Nidhi Wind Power Project

Draft Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Project Number: 49241-001 March 2016 IND: Mytrah Wind and Solar Power Development Project - Nidhi Wind Power Project The environmental and social impact assessment report is a document of the project sponsor. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “Term of Use” section of this website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I INTRODUCTION I Project Description I Land requirement and allotment process III Baseline IV Impact Assessment X Analysis of Alternatives XVI Information Disclosure and consultation and participation XVI Grievance Redressal and engagement with the community XVII Environmental and Social Management Plan XVII Conclusions and Recommendations XVIII 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT 1 1.2 MYTRAH ENERGY (INDIA) LIMITED (MEIL) 2 1.3 OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT 3 1.4 ESIA SCOPE 4 1.5 ESIA METHODOLOGY 5 1.5.1 Screening 6 1.5.2 Scoping 6 1.5.3 Project Description 6 1.5.4 Baseline Conditions 6 1.5.5 Impact Identification/Prediction 7 1.5.6 Analysis of Alternatives 7 1.5.7 Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) 7 1.5.8 Stakeholder Analysis and Consultations 7 1.6 LIMITATIONS 7 1.7 LAYOUT OF THE REPORT 8 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 10 2.1 INTRODUCTION 10 2.2 SITE SETTING 10 2.3 FACILITIES 12 2.3.1 Wind Mills 12 2.3.2 Pooling Sub-Stations 13 2.3.3 Transmission Lines – Internal and External 13 2.3.4 Access Roads 15 2.3.5 Additional Project Infrastructure 16 2.3.6 Wind Turbine Profiling 16 2.4 PROJECT PHASES AND ACTIVITIES 21 2.4.1 Planning and Preconstruction Phase 21 2.4.2 Construction Phase 21 2.4.3 Operation and Maintenance Phase 22 2.4.4 Decommissioning Phase 22 2.5 CONTRACTORS 22 2.6 RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS 23 2.6.1 Manpower 23 2.6.2 Labour Accommodation facility 24 2.6.3 Water Requirement 24 2.6.4 Raw Material 24 2.6.5 Fuel requirement and Storage 24 2.6.6 Batching plant 25 2.6.7 Power Requirement 25 2.7 POLLUTION CONTROL MEASURES 25 2.7.1 Air Emissions 25 2.7.2 Noise Emissions 26 2.7.3 Waste Management 27 2.7.4 Wastewater Management 28 2.7.5 Fire Safety and Security 28 2.8 PROJECT SCHEDULE 29 2.9 PROJECT ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE 31 3 LAND REQUIREMENT AND ALLOTMENT PROCESS 32 3.1 REVIEW OF LAND PROCUREMENT PROCESS 32 3.1.1 Land Requirement for the Project 32 3.1.2 Project Related Land Procurement and Specific Issues 35 3.2 LAND PROCUREMENT PROCESS 37 3.2.1 Identification/Procurement of Land 37 4 APPLICABLE POLICY LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 40 4.1 INTRODUCTION 40 4.2 INSTITUTION FRAMEWORK- ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES 40 4.3 APPLICABLE REGULATORY/ POLICY FRAMEWORK 42 4.4 PERMITTING AND COMPLIANCE STATUS FOR THE PROJECT 46 4.5 APPLICABLE ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS 47 4.6 INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARD REQUIREMENTS 47 4.6.1 ADB Safeguard Policy Statement, 2009 47 4.6.2 ADB Gender and Development Policy 2003 49 4.6.3 ADB Social Protection Strategy 2001 50 4.6.4 IFC Requirements 50 5 SCREENING AND SCOPING 54 5.1 SCREENING METHODOLOGY 54 5.1.1 Kick-off Meeting 54 5.1.2 Document Review 54 5.2 PROJECT CATEGORISATION 55 5.2.1 ADB Safeguard Categories 55 5.2.2 Other 59 5.3 SCOPING METHODOLOGY 60 5.4 SCOPING RESULTS 61 5.4.1 Cumulative Impacts 61 6 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL BASELINE 68 6.1 LOCATION 68 6.2 AREA OF INFLUENCE 69 6.2.1 Study Area 69 6.3 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE METHODOLOGY 70 6.3.1 Site Visit 70 6.4 ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE FINDINGS 72 6.4.1 Land cover and use 72 6.4.2 Topography 74 6.4.3 Geology 76 6.4.4 Hydro-geology 78 6.4.5 Hydrology and Drainage pattern 79 6.4.6 Climate and Meteorology 79 6.4.7 Natural Hazards 80 6.4.8 Noise Quality 81 6.5 ECOLOGICAL BASELINE 82 6.5.1 Introduction 82 6.5.2 Approach and Methodology 83 6.5.3 The Study Area 83 6.5.4 Habitats in the study area with representative Vegetation 84 6.5.5 Faunal Assessment 87 6.5.6 Protected Area-Desert National Park 97 6.5.7 Migratory Routes 98 6.6 SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASELINE 100 6.6.1 Social Baseline Data Collection Methodology 100 6.6.2 Administrative setting 102 6.6.3 State Profile: Rajasthan 105 6.6.4 District Profile: Jaisalmer 106 6.6.5 Tehsil Profile: Jaisalmer 107 6.6.6 Area of Influence Profile 108 6.6.7 Social and Physical Infrastructure 116 7 IMPACT ASSESSMENT 120 7.1 INTRODUCTION 120 7.2 SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT 120 7.3 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 120 7.4 KEY POTENTIAL RISKS 126 7.4.1 Key environmental risks 126 7.4.2 Impact on Ecology; 126 7.4.3 Key Social risk 126 7.5 KEY ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS 126 7.5.1 Change in Land Use 126 7.5.2 Impacts on Land and Soil Environment 129 7.5.3 Impact on Water Resources 141 7.5.4 Impact on Air Quality 148 7.5.5 Impact on Ambient Noise Levels 152 7.6 KEY ECOLOGICAL RISKS 157 7.6.1 Criteria 157 7.6.2 Impact on habitat of herpetofaunal species, resident avifaunal species and mammals 158 7.6.3 Construction activity leading to habitat disturbance for Indian Gazelle 160 7.6.4 Laying of approach roads leading to road kills of Herpetofauna 161 7.6.5 Mortality of Avifaunal and bat species due to collision risk 163 7.7 IMPACT DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE 169 7.8 KEY SOCIAL RISK 170 7.8.2 Community Health and Safety 170 7.8.3 Accidental Impacts- Blade-throw and Natural Disasters 172 7.8.4 Occupational Health and Safety 173 7.8.5 Labour Rights and Welfare 175 7.8.6 Impact on Indigenous Communities/ Vulnerable Groups 176 7.8.7 Impacts on Economic Opportunities 178 8 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 181 8.1 THE POWER SCENARIO IN INDIA 181 8.2 ALTERNATIVE SITE LOCATION 182 8.2.1 Alternate Location for WTGs and Associated Facilities 182 8.3 ALTERNATE TECHNOLOGY 182 8.4 ALTERNATE METHODS OF POWER GENERATION 183 8.4.1 Greenhouse Gases (GHG) Emission 184 8.4.2 Water Consumption 185 8.4.3 Carbon Offsetting 185 8.4.4 No-Go Alternative 185 8.5 CONCLUSION 186 9 INFORMATION DISCLOSURE CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION187 9.1 STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION 187 9.1.1 Stakeholder Mapping 188 9.2 ENGAGEMENT PROCESS PRE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 195 9.3 ENGAGEMENT PROCESS AS PART OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 196 9.3.1 Key Issues Identified 197 10 GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL AND ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY198 10.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM 198 10.2 COMPOSITION OF THE GRC 198 10.3 FUNCTIONING OF THE GRC FOR GRIEVANCE REDRESS 199 10.4 PROCESS OF RECEIVING AND ADDRESSING GRIEVANCES 199 10.5 MONITORING AND EVALUATION 200 10.6 BUDGETING 200 11 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 201 11.1 THE COMPANY’S ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE 201 11.1.1 MEIL Management 201 11.1.2 Roles and responsibilities of EHS Department 203 11.2 INSPECTION, MONITORING AND AUDIT 203 11.3 REPORTING AND DOCUMENTATION 204 11.3.1 External Reporting and Communication 204 11.3.2 Internal Reporting and Communication 204 11.3.3 Documentation 204 11.3.4 ESMP Review and Amendments 205 11.4 TRAINING PROGRAMME AND CAPACITY BUILDING 205 11.5 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 205 12 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS 230 12.1 INTRODUCTION 230 12.2 IMPACTS REQUIRING DETAILED ASSESSMENT 230 List of Tables Table 1.1 MEIL operating wind farms in India (as of December 2014) 3 Table 1.2 Project Nidhi - a snapshot 4 Table 1.3 Structure of the report 8 Table 2.1 Land requirement for Project Components 12 Table 2.2 Specifications of Proposed WTGs 12 Table 2.3 Wind turbine profiling 17 Table 2.4 Sub-Contractors and their scope of work for Project Nidhi 23 Table 2.5 Water Requirement during construction phase 24 Table 2.6 Specifications for noise from WTGs for the proposed Project 27 Table 2.7 Waste Generated, their sources and method of disposal 27 Table 2.8 Project Nidhi Schedule 30 Table 3.1 Total Land Requirement for the Project 32 Table 3.2 Village wise Land Allotment 33 Table 4.1 Enforcement Agencies relevant to the Project 40 Table 4.2 Applicability of Key Legislations in India 43 Table 4.3 Permitting and Compliance Status 46 Table 4.4 IFC Performance Standards 51 Table 5.1 ADB Safeguard Categories 56 Table 5.2 Interaction Matrix for the proposed Project's life cycle 63 Table 5.3 Identified interactions that are likely to result in significant impacts 65 Table 5.4 Scoped- out interactions during the proposed Project's life cycle 66 Table 6.1 Primary Baseline Data Collection 71 Table 6.2 Secondary Baseline Data Collection 71 Table 6.3 Landuse break detail 72 Table 6.4 Climatology of Jaisalmer (1948 -2000): Ambient Air Temperature and Mean rainfall 79 Table 6.5 Details of Ambient Noise Monitoring Location 81 Table 6.6 Ambient Noise Levels in the Study Area during Monitoring Period 81 Table 6.7 Vegetation Classification of the Region 84 Table 6.8 Economic Values of some plant species from the area 86 Table 6.9 Reptiles observed from the Study Area 88 Table 6.10 Avifaunal Species Observed/reported in the Study Area 90 Table 6.11 Avifaunal Species observed from the Study Area 94 Table 6.12 Details of Mammals observed/ reported from the Study area 96 Table 6.13 IBA Criteria for Desert National Park (IN-RJ-03 - A1= Threatened species; A3=Biome species) 97 Table 6.14 Consultations undertaken for the Project 102 Table 6.15 Rajasthan Demographic Profile 105 Table 6.16 Jaisalmer district Demographic Profile vis-à-vis Rajasthan 107 Table 6.17 Demographic Profile of Jaisalmer Tehsil 108 Table 6.18 Demographic Profile of AoI

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