Environmental Impact Assessment

In order for EIA to be effective, it has to be intertwined with the country’s legal system and backed by a clear set of administrative protocols with sufficient institutional capacity. With a decent set of sectoral guidelines for conducting environmental assessment, a sound legal basis and established institutional framework for EIA review and approval, Bangladesh has a systematic mechanism in place for examining the environmental consequences of development initiatives. But evidence suggests that EIA has not yet evolved satisfactorily in Bangladesh in several aspects (Kabir and Momtaz 2013, Momtaz 2002). It is a widely speculated that in Bangladesh EIA still remains an instrument for project approval and not a tool that can promote the environmental sustainability of the project.

Assessment of EIA system

This system of evaluation assesses the EIA system under consideration under seven subcategories:

  1. Legal/administrative backing,
  2. Preliminary Assessment,
  3. Detailed Assessment,
  4. EIA study review,
  5. Decision-making,
  6. Follow up and
  7. Administrative support.

These evaluation principles were applied to the ECA 1995, ECR 1997, prevailing Administrative procedures of the Department of Environment.