Environmental Impact Assessment: An Indo-Australian Perspective

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been hailed in many countries as an effective analytical tool that decision makers can utilize to assess the impact of development on environment. In view of the importance of the subject, a National Seminar on Environmental Impact Assessment of urban development, organized by the DTUDP (Decentralized Training for Urban Development Project, an Indo-Dutch Sponsored Project), was held in Mysore, India recently. Most of the papers compiled in this volume are updated versions of those presented at the seminar and to ensure that the subject of EIA was well covered. The first section of the book discusses the concepts, theories and approaches pertaining to EIA. The second addresses the role of legal and statutory guidelines for environmental protection. The third reviews techniques and strategies for assessing the environmental impact of development projects, with specific reference to Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The fourth section traces the link between EIA and land development. The last section demonstrates the practical aspects of EIA through case studies.