Challenges Allied to the Effectiveness of the Environmental Impact Assessment in the Construction Industry of Sri Lanka

Abstract

‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ is a structured programme for evaluating and inspecting environmental factors, in order to support and aid the decision-making or the planning stage of a development process. Basically, this information is used to observe the change caused to the environment due to the development process and advice the most effective and reasonable methods to reduce the impact to the environment. Considering the last decade, Sri Lanka has been positive towards development and towards the construction industry. Nevertheless, there are numerous environmental concerns that should be addressed due to these developments. EIA procedure emphasises the possible environmental impacts and methods to reduce these impacts. This study elaborates on the challenges allied to the effectiveness of the environmental impact Aassessment in the construction industry of Sri Lanka. The impacts of five main challenges are discussed in this study and also the study will provide an insight into the current EIA procedure implemented in Sri Lanka. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are used to collect data, and these collected data were presented using both numerical formats by regression analysis and descriptive formats by content analysis. The findings in the study reveal that the challenges discussed in this study have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the EIA procedure. The paper concludes with recommendations or strategies to overcome these challenges.