Project Proponent: Mormugao Port Trust Reply to Eph Queries Raised by Public in Written Submission
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PROJECT PROPONENT: MORMUGAO PORT TRUST REPLY TO EPH QUERIES RAISED BY PUBLIC IN WRITTEN SUBMISSION Proposed Project of: Proposed Development of Fishing Jetty, Multipurpose General Cargo Berths and POL Terminal at Mormugao Port. Project Proponent: M/s. Mormugao Port Trust, Headland – Sada, Goa. REPLY TO THE WRITTEN QUERIES SUBMITTED TO GSPCB AS REGARDS TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEARING (EPH) HELD ON 05/10/2018, 06/10/2018 AND 08/10/2018 AT SAG, GROUND AT CHICALIM, VASCO-GOA. ANNEXURE - II Preliminary Objection Raised by Public in Written Submission Sr. Objection/Query Raised by Public Reply to Query by MPT No. During EPH 1.0 Dr. Albertina de J.P. Almeida 1.1 Assessing the proposed modernization and No remarks. expansion of port infrastructure, for fishing, coastal, multipurpose cargo berth and liquid/general cargo at Mormugao Port, Goa, entails assessing not one project but six projects listed in the Report, plus projects entailed as a consequence of the modernization and expansion, including road, rail, waterways infrastructure projects, the supply chain to and from the Port, AND assuming the final approval of earlier projects proposed for which there were public hearings, which the consultancy has deliberately not assessed. 1.2 There is a false assumption that the Project No remarks stops within what are described as the limits of the Port's jurisdiction, but it clearly doesn't. For instance, once the cargo is transported to the end of the road proposed in the port's jurisdiction, it obviously does not stop there. 1.3 The EIA does not array the environmental and EIA report is prepared as per EIA labour laws and specifically state whether the Notification, 2006 and in said laws are applicable to this project and accordance with ToR issued by whether Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) is MoEF & CC. compliant or not in that respect and how both in the construction and operational phases. The laws concerned are, among others: Environment Protection Act and regulations made there under Forest Conservation Act, 1980 Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 1 Proposed Development of Fishing Jetty, Multipurpose General Cargo Berths and POL Terminal at Mormugao Port. PROJECT PROPONENT: MORMUGAO PORT TRUST REPLY TO EPH QUERIES RAISED BY PUBLIC IN WRITTEN SUBMISSION Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 Noise Pollution Act Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act Public Liability and Insurance Act Explosives Act, 1984 Mines, Minerals and Concessions Rules Biological Diversity Act, 2002 National Forest Policy Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 Minimum Wages Act, 1948 Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act 1996 Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Biological Diversity Act, 2002 Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 1.4 Submissions/objections made at the last EIA report is prepared as per EIA hearing in April 2017, relating to the study Notification, 2006 and in area of the EIA Report have been ignored. accordance with ToR issued by For instance, there was a paper referenced in MoEF & CC. those objections to' reinforce the presence of wildlife Schedule I species, as also to speak of the impact on coral health, titled "Sutaria, Dipani, and Thomas A. Jefferson. "Records of Indo-pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis, Osbeck' 1765) along the coasts of India and Sri Lanka: An overview"' Aquatic mammals 30.1 (2004): 125-136." (attached), and also further more studies conducted on the coral reef structure at Grande Island, by the National Institute of oceanography cited as Manikandan, B., Ravindran, J., Mohan, H., Periasamy R Murali, R M., & Ingole, B. S. (2016). Community structure and coral health status across the depth gradients of Grande Island Central west coast of India. Regional Studies in Marine Science 7, 150- 158 Here, it is also pertinent to note that even though one of the studies cited above is 2 Proposed Development of Fishing Jetty, Multipurpose General Cargo Berths and POL Terminal at Mormugao Port. PROJECT PROPONENT: MORMUGAO PORT TRUST REPLY TO EPH QUERIES RAISED BY PUBLIC IN WRITTEN SUBMISSION mentioned, it has conveniently ignored the content referred in the objections' 1.5 For people to be able to access justice in the event of flouting of the project conditions, everything has to be definite and properly defined. Otherwise access to justice remains a mirage and will effectively be denied. But vagueness or contradictions are omnipresent in the EIA Report. a)For instance, the survey numbers of the The project is to be implemented in land on which this project is proposed are not the area within the Port’s set out. The EIA mentions no survey jurisdiction. Gazette Notification numbers, leaving it vague and capable of exists with regard to the notified manipulation' Port limits. b)Even the documents are not definite and Please refer reply at 1.3 above. authenticated and signed c)Neither~ ownership nor existing land uses Concerned stakeholders including have been set out. Jurisdiction cannot be the Government of Goa have been conflated with ownership, Possession and use. involved in the project. The various stakeholders and concerned agencies and authorities in Goa under the The requirements of the canoe laws have not been engaged with or owners also have been taken care interviewed and their responses/suggestions of. documented' The stakeholders cannot be brought in the Picture only at a Public hearing, while there has been no engagement with them Prior to the hearing, and any such claims that the consent of the stake holders is being taken through the public hearing is fallacious' That the consent of the stake holders is not there is also reflected visibly in the so-called MoU with the Government of Goa' Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Association, referred in the EIA Report, where there is no signature of the Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Association. d)The socio economic profile in respect of the Latest census data has been used. study area has been drawn up with only EIA report is prepared as per EIA Census data which is broad and sweeping, Notification, 2006 and in and no specific data pertaining to the accordance with ToR issued by occupations, sources of livelihood of the MoEF & CC. people. Economic and social importance is a valued ecosystem component. There is no unemployment data to suggest what benefits can be drawn from the data, no data indicating the displacement from livelihoods on account of the Project, no data on the 3 Proposed Development of Fishing Jetty, Multipurpose General Cargo Berths and POL Terminal at Mormugao Port. PROJECT PROPONENT: MORMUGAO PORT TRUST REPLY TO EPH QUERIES RAISED BY PUBLIC IN WRITTEN SUBMISSION projected employment apart from vague statements about employment benefits' Latest census data has been used. e) Even from the Census data mentioned in respect of the study area, the disaggregated age data is missing, and so also other disaggregated data such as the data on disability, etc. f) The Report says the water requirement will PWD has various sources of water be sourced from PWD Goa (the party from and data regarding the same can whom it will be sourced), but that does not be procured from the PWD, GoG. take away from the responsibility of the Consultancy to set out where will PWD source the water from g) The Report at some places refers already For the purpose of the present reclaimed land and that therefore no project, most of the area has to be permissions are necessary. At other Places reclaimed. refers to land to be reclaimed? Is the land already reclaimed legally reclaimed? Or is the Consultancy Proposing a structure of illegality on a foundation of illegality? h) Contradiction exist with respect to Socio economic profile has been methodology for drafting socio economic narrated as per standard profile. As again statement made on page procedure. 167 similarly that land to reclaimed, claimed in TOR 1.6 Where is the qualitative and quantitative Land Use/ Land Cover study was documentation in the EIA Report of the done by using standard techniques current uses of the land in the project area which covers the river bodies, land and the study area by people and parcels and other vegetative parts communities? It is only when the current of the study area with the help of uses of the land, the rivers and the seas are GIS technology. documented that the Potential social, economic and cultural impacts can be visualised' The section on social and cultural impacts is pathetic to say the least. There is no mention of entire cultures that are going to be wiped out by this Project and cumulatively with other Proposed Projects of the same Project proponent or within the jurisdiction of the same Project proponent itself. 1.7 The Proposal mentions about existing road Please refer the reply to item 6.20 and rail facilities but does not speak of the of audio public hearing. volume of traffic that the new Project(s) will entail BOTH in the construction phase and the operational Phase. A mere statement that there are existing facilities will not suffice. Will the existing facilities be able to cater to 4 Proposed Development of Fishing Jetty, Multipurpose General Cargo Berths and POL Terminal at Mormugao Port. PROJECT PROPONENT: MORMUGAO PORT TRUST REPLY TO EPH QUERIES RAISED BY PUBLIC IN WRITTEN SUBMISSION the projected volume of traffic via this project/s? If not what more facilities will be required? Those facilities must also come within the purview of the EIA Report and be subject to a public hearing.