Environmental Impact Assessment of A Municipal Solid Waste Dumping Site - A Case Study

摘要

Waste is an unavoidable product of any society. Ever-increasing population along with scarcity of land escalates the problem of waste management. The present practice of handling waste in developing countries, is an inefficient way of land usage and potential threat to the human health and environment. In this paper, the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) has been used to find out the best alternative. Out of the various feasible options, a comparative study has been conducted for sanitary landfill as an alternative to the current practice of open dumping. The options were tested with seven physical/chemical, five biological/ ecological, six social/cultural and five economical/operational parameters. Major improvements were noticed in air and ground water quality along with aesthetic and odour aspects ultimately leading to improved human health and environmental quality. It was inferred from the analysis that sanitary landfill can be a better choice except for a slightly high operation and maintenance cost. The study has shown that RIAM is a very useful tool for preparation of an EIA because it applies consistent, transparent and recordable assessment of the different components.