STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF AN IDENTIFIED HIGHWAY CORRIDOR

Abstract

Highway network is one of the important components of transportation system at the national, state and local levels. In order to increase the efficiency of the transportation system, construction of new roads and improvements to existing roads are being undertaken in urban and rural areas. Construction of highways is often coupled with environmental deterioration. It is not only important but essential at planning stage itself to consider environmental impact of the proposed highway works. In the case of major works on existing highway, the impact of these works on the surroundings should be studied and attempts should be made to enhance the environmental quality through improvements. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a procedure for bringing out the potential effects of human activities on environ-mental systems. The EIA has become an integral part of the highway planning and design in many advanced countries. The case for introducing such a tool in this country is even stronger, as many new highway projects are being planned and/or implemented at State and Central Government levels for the rapid development in the country. It is necessary to ensure that these new/improved highways are not only safer and more efficient but also environmentally acceptable. In this thesis an attempt is made to study the impact of construction activities on existing highway SH-45 by taking observations for volume, speed, noise level and suspended particulate matters. In all, four stations are selected on SH-45out of which two are on construction sites, one away from construction site and one at Roorkee. The sped volume relationship for all the four stations, with the speed of vehicle as a dependent variable and the traffic volume in Equivalent Passenger Car Unit (EPCU) as independent variable has been established. The regression analysis has been done using LOTUS 1-2-3 Package on PC-XT Computer System. At First and Second stationswhere two lanes are blocked due to construction activities, the capacity reduces to almost 50% as that of the capacity of four lane highway at Third station. The traffic speed of four lane highway is reduced by 50% to 60% at the stations where two lanes are blocked due to construction activities. Noise level is also high at construction site. The concentration of suspended particulate matter was found 21% more at construction site. The remaining portion of SH-45 from Meerut to Rishikesh is proposed to be four laned and it is true also as the capacity on Fourth station comes 1860 PCU/hour which is higher than the limits prescribed for two lane urban roads. During construction works to maintain the environmental quality on this portion, some important recommendations are also given in this thesis report. It is recommended that such studies be carried out before planning any major project.