Free oil, emulsified oil, hydrogen sulphide,
Mercaptan, cresols, phenols, alkali etc.
- Drugs and pharmaceuticals
o Type of drug
o Chemical wastes
- Sugar
o Organic material from cane crushing
o Traces of sugar, carbohydrates, acids and other
chemicals
o Biological oxygen content reduces due to
release of Hydrogen Sulphide gas.

Methods of Effluent treatment

- Air pollutants
o Mechanical separation
o Electrostatic precipitation
o Filtering
o Scrubbing (water drops)
- Water pollutants
o Primary treatment
Using mechanical means
Devices such as screens, filters, comminutor,
grit chambers, sedimentation tanks etc.
o Secondary treatment
Eliminate pollutants such as proteins,
carbohydrates and fats which cannot be
separated from primary treatment
Done using micro organisms.
Trickling filers, activated sludge, oxidation
ponds and biological discs are the devices for
treatment
Pollutants are brought to a condition where they
are degraded by micro organisms.
Aerobic process
Anaerobic process
o Tertiary treatment
For detergents and pesticides
Chemical precipitation of polluting substances
Oxidation of polluting substances
Environment al Law in India
- The Environment (Setting for Industrial projects )Rules ,
1999
o Prohibition for setting certain industries
o Establishment of units with some conditions
Environmental impact assessment (EIA)

- EIA is a tool used to identify the environmental, social and

economic impacts of a project prior to decision making
- It aims to predict impact at an early stage in project
planning and design
- Find ways and means to reduce the adverse impact
- Shape projects to suit the local environment
- Present the predictions and options to decision makers