A Comparative Study of Environmental Impact Assessment Reports of Housing Projects of Lucknow City, Uttar Pradesh, India

One of the most pressing issues with regard to the environment is linked to human settlement in world’s growing cities and towns. Several agencies use procedures for environmental impact assessment (EIA) of housing projects which might result in significant environmental impacts. The EIA study is necessary to prepare a detailed account of environmental impact of the proposed activity so that appropriate interventions could be taken. An attempt has been made in this paper to compare different elements of EIA in four major housing projects of Lucknow city, Uttar Pradesh, namely Parsvnath City, LDA Gomti Nagar Extension scheme, DLF Garden City and Omaxe residency using checklist method. The study focuses on various parameters such as total area, parking area, rainwater harvesting system, basement area, sewage treatment plant, water quality, solid waste, source of water, depth of ground water, distance from the city centre, nearest sensitive zones and overall settlement density. The review of the EIA of housing projects reveal that some of the newly developed projects are characterized by severe shortage of basic services like potable water, well laid-out drainage system, sewerage network, sanitation facilities, electricity, roads and waste disposal. These in turn result in numerous environmental and health impacts that must be addressed. The green cover and water bodies have been destroyed to give way to the rapidly developing urban settlements at the outskirts. The paper argues that through early planning before the start of the project as well as through all phases of the project’s development, if environmental concerns are considered simultaneously with other technical and economic criteria, it may be possible to develop the housing projects with the protection of natural resources of that area.