Role of environmental impact assessment and public involvement in sustainable development of hydropower projects in the mountains - a case of the Beas valley, Himachal Pradesh, India

摘要

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a tool which has widely been used to determine the impact of various developmental activities on the environment. Development of hydropower projects in the Kullu valley of the northwestern Himalaya is in a fast pace from a recent last decade. Analysing the awakening level of the local communities in regard to environmental impact assessment, public hearings and their participation in alike developmental activities have been some of the important issues that could be a part and parcel step of developmental activity. The present study is carried out with a detailed perception survey of the local communities surrounding to the Parbati Stage II (800 MW) and the Parbati Stage III (520 MW) hydropower projects under constructions with a structured questionnaire to know the level of EIA awareness and public participation in decision making process in project planning, development and implementation. The study reveals that there were very few people familiar with EIA and participated in public hearings. The study clearly indicates that these projects were implemented without the participation of the affected local communities in the region. This study further reveals that sustainable development of these projects will depend much on the degree of public participation in EIA and public hearing meetings. Further, these projects improve the predictive quality of environmental assessment of a project which will help reduce conflicts between project proponents and local communities and would enable an urgency of public involvement in decision making process.