Decision frame (निर्णय ढाँचा)
Project benefit + ecological/social cost + alternatives + distribution + irreversibility
Frame the decision before taking a side.
The question is which development, where, for whom and at what cost.
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GS III · Environment
Development, EIA, Mining & Dams
Trade-offs, carrying capacity, cumulative impacts, displacement and decision quality.
The environment-development conflict is not projects versus nature; it is immediate, concentrated benefits versus delayed, dispersed and sometimes irreversible costs.
(लाभ तुरंत और केंद्रित, पर पर्यावरणीय लागत देर से और बिखरी दिखती है।)
Common spine
Start with the Development, EIA, Mining & Dams causal spine. Select a question to see which steps matter most.
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Ecological baseline (पारिस्थितिक आधार)
Existing stocks + flows + carrying capacity + sensitive receptors → decision threshold
Without a baseline, impact cannot be measured.
You cannot assess change without knowing the starting system.
CoreImpact chain (प्रभाव शृंखला)
Construction/operation → direct + indirect + cumulative impacts → ecological and social outcomes
Include upstream, downstream and induced development.
The largest impact may sit outside the project boundary.
CoreEIA as decision process (निर्णय प्रक्रिया)
Screen → scope → baseline → alternatives → consultation → mitigation → monitoring
Do not reduce EIA to a clearance document.
EIA should improve the project before deciding its fate.
CoreDistribution and rehabilitation (वितरण और पुनर्वास)
Displacement + livelihood loss + cultural loss + downstream risk → consent, compensation and restoration needs
Count non-market and place-based losses.
Those bearing the cost must have voice and remedy.
CoreMitigation hierarchy (शमन क्रम)
Avoid → minimise → restore → offset residuals → monitor adaptively
Close with alternatives and enforceable conditions.
Avoid irreversible damage before trying to compensate for it.
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