India - Kayamkulam Combined Cycle Power Plant Project : environmental impact assessment (Vol. 1 of 3)

* ~s e K:AYAMKULAM CCPP e (400 MW) 0 : * - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SEPTEMBER 1996 . 0 O NATIONAL THERMAL POWER CORPORATION LTD NEW DELHI j . _~~~~~~~~~~~~~-  KAYAMKULAM CCPP (400 MW) EXEGUTIVE SUMMARY * OF * ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 3 SEPTEMBER 1996 * . NATIONAL THERMAL POWER CORPORATION LTD NEW DELHI  INTRODUCTION: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) * proposes to construct and operate a Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) of capacity 400 MW (nominal), near Kayamku- * lam in Alleppey District. * POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK: * The principal Environmental Regulatory Agency in India is the Ministry of Environment & Forests (HOEF). *MOEF formulates environmental policies and accords environmental clearance for the projects. MOEF have accorded environmental c'learance for the combined cycle power plant proposed near Kayamkulam vide letter dtd. 4.1.95. The status of implementation of conditions * stipulated by MOEF have been presented in Section 1.1(a) of the main ZIA report. Earlier a proposal by NTPC for * a 420 KW coal based power plant at the same location was also cleared environmentally by MOEF. No separate NOC * is required from Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for the planned fuel unloading facilities at the * Cheppad Railway Station. A letter has been issued by KSPCB in this regard. - REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT The state government has formulated the regional development plan and is under approval. The plan after approval will be submitted to Ministry of Environment and Forest shortly. TRANSMISSION LINES: The necessary transmission system for evacuation *3 of power would be implemented by the Power Grid Corpora- tion of India Limited (Power Grid). It has been decided * by Power Grid to retain the transmission system earlier identified with the Kayamkulam Thermal Power Project i.e., * i) Kayankulam-Pallam 220 KV D/C 65 KEs. * ii) Kayamkulam-Edamon 220 KV D/C 55 Kms. iii) Establishment of a 220 xV switchyard at Kayamkulam CCPP. iv) Extension of 220 KV Sub-stations at Pallam and Edamon of Kerala SEB. * Clearance from Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has been obtained for the proposed transmission system. * It has also been confirmed by Power Grid that the pro- posal has the clearance of the Ministry of Environment & * Forests. . .  * As the switchyard would be located in the land in possession of NTPC adjacent to the main plant area, no * land for this purpose is proposed to be acquired by * Power Grid. For the transmission corridors, no land is proposed to be acquired and only right of way would be obtained. As far as extension of sub-stations is con- cerned, the same would be implemented where space is * available for termination of transmission lines. In view of the fact that no land acquisition is involved for the transmission lines, switchyard and substations, no resettlement or rehabilitation is envis- aged. It has also been confirmed by Forest Authorities * that the proposed transmission line does not pass through reserve forests. * PROJECT DESCRIPTION: * A) Site and Surrounding: The proposed site is located on the fringe of the 0 * backwaters of Kayamkulam Lake/Kayal at latitude 9 14'N 0 - a and longitude 76 26'E. Arabian sea is approximately 2 kms west and National Highway NH-47 is about 5 kms east of the proposed site. The nearest railway station is at approximately 10 kms from the site on the Kottayam * Quilon section of the Southern Railways. The site is about 110 kms. from Trivandrum and 90 kms. from Cochin. * Both Trivandrum and Cochin are linked with the National Air Network. * B) Infrastructure Facilities: * a) Township: *t The township is located east of the plant on the western side of the National Highway NH-47 near Chingoli * and Cheppad villages. * The township would have 213 quarters for O&M personnel and 77 quarters for CISF along with matching non-residential facilities. Already about 72 quarters have been constructed for the construction staff which * would form a part of the permanent township. Facilities like potable water, sanitary, security, etc. will be provided in the labour colony. b) Approach Road: Approach road to the plant site from National * Highway - 47 shall be constructed which will be a double lane road having a width of 7 m with 2.5 m wide shoul- ders. .  * C) Water Requirement and Desilting Basin: e Sweet water requirement for the plant would be met from Achankovil river, with a fall back from PIP e canal system. This water would be drawn into a desilt- ing basin (located at river end) by gravity. The desilt- * ing basin is proposed to be constructed in 6 acres of land. A reservoir is proposed to be constructed in 33 acres of land adjacent to the plant site. The land for the reservoir is already in possesion of NTPC and no * additional acquestion is required. A coumitment for 3 * supply of 3200 m /hr. of fresh water has been accorded a by the State Govt. vide letter dated 30.1.89, whereas the requirement for the proposed CCPP is estimated to be 3 only 1015 a /hr. The availability of water has been * reconfirmed by State Govt. vide letter dtd. 6.1.1994. Replacing the desilting basin by sand filters may 3 not be advantageous in view of the following facts: * i) A certain minimum water quality is to be ensured for effective use of sand filters without choking. Generally clarified water limiting turbidity to 30 ppm is supplied to sand filters. In case raw water from the * river source is directly treated through sand filters, there is every possibility of sand filters getting - choked especially during the monsoon months when the _ turbidity of river water is expected to be quite high. ii) There is no significant reduction in land require- a ments for the same. The land requirement for sand filters is estimated to be 2-6 acres depending on the 4 type of sand filters. * It is proposed that a submerged weir will be constructed on the river to ensure minimum water depth * for drawal of water. No overflow or submergence up- * stream of the water structure is envisaged for the proposed submerged type weir. It may be noted that no dam is proposed to be constructed to raise the water level upstream. * As per the information available, the anticipated * minimum flow downstream of the weir would be of the order of 600,000 .3/day. About 2000 people depend Upon v the river water downstr with an average consumption of 75 litres only. The total requirement, therefore, * would be 150 m3/day and hence there would be absolutely no impact on availability due to construction of weir.  * The water supply for the project is envisaged from a single intake point on river Achenkovil. Commitment of water supply from state irrigation authorities is also for drawal from a single point on river Achenkovil. No separate water drawal arrangement from PIP canal system to plant is envisaged by NTPC. However, the state irrigation authorities have proposed to link the PIP canal system with Achenkovil river upstream of intake point on the river, to augment the water supplies * in the event of water flow in Achenkovil river being inadequate to meet the commitments downstream. As clarified earlier, augmentation from PIP canal I system is supposed to be from surplus supplies after I meeting the irrigation and domestic requirements. C) Project Components: * The project facilities include: * a) Combined Cycle Power Generation Facility along with township. b) Associated transmission system of the Power *t Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGIL) 3 c) Naphtha storage. - D) Fuel: 3 Naphtha has been considered as basic fuel. The * estimated quantity of Naphtha for operating a 400 MW combined cycle power plant is 0.45 MMTA for 6000 hours of operation per year. As Naphtha at present is a decanalised item, no restriction is envisaged in direct- *F ly importing the same. A confirmation on the availabil- ity of 0.6 MMTA of indegenous Naphtha is also available *t from two Indian fuel suppliers. * It is envisaged to have 4 number of floating roof storage tanks each 10000 m3 at the site and 2 numbers of floating roof tanks of 5000 m3 capacity each at Cheppad siding. A concrete dyke will be provided around the storage tanks to contain spills. The floor of the stor- * age area will also be concreted to avoid any seepage in case of spills. Further, provision for inter tank * transfer of fuel will also be made in the tank farm area. Fuel from the handling area near Cheppad will be 0 transported to the site through burried pipelines. The construction of pipeline for transport of naphtha will v be in compliance with OISD 141. Apart from wrapping and coating with coal tar enamel, cathodic protection will *e be provided to prevent corrosion. The pipeline will also be periodically hydrotested. Pressure drop across the  * pipeline will be indicator of any leakage. The pumping of fuel will be stopped and leakage will be promptly at tended. Any spill from the pipeline due to minor leaks will get diffused in the soil. The fire fighting system including manually operated medium velocity water spray system along with foam system shall be provided for Naphtha storage tanks. Provision has also been made for firing natural gas as and when gas is available at a later date. * E) Fuel Transportation and Risk Assesment: * Naphtha is to be transported from BPCL storage terminal at Irumpanam near Cochin to storage facilities * at Kayamkulam plant. A study was undertaken through H/s Engineers India Ltd, New Delhi to identify the most optimum mode of transportion considering both the tech- no-economic as well as environmental aspects. Various possible modes of fuel transport were considered. Based * on detailed analysis, the following two options were considered for indepth study. a 1. Rail option * 2. Marine option * Rail Option: mThe following three rail options have been consid- ered: Option-I : Direct by rail upto Haripad and there- fore to Kayamkulam site. Option-II: Unloading near Haripad station transit * stroage and transfer to Kayankulam by pipline. * Option-III: Unloading near Cheppad station transit stroage and transfer to Kayaukulan by pipeline. Marine Options: The various alternate marine options considered are as follows: a) Open-sea mooring of ships with submarine and on- shore pipline. This alternative is further sub divided into two 1. Single point mooring * 2. Nultibuoy mooring . .  * b) Jetty with pipline running on approach trestle/ * road. * c) Jetty inside lagoon near plant site. * It emerged from the study that transportation from Cochin to Chepad by Rail and there after to site by * pipeline is the most optimum option. * A study of Indian Rail transport practices indi- cate that transport byrail of hydrocarbon products of all classifications is common and the safety regulations adopted by Indian Railways ensure safe transport of such products. * The details of the study on mode of fuel transpor- tation and risk analysis of the least cost option are covered in Section 2.9.1.1 of the main EIA report. The * report of this study has been seperately submitted to the Bank. With a view to ensure international acceptable safety standards, the opinion of an independent interna- tional consultant namely H/s Arthur D Little (ADL) * have been obtained. The findings and recommendations of the review consultant are as follows: * FINDINGS * - The risks for loading operations at Irumpanam are negligible. -- The risks to the public living along the railway route from Irumpanam to Cheppad and along the pipeline route from Cheppad to Kayamkulam, are tolerable. - The risks for unloading operator at Cheppad are * intolerable, unless facilities are provided to safely shut off the outlet from a BTPN wagon in the event of * unloading hose leak or rupture. It was therefore recom- mended that such facilities be provided. * - Storage at Cheppad and Kayamkulan fatality risks are minimal. * - Fatality risks are in the As Low As Reasonably * Practicable (ALARP) region. .  RECOMMOENNATIONS e 1. Loading * No further risk reduction is required. ; 2. Rail TransRort Safety management audits of the rail transport operation could be conducted to check that Indian rail- ways operate naphtha rail transport using best current practices e.g. wagon and track maintenance to avoid *b derailments, signaling, maintenance and procedures to avoid collisions, etc. 3. Unloading Emergency shut off valve which can be activated in case of a hose rupture should be provided. 4. Storage at CheDpad and Ka_a_ kulam Fatality risks are minimal but to reduce the risk of outages, ensure that: v i) All tanks are fitted with a high level alarm and an independent high-high level alarm which shuts off the = inlet feed to the tank. ii) Safety audits check that the high level alarm and * high-high level alarm are not used in practice for normal operations, but are genuine alarms. 6 The recommendations under 2,3,4 above will be _ implementated by NTPC/BPCL/INDIAN RAILWAYS. * 5. Pipeline * Fatality risks are in the As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) region and may be minimized by * regular patrols of the pipeline (e.g. daily) to observe any signs of unauthorized activity, and very close * supervision of any maintenance within the road/pipeline corridor. NTPC will also fence off the pipeline/road access corridor and will not permit any building or agricultur- * al activity within it. * The naphtha and sweet water pipeline will be laid along opposite sides of the roadway.All recommendations suggested by the review consultant will be implemented. .  * The need for absolute safety during transport and stor- * age of naphtha is well recognised. The transportation, handling and storage of naphtha would be carrie out in accordance with prevaling practices and relevent Indian laws. F) The Power plant: The total land required for plant, township and associated facilities like intake structure for water, water pipe corridor, fuel storage facility near the * Chepad Station etc. is as follows: * a) Main Plant 100 Acres. b) Township 60 Acres. * c) Labour Colony 6 Acres. d) Resettlement Colony 20 Acres. e) Green belt 40 Acres. f) Approach road, sweet 38 Acres water corridor etc. * g) Pump, desilting 6 Acres basin & intake e structures. 1h) Main reservoir aS 33 Acres 3 plant site i) Fuel storage faci- 10 Acres 3 lity near Chepad station." Total 313.00 Acres. An area cf 180 acres required for the main plant, green belt and labour colony and reservoir earlier owned * by the State Agricultural Department has now been- taken over by NTPC. The balance 133 acres land is primarily J* private owned land out of which 80 acres is already in the possession of NTPC. About 53 acres required for * water corridor, puAp, desilting basin and water intake structures, approach road and fuel storage facility near * Chepad Station is under acquistion. PLANT PORULTIOC LEVEL The proposed plant site is surrounded all round by * the backwaters (known as kayals). A strip of land of about 500 m wide between the outer kayal and the Arabian 0 sea, protects it from direct exposure to sea. The water v level in the adjoining backwaters undergoes tidal varia- tion-and maximums and minimum water level as observed is * stated to be RL (+) 0.81 a and RL (+) 0.05 m respective- ly.  ** The high water level of (+) 1.2m in 1991 was not because of storm or typhoon. It was due to delay -in * clearance of bar formation at the confluence of Kayal with sea approximately 10 kms. south of plant site which * is done annually in a routine way. It is to be noted that for most part of the year, the Kayal waters are open to sea at the confluence. However, in summer months before the monsoon when inflows to the Kayal from upstream water bodies is low, generally a sand bar form at the confluence point. In extreme conditions, as * happened in 1991, the sand bar is normally cleared as a routine exercise by local state authorities at the onset of monsoon, so that the increased flows in Kayal during the monsoon can flow out into the sea. In case this sand bar clearance is delayed, as was stated to be the case in 1991, the Kayal water levels may rise. However, the possibility of Rayal water levels exceeding (+) 1.2 m is not anticipated, because if the Kayal water level rises and even before it reaches (+) 1.2 m, it tends to * flood the adjoining land areas which are occupied by local people. The sand bar is, therefore, necessarily * to be cleared as is done eachc year before it floods the occupied areas. -- The existing ground level in the plant area *> varies from RL (-) 1.5 m to RL (-) 2.0 m. To protect the plant facilities against flooding from surrounding backwaters, plant area is proposed to be filled up to a formation level of RL (+) 2.0 m. The storm water drainge from the plant area is envisaged to be achieved by gravity through suitably sized open lined drains which will finally discharge into the adjoining outer *; kayal. With proposed formation level of RL (+) 2.0 a and suitable drainge arrangements for rain water, plant * site is protected against flooding. * Site levelling shall entirely be in the form of filling. Since no burrow areas are available in the * vicinity of the plant site, which can meet the full requirement, the levelling is proposed to be achieved by * dredging and hydraulic filling with bed material ob- tained from outer Kayal. Permission to dredge the bed of outer Kayal has been obtained from the State Authori- * ties. The dredged material will be directly pumped to the filling site. From the borelog investigation done * in the outer kayal, it is seen that the soil in the bed of outer kayal adjoining plant area generally consists S of very loose to loose, fine to medium sand upto a depth of 10 X and is quite suitable for dredging and hydraulic .  * filling. The pumped material which generally will contain 15-20% solids, will be allowed to get hydrauli- * cally compacted and the excess water will be drained _ back into the outer kayal. For containing the fill material at the filling site, earthen bunds all round the filling areas shall be made with earth burrowed within the filling site or with dredged material. The * bunds shall be made in stages as per the requirement as the filling progresses. Necessary drainage arrangements * like temporary weirs shall be provided to drain out the excess water. The available draft in the outer kayal is about * 1.5 m only. Accordingly, it is proposed that portable cutter suction dredger(s) which will pump the dredged * material with approx. 80:20 water sediment ratio shall be deployed for the dredging. Total sediments required to fill the plant area is estimated to be 1.8 million cu.m. and it is proposed to be completed within a period * of 12 months. Suitable floating pipeline shall be used * for transport of dredged material across the water. Dredging shall be restricted to a depth of 7 m leaving a clear width of 75 m on the sides of the kayal a for ensuring the stability of structures on the banks of the kayal, as per the requirements of state authority. The dredging is generally undertaken to a slope *r of IV:5H to IV:6H which itself is a stable slope for the sandy bed material of kayal and will ensure stability of - bank in the dredged portion. In view of above- and a adredging being restricted to a maximum depth of 7.0 a only no potential threat to the stability of the land * strip between the kayal and the sea is envisaged. However, to assess the impact of dredging of the kayal * on the prevbailing hydrostatic conditions in kayal and suggest possible measures, a study has been undertaken * by National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India, a premier National Institute in the field of research in 9t hydrology, at the behest of NTPC. The scope of study specifically covers the study of hydrostatic pressure * distribution for stability of land strip between kayal and the sea. The study has since been completed .The * major findings are presented in Section 2.3.3 of the main EIA report. * It is envisaged to dredge only a length of about 1700m of the kayal bordering the proposed project site to extract the required filling material. The pumped material containing 15-20% solids will be allowed to get v hydraulically compacted and the excess water will be drained back into the outer kayal. An environmental * management plan for dredging has been incorporated in the main BIA report. *  BASELINE ENVIRONHENTAL CONDITION: a) The study area for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) covers an area of 10 km. radius around the project site covering four (4) districts. The baseline environ- mental status in the salient disciplines is presented in * Table I. i) Land Uses Sixty percent of the land in the study area is catgorised as unirrigated land where as * the balance forty percent is irrigated land. Acquisi- tion of forest land is not involved. ii) Qgag_cMMhU _ad Socio-economics: The study 9 area has a high density of population and has been experiencing a higher growth rate compared to the aver- age growth rate of Alleppey district. The economy of the area is predominantly agricultural. Although about 84% of the area is under cultivation, workers in agri- * cultural activity comprise about 44% of the work force. The scope of bringing more land under agriculture is *: limited. j Also, the high levels of outward migration from the region owing to economic reasons is a sharp pointer e to the paucity of employment opportunities. *3 The average family size is found to be 4.92 per- * sons. There are 1061 females per 1000 males. 4* belt.Fishing is an important occupation in the coastal belt. A characteristic of the occupational pattern in the region is the prevalence of seasonal unemployment especially in agriculture and fishing due to dependence * on seasonality in cropping and fish breeding. i iii) He ]l&g and &Ai OQuality: The area expe- riences a typical tropical monsoon climate. A 24 hours sampling programme with a 8 hours cycle * to establish the ambient levels of pollutants in ambient air was undertaken using high volume samplers. Sampling O frequency was twice a month for one year at three sam- pling locations for SPM, S02 and NOx. The maximum level of pollutants observed in the study area given at * Table - I. O iv) HydologyL A Water Qualitv: Ground Water: The major abstraction of ground water is through deep tubewell tapping the workalai * formation although shallow ground water is also harvest- ed to a limited extent through dug wells and hand pumps.  e~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~TABLE I * DBASELIIN E1NlNNWAL STAU IN PIOJET NAf 9 a DISCIPLINE MIN PFROLS PRI SE SOlIES IAUI LEVEL STM OBSS E REING * II~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~E STUDW Air quality NOt Ehiffian from vehicular 79.63 ugla3 120 UgIN3 traffic (Indian stadar) GM Agricultural activity 8.12ul 500 u tg _ SI~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~4ndion stwderd) Vater Quality Fecal antuinatin Jluun settlemt alwg 19000 NWIO. a No stadard for 9 of Achnkovil rivr thv cull agricultural water. wCynide in rivr Sourccut be NIL 0.05 qll 40 ator idntified. Ninmral oil in Sotrc mt be 1.6 qll 0.01 evll - rinr water identified. - Pheblic caquwds Sue cannot bl Nil Mu. 0.002 sq11 in river water identified. 8 8 huly mitored *alu converted to 24 horly averag by a factor 0.72. 0 : 9~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0 -  * The total ground water resources have been estimated as 864.25 mcm. Xiyal Water: The kayal has an approximate * surface area of 14 Sq.km. and the average depth varies from im in summer to about 3 to 5m in monsoon. The back water quality varies greatly with fresh water inflow. Since the Kayal is connected to both rivers and the sea, the salinity distribution varies widely. The use is * presently confined to navigation and fishing. No ground water or Kayal water is proposed to be * drawn for the plant operation. Surface Water: The Pamba is the main river controlling the drainage of the area. Achankovil river * joins the Pamba from the south in the western part of Kerala. The mean annual run off at Erapuzha gauging * station on Pamba is 3892.5 mcm (1970-86), while the same * for Kollakadavu gauging station on Achankovil river is 1735.0 mcm. The water for plant use is proposed to be drawn from the Achankovil river. v) Terrestrial Ecology: The tropical conditions in Kerala support *3 luxurious vegetation with a diversity of species. Changes in the vegetation stem mainly from conversion into agricultural land or due to monoculture practices. The main vegetation of the area is in the form of plan- *f tation. Paddy is the most important field crop. Next ; to paddy is Tapioca. The other crops grown are pepper, coconut and cordamum. Higher proportions of the area surveyed are under cultivation of commercial plantation (43.35%), followed by food crop (33.5%). The important X commercial field crops are spices (12.5%). No ecologi- cally sensitive areas or forest exist in the study area. 9 * vi) Aquatic Ecology: 1 The area has three interconnected major water bodies. These are fresh water, the brackish water and marine. Consequently, the eco-systems together exhibit a high level of diversity. Within the study area, Kayamkulam Kayal, the 9 rivers Pamba and Achankovil are of importance in addi- * tion to coastal waters. * The distribution of micro and macro flora and fauna in the Kayal closely follows the pattern of salin- .  * ity gradient. The monsoon influx is associated with a predominance of fresh water forms whereas the dry season shows a conspicuous dominance of the salt water varie- ties. The distribution of species within the Kayal at a given time shows strong affinity to the salinity gradi- * ent. The Xayal harbours a variety of fish and prawn such as Muuil. cephalus. Hemiramphus limbatus. Glossogo- bius giuris, Caridinia propinzua. The benthic fauna in the backwaters consists of ilogochaetes, polychalites, bivalves and crustacean. The main fauna found in the Achankovil river are corps, murrel, catfishes, prawns and molluscs. The aquatic ecosystem of the adjoining coast is highly productive. REHABILITATION AND T: The land for plant and township have already been acquired. The land required (53 acres) for raw water * reservoir, pipeline corridor, approach road and fuel storage facility is under acquestion. *} Socio-Econouic Survey: A socio-economic survey for the project affected ;3 families due to land acquisition for the earlier pro- posed coal based power plant at Kayaukulam was undertak- 3 en through Loyala College of Social Sciences, Trivandrum in 1990. Compleementary Socio-Zconouic Survey: * In view of the reduction in the requirement of land, the time gap between the completion of the Demo- * graphic and Socio-economic studies by Loyala College of Social Sciences, Trivandrum and the implementation of * RAP, and also due to the fact that the NTPCs R&R Policy had undergone a major change, a complementary Socio- * economic study has been undertaken through Loyala Col- lege of Social Sciences, Trivandrum in January 1995. The * study has since been completed. Rehabilitation Action plan: The RAP for the project affected people is pre- * sented below:  * BUDGET SUMMARY AND EMPLOYMENT Scheme No. of person Total cost of * covered scheme (Rs. in lakhs) Coconut farming 50 60.00 Fish farming 500 70.00 Coir 400 720.00 Labour Cooperative 500 79.00 * Shrimp feed 300 33.00 Poultry Farm 100 30.00 4 Dairy Farm 100 26.00 Self employment 300 45.00 * TOTAL 2250 1063.00 A comprenhsive document on the RAP has been seperately *' submitted to the bank. Public Awareness on the Proposed Project: 3 During the complementary study presently in *e progress, the views of the people regarding the Kayamku- lam CCPP were ascertained. Of the families surveyed * 93.5% opined that the Kayamkulam CCPP is the need of State since Kerala is industrially backward. Other = reasons were that the availability of power will create job opportunities, which in turn will reduce unemploy- - ment problem in general and educated unemployment prob- lem in particular. Among those who are unfavourably disposed, include 4.62 per cent of families who are concerned about the delay in executing the project and acquisition of private cultivable land for the project. * The balance 1.78 per cent were neutral. Regarding land already acquired for the project, 91.81 per cent of the respondents opined that the land acquired is in order as any developmental work need such facilities, and they are willing to cooperate with the * Govt. in that aspect. But 8.18 per cent muembers were against the acquisition of their land because their main * source of income was from the land acquired and the compensation was not sufficient and the land acquired by * NTPC has not yet utilised and the place look almost deserted which was prime cultivable land earlier. - Regarding land under acquesition, 50.17 per cent * of the families felt that for the development of the State and for the well being, some sacrificies have to  be made, 12.i5 per cent of the families felt that though the place is one of the good sites, their land was not * an urgent requirement for the project. The objection of these people were mainly on the ground that there is a time lag in executing the project. * Public Consultation: No effort was spared in involving the whole commu- nity in reaching a reasonable level of understanding on the need for land acquisition and also a degree of understanding in the resettlement & rehabilitation measure to be adopted. Community level discussions were *1 held number of times to dissipate maximum information to the host population about the project and its require- *ment. An elaborate Public Consultation involving major- ity of the land owners giving land to NTPC and the *r retrenched Kayal farm labourers were held during the Socio-Economic and Demographic Survey. The recording of the same is available at site. The trouble free land acquisition and the agita- _ tion by the local population for the early implementa- tion of the project itself is a clear indication of the - acceptance of the project by the community. * On the clearance of the project for implementation by Govt. of India, a truly representative Village Devel- opment Advisory Committee (VDAC) has been formed. The members were selected first by short listing names from - the land and homestead oustees. Their names were dis- cussed among a cross section of PAPs for their accept- * ance among them and to know about the Social standing of * these persons in the respective communities. From their names, few were deleted and again went through the above * process for finalising the names. These persons are acceptable to the PAPs. To these names, representatives * of bodies representing traditional fishermen and Kayal farm labourers are also included. The representative v body of Kayal farm is having the written acceptance of 806 labourers out of the 827 retrenched by the State x Govt. The representative of Traditional fishermen have the acceptability of all the traditional fishermen * staying in and around the plant site. The draft RAP, has been discussed in the VDAC and their acceptance is there for the RAP. During the course of implementation of RAP, the suggestions still emerging in the VDAC will be included for implementation. The RAP will be imple- mented through the VDAC and to its full satisfaction. The general accpetance of RAP by VDAC could be obtained * during the meeting of VDAC on 14th and 17th October, 1995. The Chair Person of VDAC is Dy.Collector, Allapu- * zha District and is a person who can assist/direct the VDAC in successful implementation of the RAP. 0  Public Consultation process was initiated along * with commence of after the Land acquisition activities at the site, through meetings with interested groups, * individuals, etc. All decision affecting the PAPs and the population M in the neighbourhood of the project are taken only by consultative mechanisms. For instance:- * a) the dispute of communication facility to tradi- tional fishermen was resolved in 1990, by mutual *1 discussions along with representatives of Govt. of Kerala, in the presence of Hon'ble Ministers of * Govt. of Kerala. * b) recently when the approach road to the plant site was to be formed, the road had to cross the water S route used by the traditional fishermen. The * details of the crossing were finalised by the tripartitle consultative committee chaired by the District Collector on 29.4.95. *F c) any issues raised by any group or individual is discussed in PIC (Public Information Centre) and 3 whenever detailed discussions are specifically required, the same is carried out until the matter is resolved finally. A meeting was held on 25.8.1995 with. representatives of Traditional Fishermen at the office of R&R Cell on a charter of demands raised by them for which they had announced an action plan of agitation. By this * process of discussion, we could convince them to call of the agitation programme based on the * decision taken in the first VDAC meeting on 14th October, 1995. e As mentioned earlier, a register has been main- tained in the public information center. The residents in the area have been regularly recording their their views recorded in this register. Some of the sailent * views recorded in the register highlighted in Section 1.3.11.3 of the main EIA report. A copy of the extracts of register wherein the above comments have been recorded is enclosed as Annex- ure - 1.3.11.3 of the EIA Report.  * SECTION 29 NOTIFICATION J * Notification under Section 29 of the Electricity (Suapply) Act as is required under the law in the coun- * try has already been issued in the Official State Gazet- tcs. Several local newspapers in January, 1995 inform- *ing on the intent of implementing the project at the * proposed location. * Public Information Centre A Public Information Centre has, already been established. Further, the EIA report and Executive *1 Summary have been made available for information to the public. For details please refer. section 1.3.9 of the * main EIA report. *t It is further interesting to note that an opinion survey has been conducted by Nalayalam Nanorama, a local * newspaper in July, 1993 to assess the views of the ' population of the State as to which development projects in their opinion should be implemented on priority in Kerala. The survey indicated that about 81.5% of the respondents favoured the implementation of the Kayanku- *b lam Power Project. *3 A circular intimating the people in the surround- ing area on the availability of the EIA report and the *6 ES for information of the public has already been issued both in English and local languages in February, 1995. * Any clarifications sought by the people are promptly furnished so that they are satisfied on the environmen- *> tal issues related to this project. Monitoring & Evaluation: Monitoring & evaluation has been established as a permanent, continuous responsibility. Monitoring will be done by the R&R Unit established in the Kayamkulam x project. Evaluation will also be carried out by Corpo- rate R&R Group on annual basis till the measures pro- * vided in the plan are implemented. Head of the projejct will take a monthly review on the progress of the R&R * plan. * To ensure proper implementation of RAP Quarterly review meeting are be held at the Regional Executive Director level. * IMPACTS AND MITIGATORY MEASURES: Impacts and mitigatory measures and waste manage- * nment scheme are presented in Table II and III, respec- tively. .  * TAPLE-- 1 * ZIWACiS NITIGATIVN * DISCIPLINE P9TENT PRMAULE SO3ICE NIT16ATIE REIW NIGATIYE IMACS IWEA 5 CIXNSTION I?U'rT * llater Quality Incraw in Soil Erosion. Teeorary * suspended solids sedimntatin Tank. due to oil no off bduring heavy precipitation. - Air Guality In1 m in dst Heavy vehicular Rlar sprinkling The impact wi11 be coentration. ment. of water in the lIa a the min constrntio ar. approach road is tarred. fSedimnt - D"dging of the ) 40 Nol )l significant _ ) impact. * diquatic Life - Dredging of the ) Kqal. INbi Higher nois levl. CInstniction Equipments will be Woers will be * equipmnts. kept in good provide necnury condition to keep protective * the noise level equipmet *.g. ear within 90 M(A). plug, ear-mifs. * Socio-Kcnmics. Pulation Lend Acquisition. Proper RIR m ure. ferf SKtion 1.1.4 displacmet. of the reort. * IIERATII hWater Quality Deterioration ot Dischage of lain Adequate treatmnt All effluent after water quality of Plant, Cooling facilities like accrd tretet * surface water. Toer, Vater neutralisation pit, will be led to a Treatmnt Plant settling ponds, cntral monitorng * waste,boiler blow biologial bain ai finally doe and Tamship treatmnt systm disdcr into the * Effluts. etc. will be Kaal. balysis .  provided so that the of all relevant * treated effluents parameter. on conform to the heavy metals in the *, regulatory effluent is stadards. included in the * monitoring program. SIP * effluents will be disinfected, if * required. * - Condenser Cooling A closed cycle No temp. increase Water Discharge. cooling system with in discharge hence cooling towrs is no impact on proposed with aquatic life blowdm from the anticipated. * cold side. * Colifor Humn settlements. Adequate drainage containation of and sanitation * gerowid water in syste in tmaship shallow aquifers. and treatment for * sanitary effluent shall be provided. * fAir Wuality. Increase in Nlx Per Plant. Gas tutines wuld levels in abient be designed to keep * air. the N1x mission level to 100 ppm. A 70 m stack wuld be provided to ensure wider * dispersal of pollutants. Lou Nlx burners or * stealvater injection will be * used depending - the vendor dcas * for the uin plant. * Maxim sort term graod Level * Conncentration (SC) of NOl xd SOx due * to operation of CCPP mold be of * the order of 10 ugim3 and 3 UImq3 respectively. 0* S  Stperiqasging the maxim backgroutd levels the total *Nx n SOx levels in mbient air due * to operation ot ECCPP will be about u9 qgJ3 and * 26uglud respectively which * are wll belom the stipulated norm of * 120 uglmd. * Increased SFP1 in Vehicular traffic. All motrable roads ambient air. in the plant area * will be paved to reude dust - d~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~mssion. Affor statien prgranmes will be undertn avoi th Plant uN Towship Aron. Ecologys a) Terrestrial Impact on plant Emissins from Emission will be As emision will specificatiens. stack. controlled through be within limits, appropriate design. no active injr to * the vwgetation is *expctd. bh tautic Iwact on kay. aste water fr' All the aste water As all th * OS. will b prvide efflu will he ad ate trament. treated to conform to precribed limits, - significat iqit on qutic life of kayal is expeted. *tlbise Increas in nois Equipmnt in min Equipmnt are being * levels in the area. plant nd design to conform auxilliaries. to noise levels * prscribed by -r ulao gencin. Prision of gren Wbelt ad plmntatio 'mld further help * in reducing noise. 0  Demography & Strain on existing Influx of peple - NTPC proposes to Socio-economics aueities like NTPC's employees as built its m * housing, water wel as tmhip equipped sumrces ad contractor's with all * sanitation, aedical explayees/laborer. infrastructural an infrastructure facilitie for its * facilities. ewloyees. Papultion in surrounding area * will also be benefitted from * sosm of thm facilities like e shping coqlex, edical cns, etc. . 0 .  . * TABLE III * WSTE NMABNT AT KAYIWL CCPP S.NO. WSIE SaU MM 0WITIY NALYSIS TREATNW N O DISPOSAL 1. Plant drains Iain plant ria 265 3/hr Oilfgrease/TSS Oil seperatin and * treatmnt to less thai 10 ppm. Oily sludge to * be sold for recycling. 2. Cooling twer Cooling toer 240 mhr Dissolved solids C12 will be smitored t- 3 blomim id chlorine. control ecess chlorine. 3. Di Plant Water treatmt 65 d/hr Dissolvd solids pH adutmnt for * regeneration asto, plant and pH vriation regeneratin wte and filter backwash no bwash sltdg to be - clarifier sludge dried ad disposed in a *nvironmntally sure landfill. _ 4. Boiler blidan Boiler Alkalinity Dilution *f 5. Plutltautdip Tohip 50 S/hr IID, supended solids loilogical treament saw sludge to be dried and * provided to famrs for fertilizer or disposd * in n m vironitally seure lnadfill. * 6. TomAship/daetic Tounship n.wD ton/yr uaracteristic of To be disposd in an solid aste solid aSte nvirontally secue sanitary lWdfill. 0 0 .  Environmental parameter of concern: a) Impact on Kayal aquatic life due to dredging: The * impact of dredging on Kayal aquatic life would be mar- * ginal. State Irrigation Department has clarified that State Govt. have taken into consideration the environ- * mental aspect also while permitting NTPC to undertake the dredging operation. * A study was also undertaken through Department of * Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala, to assess the aquatic (biology) of the Kayal. The study also covered the possible adverse impacts due to dredg- ing on the aquatic eco-system of the Kayal. The find- * ings of the study indicate that: * "The dredging activity is stated to be a one time activity covering largely, the area of the Kayal adja- * cent to the proposed plant. If this is so, the impact would be minimal. Flood waters of the Pamba and the Achankovil rivers joining the Kayal at its northern _ extremity through a net work of canals would be deposit- ing huge quantities--of land borne sediments in the 3 dredged area and would replenish the sediment extracted from the basin. The fauna of the Kayal sediments would be de- * stroyed in the area proposed to be dredged. The life- cycle of benthic organisms would be able to resettle in -' 6the dredged basin once the dredging activity is over." * The report has suggested the following: 1. The area proposed for dredging may be limited *t to a maximum length of 6 kms. covering areas adjacent to the project site. NTPC proposes to dredge a length of * only 1.7 km. * 2. The dredging should be completed within the shortest time possible. NTPC expects to complete this * operation in a year*s time. 3. All measures may be taken to ensure the * stability of the land strip between the sea and the * Kayal. b) Impact on kayal aquatic life due to hot water discharge: A closed cycle system with cooling towers is * proposed for CCPP and blow down from cold side will be discharged. Therefore, no impact on aquatic eco-system * is envisaged due to hot water discharge from CCPP.  * C) Impact of emissions on coconut trees: The levels of NOx and SOx in ambient air after operation of CCPP * are expected to be within the levels stipulated by regulatory agencies and hence no active injury to the vegetation is expected. . d) Compliance to Coastal Regulation Zone: Ministry of Environment & Forests in the environmental clearance for coal based thermal power project have stipulated that a minimum of 100 m of distance must be left on the front side from the Kayal and on the remaining three sides, the distance equivalent to the width of the Kayal should also be left as per the provisions of the Coastal Regu- lation Zone. The area so left all around the Kayal * should not be used for any other purposes except for raising green belt". Filling operation in CRZ zones is * not prohibited. This will be complied with. . SITE SELECTION: -nThe site for the power station was selected by the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) from seven alter- :> natives considered by them. Kerala State is densely populated and Goverrment land free from habitation is extremely scarce. The present site offers a distinct advantage that the entire area for the power plant is 50Govt. owned land involving no displacement of persons. Some private land is, however, required for the township * and corridors for approach road and sweet water trans- portation. Assured availability of sweet water in the * nearby vicinity makes this site the ideal choice from all considerations and was, therefore, finally selected * for putting up the power project. * ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES: * i) Site Alternatives: * Following alternative sites were considered: a) Brahmapuram Site: This site is-near Ambalanu- gal in Ernakulam District. It was not persued because * of environmental constraints in the area. * b) Alleppev Jetty Site: The site is located at a distance of 3 kms. from the proposed railway station. * It was rejected as the area is densely populated and * would pose problems of major displacement of persons. * c) KarinuAgapally Site: The site is located at a distance of approx. 15 kms. from Karunagapally Railway . .  * Station. It was found to be densely populated and hence not persued. d) lite near pp.omed fishing harbour t Kavap- *kulam:_ The site is approx. 12 kms. from Kayamkulam x Railway Station and involves major displacement of families as well as uncertainty regarding availability * of land. The site was, therefore, not considered. e) Nilambur site near an-jeri: The site is located at a distance of approx. 12 kms. from Nilambur * Railway Station. The land belongs to private cultiva- tors and could involve major displacement of persons. f) KalamRguza near Palghat: The site is located at a distance of approx. 3 kms. from Kanjivode Railway Station. It was rejected as no water was available for * the plant and colony requirements. g) Kayamkulan site in Kayal Reclaimed area (selected site): This site is located at a distance of approx. 10 kms. from Kayamkulam Railway Station. The entire land for the ma-i-n plant area is Govt. land which *t is readily available and involves no displacement of persons. Least Cost Options: * In order to establish the economic viability of * Kayamkulam CCPP, a least cost system study was conducted by CEA. The report has been submitted to the World Bank * by NTPC. The study establishes that Kayamkulam CCPP fits in the Least cost system expansion programme in the * Southern region. * DNITORING PROGRMU: . In order to follow the evolution of critical * parameters and to check or assess the efficiency of mitigative measures, a regular environmental monitoring programme is proposed. The proposed monitoring pro- gramme is presented in Table IV. The list of equipment * needed for monitoring is presented in Table V. * * INSTITUTIONAL NEEDS: eThe NTPC has a full fledged Environmental Engi- neering Department, consisting of a number of qualified * scientists and engineers from various disciplines. This department is the nodal agency to coordinate and provide  TAI.E IV PRIPOSED POLLUrtDN IONITI[N6 PROWAf DISCIPLINE LOCATIONS PMNEES FREUNCY REMRSW O Ambient Air Quality Three (to be finalized UPN, NOxK 902 & RPM 24 hrs twice a In line with in consultation with week notificatian