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Abstract
Environmental Information Centre – A Concept Approach
Bijay Kumar Panda, Somnath Mukherjee, and Mahesh Babu
Environmental Information Centre
Ecosmart India Limited, New Delhi
The environment, being a multi-disciplinary area, a multitude of agencies is involved in collection of environmental data. However, there is no single organization in India which tracks the data available with various data collection agencies and makes it available in form and manner required by the environmental professionals and decision makers. Moreover the environmental data is not available in value added form which can improve the quality of EIA and the decision making process.
With this background, Environmental Information Centre (EIC) has been conceived by Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) as a clearinghouse of environmental information. The project is financed by the World Bank. The EIC envisages to efficiently meeting the environmental data needs of all stakeholders involved with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental decision making processes. The data available with EIC can be used by project proponents for planning and site selection of projects. The available data with EIC will serve as a basic tool for the EIA cycle right from scooping, screening, tailoring Environmental Management and Disaster Management Plans. The data can also be used by the regulatory agencies for accord of environmental clearances.
The EIC data is available in GIS (both spatial and non spatial) format and is validated through four level data validation checks. EIC is the repository of value added data on Ecology (forests and protected areas), Geology, soils, air and water quality, socio-economics and demography, land use, DTM and infrastructure etc. The paper discusses the structure, composition and availability of EIC data and plans for future expansion of the database to national levels.
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