Analysis of Alternatives - A Forgotten Component of EIA for Onshore Oil and Gas Upstream Industry in India

Analysis of alternatives (AOA) is one of the most important components of environmental impact assessment (EIA) adopted worldwide, where it is analysed whether project location, technology, processes, design etc. have any other more feasible alternative (along with no project option) with less adverse consequences to environment. Its inclusion therefore decides the quality of EIA report. To explore the AOA practice in India, 47 EIA reports for onshore oil and gas upstream industry is involved in the present study. Onshore oil and gas upstream industry have known significant impacts on environment, and an impact assessment therefore is a mechanism to manage these environmental impacts beforehand. The AOA is studied with respect to four focus areas; types of alternatives, length of information, no-action alternative, and copy and paste practice. Important points observed in the study are limited discussion on alternative types, repetition of same content in many EIA reports, no or limited comparison and evaluation of alternatives, and trying for project justification citing financial benefits of project in no-action alternative. More than 57% of the reports are found to either did not have chapter on AOA or only one page dedicated for AOA. Length of content of AOA ranged from one sentence to around seven pages, with average of less than two pages per report. The type of alternatives observed are location/site, technology, resources, and no-action, in 68.1%, 63.8%, 10.6%, and 42.6% of the reports respectively. No-action alternative is observed in only 20 reports out of 47. In two reports, criteria based meaningful alternatives are analysed. It is concluded that incorporating early AOA, synchronised with project cycle, training of EIA preparers for AOA, and more vigilant appraisal may help in improving quality of AOA in Indian EIA system.