Leather/Skin/Hide Processing Industry - Environmental Clearance

Operational Aspects of EIAfor further EIA process. The indirect and/or cumulative effects can be concerned withindirect, additive or even synergistic effects due to other projects or activities or eveninduced developments on the same environmental components as would be considereddirect effects. But such impacts tend to involve larger scale VECs such as within entireregion, river basins or watersheds; and, broad social and economic VECs such as qualityof life and the provincial economy. Once VECs are identified then appropriate indicatorsmay be selected to carry on impact assessments on the respective VECs.4.3.4 Methods for identification of impactsThere are a various factors which influence the approach adopted for the assessment ofdirect, indirect, cumulative impacts, etc. for a particular project. The method should bepractical and suitable for the project given the data, time and financial resources available.However, the method adopted should be able to provide a meaningful conclusion fromwhich it would be possible to develop, wherever necessary, mitigation measures andmonitoring. Key points to consider when choosing the method(s) include:nature of the impact(s)availability and quality of dataavailability of resources (time, finance and staff)The method chosen should not be complex, but should aim at presenting the results in away that can be easily understood by the developer, decision maker and the public. Acomparative analysis of major impact identification methods is given Table 4-1.Table 4-1: Advantages and Disadvantages of Impact Identification MethodsChecklistsMatricesNetworksDescription Advantages Disadvantages Annotate the environmentalfeatures that need to be addressedwhen identifying the impacts ofactivities in the project Identify the interaction betweenproject activities (along one axis)and environmental characteristics(along other axis)using a grid liketable Entries are made in the cells whichhighlights impact severity in theform of symbols or numbers ordescriptive comments Illustrate cause effect relationshipof project activities andenvironmental characteristics Useful in identifying secondaryimpacts Useful for establishing impacthypothesis and other structuredscience based approaches to EIA Simple tounderstand and use Good for siteselection andpriority setting Simple ranking andweighting Link action toimpact Good method fordisplaying EIAresults Link action toimpact Useful in simplifiedform for checkingfor second orderimpacts Handles direct andindirect impacts Do not distinguishbetween direct andindirect impacts Do not link actionand impact The process ofincorporating valuescan be controversial Difficult todistinguish directand indirect impacts Significant potentialfor double-countingof impacts Can become verycomplex if usedbeyond simplifiedversionTGM for Tanneries August 20104-11