EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

OF

Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Proposed 1×660 MW Coal Based Super Critical Thermal Power Plant at Saleki NC & Lekhapani (V), Mouza & Margherita Revenue Circle(T), Tinsukia (D), .

(for Public Hearing as per MoEF Notification S.O.1533 Dt. 14TH Sept 2006)

Submitted To State Pollution Control Board, Assam Bamunimaidam, Guwahati-21 Submitted By Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL) Bijulee Bhavan, 3rd Floor, Paltan Bazar,Guwahati-781001

Prepared By Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, Ramky House, Somajiguda, Hyderabad-500082 (QCI/NABET Approved - Certificate No. NABET/EIA/1013/016) 1x660 MW Coal Based Thermal Power Plant at Margherita, Assam

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 INTRODUCTION Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL), situated at Bijulee Bhawan, 3rd Floor, Paltan Bazar, Guwahati in the State of Assam proposes to set up a 1x660 MW Coal based Margherita Power Station project in the district Tinsukia of the state Assam. APGCL has conceived setting up a Thermal Power Station which consists of Coal Fired Boiler, Steam Turbine Generator Units and Balanced of Plant (BOP) Units. Based on the proposed capacity, the project is supposed to fall under category A of Project Activity 1(d), Thermal Power Plants (≥ 500 MW coal/ lignite/ naptha & gas based) under the schedule as per EIA notification issued on 14th September, 2006. In order to assess the likely impacts from current project on the surrounding environment and evaluating the means of alleviating the likely negative impacts, if any, from the proposed project, APGCL has retained Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd. as their environmental consultant.

The proposal was considered by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in during its 66th Meeting on 6th February, 2013 for determination of the Terms of Reference for undertaking detailed EIA Study in accordance with the provisions of the EIA notification dated 14th September, 2006. The EAC has issued Terms of Reference vide its Letter No. J-13012/1/2013 - IA. II (T) dated: 15th March 2013. The EAC has also issued an amendment to the proposal for its 24th EAC meeting revising the power plant capacity from 2x250 MW to 1x660 MW at the same location. The report has been prepared as per the recommendations of the revised Terms of References (TOR) for a capacity of 1x660 MW thermal plant.

The proposed 1x660 MW thermal power plant is to be located in Saleki & Lekhapani villages, of Makum (Mouza) Margherita Revenue Circle Taluka of . NH-3 is passing around 1.5 km away from the proposed site in North West direction. Ledo & Lekhapani railway stations are 8 km and 2 km distance away from the site. The total land required for the proposed power plant is around 575 acres and the land is basically covered with shrubs, plantation and used for grazing. The land break up comprises of 171 acres for main plant, coal handling systems, water reservoir switchyard with all BOP facilities including roads network. Greenbelt is proposed in 57 acre and ash disposal area is planned in 165 ac. of land. Township is also planned at the project location with an area of 100 ac.

APGCL proposed to utilise an area of 575 acre of land setting up 1x660 MW power plant. As comparison to CEA guidelines the land required for similar capacity power plant is around 683 acre. Indicating present APGCL project is well within the limits in terms of area utilization.

The inter-state boundary for the site is around 1.5 km and general conditions of the MoEF guidelines are applicable for this project. The raw coal is transported to site from Coal Limited (CIL), Margherita and rail in rake loads of wagons/dumpers are used for reaching the site. The quality of coal required for 660 MW power plant is 1.83 Million TPA with an ash content of 6 to 15% and 2 to 3.5% of Sulphur.

Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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The water requirement for 1x660 MW power plant proposed by APGCL is around 2100m3/hr, whereas the CEA guidelines reveals a water consumption of 4000m3/hr for a similar capacity power plant.

Total water required for the project will be 2100 m3/hr and source of water is from Burhi Dirhing River which is 6.5 from the site. The site elevation varies between 150 to 236m above mean sea level and is situated in earthquake zone-v as per IS: 1893-2002. The study area of 10 km comprises of mixed forest in NE to SW direction. The Tipang reserved forest is around 7.5 km E of the site. Tamdang and Kotha reserved forests are around 9.0km from the site in SSW and NE directions respectively. The average mean maximum and minimum temperature in to study area is 31.4°c and 8.8° respectively, with a relative humidity of around 88%. The average rainfall in the region’s around 2800 mm and the maximum wind velocity observed in the region is around 2.8m/sec.

The source of basic raw material of coal is supplied from Indigenous Margherita Coal from nearby North Eastern Coalfields (NECL) having an F grade with a calorific value ranging between 5500 Kcal/kg. The boiler fuel consumption is 209 TPH and at 80% PLF (plant load factor) the quantity of coal required is 1.83 Million tons/annum. The support fuel is Heavy furnace oil (HFO)/light diesel oil (LDO) and is supplied from nearby refinery at Digboi. The quantity of support fuel required is 3725 KL/annum. The percentage of ash in the coal is ranging between 6 to 15% and the expected total quantity of ash from boiler is around 768 TPD in which the fly ash generation is around 614 TPD and the bottom ash quantity is around 154 TPD.

The process boiler used in the plant is pulverized Coal firing boiler (PC). The steam generator will be once through sliding pressure supercritical boiler, vertical wall evaporator with rifle tubing, conventional two-pass, radient reheat, balanced draft and drum less type unit designed for firing Indian Coal as prime fuel. The steam parameters per boiler indicates a flow of 2225 TPH with a pressure of 256 ata and temperature of 568±5°C and the boiler efficiency expected is around 88%.

The steam turbine will be horizontally splits multi cylinder (HP. Two IP, Two LP) 300 rpm multistage, single reheat, condensing type unit uncontrolled extraction for regenerative fuel heating with suitable to generate the 660000 KW at 21 KV, hydrogen cooled alternator. The cooling tower type used is induced draft cooling tower. With a boiler stack of 275 m. Flue gas desulphurization of FGD is used for controlling sulphur dioxide emission from coal firing boiler. In this project 90% efficiency of FGD is adequate to take care of the requirement in World Bank emission norms.

2 BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS Field investigations were undertaken for collecting the existing baseline environment for Air, Water, Noise, Soil, Ecological and Socio-economic Conditions. A study area of 10 Km radius from the project site is identified to establish the present environmental conditions for the above environmental components. The main aim of the EIA study is to identify the critical environmental attributes which will be affected and have adverse impacts on the surrounding environment due to the proposed 660 MW Super critical thermal power plant. The field data generation is undertaken during the summer season from April to June 2013. Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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The metrological data is collected from the nearest IMD station at Dibrugargh and also at site with the help of automatic weather station. The pre dominant wind direction recorded is from North East (NE) closely followed by East North East (ENE). Calm conditions prevailed for 11.5% of the total time. Average wind speed observed for the summer season is around 2.94 m/s.

Ambient Air Quality Ambient Air quality was monitored at 10 locations within the study area of the project site. The locations were identified in downwind, cross wind and up wind directions. The air pollutants monitored are Particulate Matter, Sulphur dioxide, Oxides of nitrogen on hourly basis as per the standard MoEF guidelines and results were compared with CPCB Standards.

The minimum and maximum levels of Particulate Matter < 2.5 microns are recorded in the range of 14.1 to 36.8µg/m3, whereas the particulate matter <10 Microns are in the range of 37.1 to 72.3µg/m3.

The sulphur dioxide concentrations within the study are observed are in the range of 6.3 to 18.3µg/m3 and the oxides of nitrogen observed are in the range of 10.6 to 26.2µg/m3. The observed pollutant levels were compared with CPCB Standards for Particulate Matter (100µg/m3) and sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide (80µg/m3) and found to be well within the limits indicating the baseline environmental status in terms of air pollution is better with all the pollutants are within the concentration levels. Ozone concentrations were also monitored in the study area and are found to be in the range of 7.6 to 22.4µg/m3, whereas the mercury levels monitored are found to be below detectable limits.

Water Quality Monitoring Surface and Ground water samples were collected from different sources within the study area and analyzed for all important physico-chemical and biological parameters to establish the quality of water prevailing in the project surroundings. Around 10 ground water and 3 surface water samples were collected.

The ground water is mainly from hand pumps, bore wells used by the villages for domestic purposes. The surface water collected from a surface nallah following near the plant site, Tirap river and from Burhi Dirhing from the raw water is drawn for the power plant. The ph of ground water observed is from 6.27 to 8.5 and in surface water it is from 7.72 to 8.03, the TDS level of GW is from 38 to 244mg/l, whereas in surface water the levels are 68 to 95 mg/l. The chloride concentrations in GW is between 10 to 49mg/l, whereas the surface water has a chloride values of 12 to 14 mg/l. The hardness observed in ground water is 23 to 143mg/l and in surface water the hardness found to be between 33 to 47mg/l. Fluoride concentrations observed in GW is in the range of 0.18 to 0.34mg/l and in surface water the fluoride content observed in between 0.15 to 0.3mg/l. In all the sample analysis of ground and surface waters found to be fit for human use purpose.

Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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Noise Monitoring Noise was monitored at 10 locations within the study area of the project site. The locations were identified for assessment of existing noise level status, keeping in view of the land use pattern, residential areas in villages, schools, bus stands, etc., day levels of noise monitored during 6 AM to 9 PM and in night during 9PM to 6 AM. The noise levels were monitored as per the Ambient Noise Standards of residential and industrial area standards. The noise levels during the day are ranging in between 52.6 to 55.6 dB (A), whereas in night noise levels are ranging between 41.2 to 42.5 dB (A). The site is accessible by a NH-38 and 153.

The traffic survey carried out at Tipang village towards Margherita to Jagun. The minimum level of Traffic Survey at Tipang Road is 98 PCU/H and whereas the maximum level of Traffic Survey is 1497 PCU/H. The total worst case baseline PCU/Hr is 1497, total width of the road in meters (Arterial Roads) PCU/Hr is 10 and as per the IRC; 106-1990 (PCU’s per hour).

Soil Quality Soil Quality was monitored at 10 locations within the study area of the project site. The locations were selected to assess the existing soil conditions representing various land use conditions and geological features. The important physical, chemical parameter concentrations were determined from all the samples.

The ph values in the study area are varying from 7.15 to 7.75. , the electrical conductivity is varying from 123 to 194µmhos/cm, the organic carbon is varying from 0.46 to 0.72%, the available Nitrogen is varying from 365 to 647 kg/ha, the available phophorus is varying from 58.2 to 254.5 kg/ha, and the available pottasium is varying between 36.5 to 85.1 kg/ha.

Ecological Environment A detailed study was done within 10 km radius area of the project site which includes, Compilation of secondary data from published literature of Forest Division and Primary data generation through systematic studies. The proposed area falls in the southern part of lekhapani forest range of Digboi Forest division. Tipang Reserve forest is located at a distance of 6 km in east direction and the area has typical features of Tropical evergreen forest with thick canopy trees and dense herbaceous growth. The primary data was collected through visual observation of species in the study area. Bamboo, cane cultivation, tea gardens and Common species of Butterflies like Cabbage white, Lascar, Sapphire and grasshoppers, beetles, mosquitoes and fireflies are commonly seen around the study area.

No Wildlife Sanctuaries or National parks exist in 10 km radius of the project site except Tipang Reserve Forest which is about 6 km east of the project site. The living species which are endangered or threatened as per the IUCN Red list were identified or observed in the core zone or buffer zone of the project site. Except cutting of few trees for leveling the ground, there will not be any adverse impact of the proposed project on the terrestrial flora and fauna or the aquatic ecological resources as there is no surface water body or river/nallah in the vicinity. The loss in flora will compensated by greenbelt development backed up with a strong EMP.

Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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Socio-Economic Environment Majority of the population in these villages are migrant workers. Around 4.5% population in the study area of the project site belongs to Scheduled Tribes namely ‘Tangsa’, ‘Sema Naga’ and ‘Tai Phake’. Most of the members of Scheduled tribes residing in Arunachal Pradesh towards south of the proposed site are Buddhists. Most of the people in the immediate vicinity of the site are involved as workers in coal mining activities of Coal India Ltd at Ledo.

The existing socio-economic status of the people which has been shown was collected from 10 villages located around the Saliki village where the 660 MW thermal power plant has been proposed for Establishment. 95.88% of the sample households live in own house. Remaining 4.12% of the households shelter in rented house. The 40.21% of the sample households live in Pucca houses made of high quality materials and 39.17% houses are Semi-Pucca. Yet another 20.62% houses are Kutcha. The sanitation facility is appears to be hygienic, 97.94% have the modern flash type sanitary latrine facility. Only 2.606% households have pit type latrine in the house. Regarding the bathroom facility it has been found that 48.45% households have Pucca bathroom, while majority of the households (i.e 51.03%) have Kutcha bathroom in the house.

The source of the drinking water is Tubewell, 59.28% of the household take drinking water from tube-well, 3.60% of the households get water from Well to drink, while 13.92% household bring drinking water from river/spring etc. The percentage of households having piped water facility, which is considered to be the most modern pattern of water supply, is found to be 23.20. In the field survey it has been reported that 96.39% (i.e. 187 households) of the sample households have electricity facility and the rest 3.61% of the households (i.e 7 households) use Kerosene for lighting. agriculture sector supports more than 75% of the population of the state providing direct and indirect employment oppurtunity to 50% of the working population of the state. Work participation rate in Margherita is around 41.42% and in Assam 38.36% in 2011. Male work participation rate is around 54.71% and female work participation rate 27.50%. Majority of the working population is around 60.80% of Margherita was engaged in activities like government services, teachers, factory workers, plantation workers etc. The 36.83% engaged in the agriculture sector.

3 ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES The proposed power plant may cause impact on the environment in two phases.  During Construction phase  During Operation phase a) Impacts during construction phase: The possible construction activities that contribute to the environmental impacts are:  Dust Generation during leveling of earth  Dust generation due to the movement of vehicles on unpaved roads  Emission of pollutants from vehicular exhaust  Unloading of raw materials and removal of unwanted waste material from site Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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 Accumulation of excavated earth material The impact of the above activities would be temporary and will be confined within the project boundary b) Impacts during Operation Phase Impact on Air Quality The proposed project is a coal based thermal power plant and the major source of pollution would be the emissions from the stack. The ash content in the raw coal is considered 6-15% coal for prediction of air emissions. The important air pollutants generated from the thermal power plant are particulate matter (PM), sulfur di-oxide (SO2), and oxides of nitrogen (NOX). The major air pollutants generated from the proposed thermal power plant are given below: 1. Dust particulates in flue gas from chimney

2. SO2 and NOX in flue gas 3. Coal dust particles due to handling of coal 4. Fly ash dust particles from ash silos and ash disposal area 5. Coal dust generated at the conveyor transfer points 6. Fly ash vented out during the unloading of fly ash from ESP hoppers to silos

To estimate the ground level concentration of air pollutants released from 275m height of the stack provided for the Power Plant, a study state dispersion model based on Gaussian Plume (AERMOD

Version 7.0.3) software is used to calculate the concentrations for PM, SO2 and Oxides of Nitrogen. The power plant has a stack with a diameter 7m and releases the flue gas it in velocity of 22m/s. The composition of the raw material coal used in the Power generation consists of max 15% ash content and 4.0% Sulfur. The Emission rates estimated for PM, SO2 and NO are 8g/s, 233g/s and 242g/s respectively. The result of dispersion modeling reveals a maximum ground level concentration for 3 3 3 PM is 0.14µg/m , for SO2 is 4µg/m and for NOx is 4.4µg/m . The overall concentration including 3 3 existing baseline status for PM is 72.4µg/m3, for SO2 is 22.3µg/m and for NOx is 30.7µg/m . Which is well within the stipulated standards of regulatory agency.

The proposed mitigation measures  Dust suppression/extraction facilities will be provided to mitigate the dust generated at coal transfer points and coal stockyard.  Dust collection system will be provided in coal bunkers to evacuate dust and hazardous gases like methane from the coal bunkers.  To reduce the dust nuisance while loading the ash into the open trucks from fly ash silos, the fly ash would be conditioned with water spray  It is proposed to cover the ash in the open trucks with tarpaulin to prevent flying of fine ash during transportation  To control the particulate matter in the flue gas, an efficient electrostatic precipitator with an efficiency of 99.89% is proposed.

Impact on Water Quality The water required for the proposed project shall be met from the “Burhi Dirhing River”. The possible sources of wastewater within the project site are: Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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i) Wastewater from Workshop: ii) Sewage from Domestic Use: iii) Wastewater from Cooling Towers iv) Effluent from water treatment plant v) Blow downs from Boiler and Cooling Tower vi) Ash Disposal vii)Filter Backwash and Service Water

The proposed mitigation measures  Oily water will be treated separately to remove oil/grease before being discharged into effluent pond.  Clarification is used to settle out large suspended particles and also to make the smaller colloidal particles settle  Filtration will be made to a porous barrier across flowing liquid to remove suspended materials  Effluents from DM plant shall be treated in neutralization pit.

The wastewater from plant units will be collected and treated in conventional effluent treatment plant. Treated effluent will be reused at maximum extent within the plant and excess treated water will be discharged to nearby natural streams according to stipulated on-land discharge standards.

Impact on Noise Levels Any industrial complex, in general, consists of several sources of noise pollution. The different sources of noise pollution are mentioned below:  Crusher unit  Induced draft & Forced draft fans  Boiler feed pumps  Turbines  Generators  Cooling Towers  Frequent vehicular movement

The proposed mitigation measures are  Properly designed plant and machinery (i.e. by providing inbuilt mechanisms like silencers, mufflers, and enclosures for noise generating parts) and shock absorbing pads at the foundation of vibrating equipment will be provided.  In the highnoise intensity working areas/zones ear muffs or ear plugs or any other suitable personal protective equipment would be provided to the workmen.  Development of greenbelt around the plant boundary will diffuse the noise pollution.  Provision of isolation for major noise generating equipments.  Distribution of working hours among more personals working with major noise generating equipments.  Regular noise level monitoring would be carried out for taking corrective action, wherever required. Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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 Vehicular movement will be restricted and the drivers will be informed to blow horns only when required.

4 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) is required to ensure a sustainable development of the plant area and the surrounding areas of the plant. The EMP will be integrated in all the major activities of the project, with clearly defined policies, to ensure that the ecological balance of the area is maintained and the adverse effects are minimized. EMP requires multidisciplinary approach with mitigation, management, monitoring and institutional measures to be taken during implementation and operation, to eliminate adverse environmental impacts or reduce them to acceptable levels. In order to ensure sustainable development in the study area; it needs to be an all-encompassing plan for which the plant authorities, government, regulating agencies, and the population of the study area need to extend their cooperation and contribution.

The mitigation measures are planned for construction and operation phases and the overall management plan helps to improve the supportive capacity of the receiving bodies. The EMP aims to control pollution at the source level to the possible extent with the available and affordable technology followed by the standard treatments before getting discharged. The recommended mitigation measures will synchronize the economic development of the study area with the environmental protection of the region.

5 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PROGRAM Environmental Monitoring Program has been designed for assessing the efficiency of implementation of Environment Management Plan and to take corrective measures in case of any degradation in the surrounding environment.

Different activities involved in the proposed project and their impact on various environmental attributes have been taken into account while designing a detailed environmental monitoring program.

Implementation of EMP and periodic monitoring is proposed to be carried out at plant level and area level for the proposed thermal power plant and allied activities like coal handling facilities, workshop, colony, etc. A comprehensive monitoring mechanism has been devised for monitoring of impacts due to proposed project.

Plant level environmental protection measures like dust suppression, treatment and recycling of wastewater, plantation and noise control in the plant premises, housekeeping, implementation of EMP and Environmental Clearance conditions will be monitored by the plant authorities.

6 PROJECT BENEFITS The contribution of the power plant on local social infrastructure is expected to be significant. The proposed power plant will stimulate the growth of industrial and commercial activities in and around

Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

Page ES 8 1x660 MW Coal Based Thermal Power Plant at Margherita, Assam the district, by improving the availability of the power. This Project will provide a significant amount of direct and indirect employment opportunities to the local people with different skills and trades. The physical infrastructure and socio-economic status of the surrounding areas will be benefited as follows:  Road transport facilities which improve accessibility  Improvement in education, housing, and banking facilities  Improvement in postal & communication services  Recreation facilities  Improvement in power supply, water supply and sanitation  Improvement in economic conditions  Proper training to the local people will be given to improve the employment potential within the plant  Increase in revenue to the state in the form of taxes and duties from the development of local businesses  Local markets with food and non-food commodities will be improved due to the increase inflow of human residents within the district.

7 CONCLUSIONS The EIA study has made an overall assessment of the potential environmental impacts likely to arise from the proposed power plant. The impact predictions indicate that the maximum GLC levels of

PM, SO2 and NOx superimposed on the baseline levels the expected impacts are minimized within a 1km in the East direction from the release of pollutant from the stacks and were well within the prescribed limits of CPCB standards if blended coal is used.

The wastewater from plant units will be collected in a Central Monitoring Basin and it will be treated in a conventional effluent treatment plant. Treated effluent will be reused at maximum extent within the plant and excess treated water will be discharged to nearby natural streams according to stipulated on-land discharge standards.

Mitigation measures are proposed to minimize the adverse impacts if any due to the activity of power generation in the form of EMP.

The demand for electricity has been steadily increasing. Setting up of Power Plant in this area will benefit the society by providing better infrastructural, educational and medical facilities in the area also improvement in indirect employment and economic growth of the area.

The total project cost with IDC and Contingency is around 5278.20 crores for producing the power plant, indicating the total project cost per MW is around 8.00 crores.

Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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Prepared by M/s. RAMKY Enviro Engineers Ltd., Hyderabad

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