ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF EASTERN GANGA CANAL USING REMOTE SENSING DATA

Abstract

Sustained natural quality of ambient environment is necessary for the very survival of Mankind. However, rapid industrialisation and population growth have deteriorated the environmental quality consistently during the last four decades. The deterioration hn reached to such an extent that protection of natural environment hao become a priority .subject for all nations of the world alike. In India, environmental impact assessment (EIA) of ary developmental project in both public and private sectors has been made mandatory before the project work is finally cleared. Environmental impact assessment of a project basically envolves identification of objectives, impact assessment and prediction of the likely impacts of the proposed actions._ The present study is aimed at the environmental impact assessment of the proposed Eastern Ganga banal, which is planned to take-off from Hardwar and flow eastward of existing Upper Ganga Canal. The impact assessment study has been done on the basis of remotely sense data of the natural environment existing with recourse to deterministic as well as probabilistic methodologies of impact assessment. While the deterministic methodologies applied are the matrix method and computer based method the Markov process has been utilised for stochastic assessment. Software computer packages for ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author expresses his immense gratitude to Dr. Arvind Kumar, reader in Environmental engineering section and Sri O.P. Dubey, lecturer, Remote Sensing and photogrammetric Engineering section, Civil Engineering Department, University of Roorkee, Roorkee for their invaluable guidance, enconsegement and constant help rendered throughout the work. Their affectionate involvement at all stages of the work has made this trying endeavour a reality. The author is endebted to Sri Shusil Kumar Singh, Scientist, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee for his whole-hearted cooperation and encouragement during the period of nervousness, throughtout the work. The author extendshis hearty thanks to his collegues Sri V.K. Mishra, Sri V.K. Rastogi, Sri S.K. Singh, Sri Naveen Kumar, Sri Vipin Kumar and Sri Dinesh, all post graduate students, University of Roorkee, who helped at the different stages and were always available for the suggestions. The author also acknowledges sincerethanks to all those who directly or indirectly helped him during the work. (