ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF A SUGAR MILL IN WESTERN, U.P.

Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment of any project is increasingly becoming essential to planners. It gives them insight into the probable illmbeffects of the project over socioeconomic, and physical environment, thus enabling them to modify the project in such a way as it gives benifits to the society in general. Lack of a prior environmental impact assessment leads, to problems of pollution of air, water and land, which could have been minimised at the planning stage itself. This study was directed towards the assessment of environmental impact due to a sugar factory situated in Western U.P. The factory has a turnover of 70,000 tonnes of cane crusted per year, and was established in the year 1954. The analysis of the data collected regarding the impact of the factory on physic° and socio.economic enviror. met of the nearby area reveals that the factory has imparted more of beneficial effects that the adverse effects. There have been good socio-economic_ growth of the area and the population in general has benifitted from the commissioning of the factory. There has been an overall development of area providing high returns from agricultural land and employment to local labour. Only medium to light adverse effects on the environment are envisaged from the tetatiY 2 9,0tilrthodi whereas high positive values have been obtained while using Matrix Method