Match List-I (Impact Type) with List-II (Example / key focus) and select the correct code:

Question

Match List-I (Impact Type) with List-II (Example / key focus) and select the correct code:

List-I

i. Air-quality

ii. Water-quantity

iii. Noise

iv. Socio-economic

List-II

a. Employment patterns

b. Dust/Emissions

c. Groundwater drawdown

d. Noise levels

Choose the correct match :

1. A. i-b, ii-c, iii-d, iv-a (Correct answer)
2. B. i-c, ii-b, iii-a, iv-d
3. C. i-b, ii-d, iii-c, iv-a
4. D. i-a, ii-c, iii-b, iv-d

Correct Answer

Option A — i-b, ii-c, iii-d, iv-a

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is i-b, ii-c, iii-d, iv-a.

Key Points

• Each impact type pairs with its characteristic manifestation:
  • i. Air-quality - b. Dust and emissions, from construction activity, haulage and process stacks.
  • ii. Water-quantity - c. Groundwater drawdown, the abstraction effect on the aquifer and on neighbouring wells.
  • iii. Noise - d. Noise levels, measured in decibels against ambient standards.
  • iv. Socio-economic - a. Employment patterns, together with displacement, livelihoods and pressure on local services.

Additional Information

• The distinction worth holding is between water quantity and water quality. Quantity impacts concern abstraction, drawdown and altered flow regimes; quality impacts concern effluent, contamination and thermal discharge. This question tests the former.
• Groundwater drawdown is often the most consequential impact of an industrial project in a water-stressed area, since it affects every neighbouring user through a shared resource that has no visible boundary.
• Socio-economic impacts can be positive as well as adverse — employment generation is a benefit — which is why EIA evaluates net effect rather than cataloguing harms alone.
• Noise standards under India's Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 are 55 dB(A) day and 45 dB(A) night in residential areas, with an additional silence-zone category around hospitals and schools.