Department of Management Science, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Sahiwal Campus, 57000, Pakistan.
Environ Monit Assess. 2012 Apr;184(4):1909-19. doi: 10.1007/s10661-011-2088-5. Epub 2011 Sep 2.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a policy tool used for evaluating a project proposal from physical and socioeconomic environmental perspectives. Its aim is to reduce the impact of development on environment, hence, ensuring environmental sustainability. It is mandatory to submit an Environmental Impact Statement before starting a mega project as required by Environmental Protection Act of 1997 and Environmental Policy of Pakistan. Public consultation plays a key role in an EIA system, identifying the likely aspects and impacts of a development activity. This aspect has been ignored in effective enactment of environmental legislation in Pakistan. Sufficient legislative instruments are there to support EIA system in the country but the agencies responsible for the enforcement of environmental regulations have failed to do so. The current research gives an insight into the actual status of EIA system in Pakistan along with the feedback of EIA specialists and university teachers of the concerned departments. A new index has been devised on the basis of questionnaire response to work out the overall performance of EIA system in Pakistan or any other country. The weaknesses and deficiencies of each EIA stage have been worked out for Pakistan and elaborated with the help of the controversial Zero point Interchange Project in the capital city of Pakistan.
环境影响评价（EIA）是一种从物理和社会经济环境角度评估项目提案的政策工具。其目的是减少发展对环境的影响，从而确保环境的可持续性。根据 1997 年的《环境保护法》和《巴基斯坦环境政策》的要求，在开始大型项目之前，必须提交一份《环境影响声明》。公众咨询在环境影响评价系统中起着关键作用，可确定发展活动的潜在方面和影响。在巴基斯坦，环境立法的有效颁布忽略了这一方面。该国已经有足够的立法工具来支持环境影响评价系统，但负责执行环境法规的机构却未能做到这一点。目前的研究深入了解了巴基斯坦环境影响评价系统的实际状况，以及环境影响评价专家和相关部门的大学教师的反馈。根据问卷调查的回复，制定了一个新的指数，以计算巴基斯坦或任何其他国家的环境影响评价系统的整体表现。针对巴基斯坦的情况，详细阐述了每个环境影响评价阶段的弱点和缺陷，并借助巴基斯坦首都有争议的零点交流项目加以说明。
