Road transportation plays a major role in

improving the economic life of the society as

well as the daily lives of the citizens.
People may be indirectly affected by roads
projects, through the disruption of
livelyhood, loss of accustomed travel paths
and community linkages, increase in
respiratory problems due to air pollution.
Roads are agents of change and can be
responsible for both benefits and damage to
environment. Hence it is necessary to
understand the various environmental
problems encountered during and after the
construction of road projects.

Air, Water And Noise Pollution
Loss Of Forestry And Vegetation
Geological Disturbances
Loss Of Natural Sources Of Water
Destruction Of Wild Life
Land Degradation & Soil Erosion
Aesthetic Degradation
Interruption Of Natural Drainage System

The Ministry of environment and
Forests, government of India have
outlined Environmental Guidelines
for highway projects. The guide lines
prescribe the following procedures,
which are EIA, EIS and EMP
respectively

TYPICAL CONTENTS OF AN EIA REPORT
An executive summary of the EIA findings.
The major environmental and natural resources issues that
needed clarification and elaboration.
The projects impact on the environment and how these
impact were identified and predicted.
A discussion of options for mitigating adverse impacts and
shaping the project to suit its proposed environment.
An overview of gaps or uncertainties in the information.
A summary of the EIA for the general public

General settings of the region, like topography geology, climatic
condition etc.
Objectives of road projects like size of area and population it will
serve.
Technical features is length of the road, width & type of road etc.
State of the environment of the belt through which the road will pass
Impact of road construction on the environment
Measures proposed to mitigate the adverse impacts.
Socio-economic concerns.



The basic objective of the EIS is to
identify, predict and evaluate the likely
impacts of a given activity and then
prepare necessary action plans to
eliminate or mitigate the adverse
impacts as part of the overall
environment management plan.

A brief discussion of the project
Description of the existing environment
Likely impacts of the proposed project
both adverse and beneficial, short and
long term impacts.
Mitigation, protection & enhancement
measures.
Consideration of alternatives.
Effect of non-change alternatives.


The environment management plan is
an implementation plan for carrying
out mitigation protection and
enhancement measures as are
recommended by the EIS. EMP gives
details how to operate these
measures, the resources required and
the schedule for implementation.

1. Surface water quality 14.Industries
2. Air quality 15.Habitat
3. Seismology / Geology 16.Resettlement
4. Hydrology & Drainage 17.Archeological / Historic
5. Soils Significance sites
6. Erosion
7. Land quality & Land use 18.Public/Private institution
of repute
8. Fisheries & Aquaculture 19.Religious sites / places
9. Forests
10.Terrain & Topography 20.Architectural sites
11.Public health 21.Agriculture and farming
12.Noise 22.Socio-economic aspects
13.Aesthetics 23.Terrestrial wild life
Guidelines for environmental clearance

Name of the project

Clearance at state level
1 Tarred roads (Bitumen surfaced)
in Himalayas and forest land

Up to 5 Km length
2 National Highways Up to 5 Km length

3 State highways
a. Involving forest land Up to 5 Km length

b. Not involving forest land All lengths
The roads in hilly regions are
aligned in forest and mountain
areas. And most these areas are
endowed with gift of nature and
environmentally and ecologically
fascinating these area are treasure
houses of flora and fauna.

Landslides, erosion & sediment discharge
Poor drainage resulting in damage loading
to flooding & degradation of water sources.
Formation of new gullies
Denuding of forest cover
Increase in the concentration of run off
causing water pollution.
Clearing of road side vegetation for
firewood grazing, cultivation and
urbanization
Increase in traffic litter, noise and dust
pollution
Air quality affected by vehicles
exhaust and spills of toxic hazardous
chemicals from couriers using road for
transportation such materials.
Transfer of vector diseases.
Disturbance to flora and fauna.
Effect on wild life through loss of
habitat and encroachment.
Dense forest and heritage areas can be
avoided while choosing the alignment
Road in cutting is better as it causes
less noise pollution and is less visually
intensive.
Properly designed noise barriers can
reduce the noise pollution significantly.
In urban areas, the adverse effects can be
mitigated by adopting a wide range of policies
like control on land use and hierarchical
network planning, modification and
improvement in vehicle technology and traffic
management.Some of the techniques of traffic
management are vehicle bans, traffic signal
control, speed control in residential areas etc.
Grade separated facilities will improve the
traffic flow and obviate
frequent stopping and starting which are some
main factors of air pollution