Promoters of development projects still view the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as merely a means for getting approval from the federal authorities, said P.K. Shaji, Deputy Director of Environmental Resource Research Centre (ERRC), Thiruvananthapuram. Dr. Shaji was delivering an invited lecture on EIA at the National Multi-disciplinary Congress on Environment Management and Education that came to a close at Mar Thoma College in Thiruvalla on Thursday.
The authorities concerned should ensure that the EIA requirements were fully complied with, against the backdrop of the recent demolition of a few apartments for flouting the rules at Maradu in Kochi, before giving approval for various a construction projects.
Sessions
N. Balasubramaniam from Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources, Institute for Social and Economic Change in Bengaluru, spoke on the ‘economics of the forest ecosystem’ followed by a session on ‘environmental ethics and sustainable development’.
The college will host the second edition of the multidisciplinary congress with its theme ‘Health, hygiene, and sanitation’ from January 5 to 7, 2021, says Dr. John.
