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Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Infrastructure Development Projects in Developing Countries

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a tool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making. The process leads to the selection of the projects on the principle of sustainable development, so that the adverse effects of the new developments are mitigated through proactive and rational decisions making. Over the years, EIA has not been practiced holistically in the developing countries and particularly in South Asian Nations. However in the last few years Governments, environmentalists, researchers, media and communities of these countries have formulated sufficient legislative and institutional frame work for the EIA. In this paper, an overview of the EIA practices in developing countries and particularly South Asia, have been given, with special reference to the developments in Pakistan. The creation of awareness and formulating legislation has thus forced the countries to abandon many developmental projects, which were detrimental to the environment. Some of the basic flaws in the EIA of a mega project (Zero Point Interchange Project- ZPIP) have been highlighted.