370
Views
4
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

The impact of construction of hill roads on the environment, assessed using the multi-criteria approach

, , & ORCID Icon
Pages 1-18 | Published online: 30 Mar 2021
 

ABSTRACT

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) in regard to road widening of a 26 km stretch in Reasi District of Jammu and Kashmir (Union Territory) has been studied. Impact on the environment included temperature, deforestation, rainfall, landslides, blasting, surface and groundwater, air and soil pollution, habitat change, historical and socio-environmental factors. The study indicates that buses are the highest emitters of Hartridge Smoke Unit (HSU) followed by light commercial vehicles, heavy commercial trucks and cars, and three-wheelers in that order. The study also established that the make and age of the vehicle had negligible impact on the observed values of HSU and the light absorption coefficient (k). With the help of multi-criteria tools, the EIA has been quantified for four alternatives of a road stretch using fourteen criteria. The results show that the impact of the construction of two-lane highways on the environment is high, but that it can also be mitigated effectively.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 1,097.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.