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Draft report on EIA study IREL Block No IVEE Chavara ,Kollam District 0.0 INTRODUCTION 0.1 As per work order from the,National Institute for Inter disciplinary Sciences and Technology .(NIIST, CSIR ) Trivandrum vide letter no CSIR-NIIST/Envt.IREL/2015/09 dt 23- 04-2015, for conducting Environmental Impact Assessment EIA in the Heavy mineral sand mining block allotted to the Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL), at Alappad-Panmana area (Block IV Eastern Extension ) covering an area of 180 Ha , the following report is submitted. IREL is a Public Sector Undertaking under Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. It has beach sand mining and processing operations at Chavara in Kerala, Manavalakurichi in Tamil Nadu and in Chhatrapur in Orissa. The IREL in 1965 became the successors to M/s Travancore Mineral Concern and M/s. Hopkin& Williams Ltd., taking over the assets of these companies and rationalized and reorganized the production of the economic mineral concentrates from these sand deposits. Their activities were earlier confined to the utilization of beach washings, the rich heavy mineral concentrates that were deposited over the beach by the wave action between high and low watermarks. The company has started inland dredge mining operation since 1990. The study area falls in the coastal stretch from just north of Neendakara containing rich deposits of heavy mineral sands. Apart from the potential adverse impacts of mining of heavy mineral sands in detail, the report also include the overall impacts on the geo environment, shore-line dynamics of the designated coastal stretches and EMP. The following paragraphs outline the objectives of the study, the scope of the work and the methodology to be followed for the EIA study of the IREL mining lease block ( BlockIVEE) in Panmana- Ayanivelikulangara area,Karunagapally Kollam district . 1.1Back ground: The area has been under mining from around 1900 by various companies. A number of sand operating firms were taken over by the Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IRE), a Central Public Sector Unit under the Department of Atomic Energy. IRE held Mining Lease for the area stretching from Neendakara to KayamkulamPozhi in Kollam District. The stretch was divided into 8 blocks and mining lease for block II, IV, VI and VIII was granted M/s. Indian Rare Earths Ltd., a Govt of India Atomic undertaking under Department of Energy. Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL), a public sector undertaking under the Department of Atomic Energy is engaged in separation of six heavy minerals (HM), namely; ilmenite, rutile, zircon , monazite, sillimanite and garnet from beach sand deposits of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Orissa. The Block IV Eastern extension falls east of the Block IV and located on either banks of Trivandrum Shertallai Canal (T.S.Canal).( Fig 1 and Fig 2 ) The ground gradually rises from sea level and reaches a height of about 2.50 m above the sea level. Part of the seashore is protected by sea walls of 1 to 2 m height. There are no streams passing through the plot. As the plot is situatedon either banks of T.S.Canal ,the area drains easily. Mining of minerals with more than 50 hectares as mining area are categorized as A category projects and mining lease area between 5 -50 hectares as B Category project as per the EIA notification ,2006under Environment protection act ,1986. The buffer zones prescribed are of 10 Km radius from the boundary limits of the mining lease area of >50 hectares .The present study consist of the ML area of 180 Ha and its buffer zone of 10 Km radius around it( Fig3) 1.2 Objective: The prime object of the study is to understand the geo-environmental impacts of heavy mineral sand mining and its consequences on the ecologically fragile coastal stretch. The potential adverse impacts of mining on the land and water system of the area are sought to be brought out in detail. The water system consists of surface and ground water domains. The land system consists of human settlements, existing land use patterns, fragile shore-line and eco-protective land cover. All these are prone to multiple changes from time to time, in tune with the prevalent socio-economic scenario, systemic anomalies in the seasons and coastal dynamics and anthropogenic activities. The impact of mining on heavy mineral sand in all these environs wasevaluated and possible measures to mitigate their adverse impacts has been worked out. 1.3 Scope of the study: The heavy mineral sand deposits of the coastal stretch of Kollam and Alappuzha districts are one of the richest in the world. These sands contain ilmenite, sillimanite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon and the highly radioactive monazite which were being mined and separated by the IRE during the last many decades and this has been a source of sizeable revenue for the Govt., and due to pressure of land and CZR restrictions for mining in the coastal stretch, the IREL and other industrial users have to find suitable locales for sustained retrieval of the strategic raw material without causing any environmental imbalance. It is therefore important to collect temporal data on the original land and water systems in the area from existing sources to assess the changes due to seasonal variations and anthropogenic influence. ThisThe scope of the work includes includes collection of representative water and soil samples to assess from the designated block and its buffer impact peripheries. These data have been synthesized and collated to prepare spatial outputs and workable models vis-a- vis existing environment, to project EMPs.The report identifies the impact of mining on the coastal ecology, management of overburden , slope stability, recommendation of post mining land use and reclamation and restoration of mined out areas with plans. review of actual mining operations at IRE Chavara, identification of mining practice related environmental issues and specific recommendations to mitigate environmental impacts. 1.4 Plan of approach :The IREL propose the continuation of inland mining in tandem the Beach washing collection. Beach washing collection involves collection of minerals deposited by the wave action on the beach which is areplenishable resource. The study in general, comprised of a holistic assessment of IREL mining lease block IVEE , its coastal geomorphology, geology, hydrogeology using all available details maps and satellite data products with ground truth collection and incorporation. An EMP thus was evolved, keeping in view the Environmental Guidelines and the EIA notification 1994 issued by the MOEF.As per the notification on EIA, environmental clearance is mandatory for all mining operations over 5 ha. However, the singular socio economic scenario of the region and the apprehensions among the public at large on the adverse impacts on the fragile environs necessitates a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of mining activities in the block located along the coastal stretch including it a 10 km radius buffer zone. Environmental data was collected in relation to the mining project of IREL block IV EE for an assessment of Land environment and water environment. 1.5Methodology: Standard methodology for EIA and preparation of EMP was followed by systematic collection and analysis of temporal water samples to assess existing geochemical domains and changes caused by seasonal variations and anthropogenic activities. This would constitute the primary data. The primary data sources would be identified through well inventories and preparation of groundwater flow maps. The secondary data would be a value addition on the primary data through laboratory analysis. 1.6 Data sources: The data source will be the State and central Govt. organizations dealing with mining, geology and hydrogeology .Satellite data products if available would be an added data source. Ground truthing would be conducted to finalize the data outputs. The synthesized data outputs as thematic maps will be presented in GIS formats. 2.1 Physiography: Kerala State covers an area of 38,864 sq km and is located in the south western part of the Indian Peninsular shield. This linear strip of land is bounded by the Western Ghats on the east and the LakshwadeepSea on the west. Of the total area, 35,955 sq km area is constituted by hard rock crystallines and the rest by soft sediments. Physiographically the state can be divided into 4domains from east to west, viz., the (i) Western Ghats(ii) Foothillsiii) Midland region and(iv) Coastal low land (i) Western Ghats: The hill ranges of the Western Ghats rise to an altitude of over 2500m above the MSL and the crest of the ranges marks the inter-state boundary in most of the places. A breach in the continuity of the ranges marks the Palghat Gap with a sinistral shift of 50 km between the shifted crests. The Wynad plateau and the Munnar upland fall within this zone. (ii) Foothills: The foothills of the Western Ghats comprise the rocky area 200 to 600 m above MSL. It is a transitional zone between the high-ranges and midland. (iii) Midland region: This forms an area of gently undulating topography with hillocks and mounds. Laterite capping is commonly noticeable on these hillocks. The low, flat topped hillocks forming the laterite plateau range in altitude from 30-200m and are observed between coastal low- land and the foothills. (iv) Coastal low land: Coastal low-land is identified with alluvial plains, sandy stretches, abraded platforms, beach ridges, raised beaches, lagoons and estuaries. Fig: 1Location map of IREL Block IV &EE The low-land and the plains are generally less than 10m above msl.The Kallada river basin has its highest elevation at Karimalaikodkal (1763 m amsl) on the eastern side and reaches almost sea level west of Karunagapally. The river originating from the Western Ghats drains into Ashtamudi backwaters near Kollam.

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