Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of a 252 MW Wind Power Project in Thoothukudi District of Tamil Nadu
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Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of a 252 MW Wind Power Project in Thoothukudi District of Tamil Nadu Vivid Solaire Energy Private Limited Final Report 23 March 2020 Project No.: 0441037 www.erm.com The business of sustainability Document details Document title Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of a 252 MW Wind Power Project in Thoothukudi District of Tamil Nadu Document subtitle Final Report Project No. 0441037 Date 23 March 2020 Version 0.2 Author ERM India Private Limited Client Name Vivid Solaire Energy Private Limited (ENGIE Group) Document history ERM approval to issue Version Revision Author Reviewed by Name Date Comments Draft 0.1 Nishant Naval Neena Singh 22.04.2019 -- Kumar, Chaudhary Akshita Misra, Anupreet Anand, Karan Rai Final 0.2 Nishant Ajay Pillai Neena Singh 23.03.2020 Addressal of Kumar, comments Akshita Misra, received from Anupreet ENGIE on Anand, Karan 26.09.2019. Rai www.erm.com Version: 0.2 Project No.: 0441037 Client: Vivid Solaire Energy Private Limited (ENGIE Group) 23 March 2020 Signature Page 23 March 2020 Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of a 252 MW Wind Power Project in Thoothukudi District of Tamil Nadu Final Report Name: Ajay Pillai Name: Neena Singh Job title: Partner Job title: Managing Partner ERM India Private Limited Building 10A 4th Floor, DLF Cyber City Gurgaon, NCR – 122002 www.erm.com © Copyright 2020 by ERM Worldwide Group Ltd and / or its affiliates (“ERM”). All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the prior written permission of ERM www.erm.com Version: 0.2 Project No.: 0441037 Client: Vivid Solaire Energy Private Limited (ENGIE Group) 23 March 2020 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF A 252 CONTENTS MW WIND POWER PROJECT IN THOOTHUKUDI DISTRICT OF TAMIL NADU Final Report CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of the Project .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Purpose of the Report and Scope of Work .................................................................................... 3 1.3 ESIA Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3.1 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 4 1.3.2 Use of this Report ......................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Layout of the Report ...................................................................................................................... 5 2. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ........................................................................................................... 6 2.1 About ENGIE Group ...................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Site Setting .................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Project Components ...................................................................................................................... 8 2.3.1 Wind Turbines ............................................................................................................... 8 2.3.2 Other Project Components ......................................................................................... 11 2.3.3 Wind Turbine Generators Profiling .............................................................................. 12 2.4 Project Phases and Activities ....................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Contractors .................................................................................................................................. 15 2.6 Resource Requirement ................................................................................................................ 16 2.6.1 Manpower ................................................................................................................... 19 2.6.2 Batching Plant ............................................................................................................. 19 2.6.3 Access Road ............................................................................................................... 19 2.7 Project organisational structure ................................................................................................... 19 3. APPLICABLE LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ................................................... 21 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 21 3.2 Institution Framework – Enforcement Agencies ........................................................................... 21 3.3 Applicable Regulatory/Policy Framework..................................................................................... 21 3.4 National Environmental Standards .............................................................................................. 28 4. SCREENING AND SCOPING .................................................................................................... 29 4.1 Project Categorisation ................................................................................................................. 29 4.2 Scoping Evaluation ...................................................................................................................... 30 4.3 Scoping Results ........................................................................................................................... 31 5. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL BASELINE .......................................................................... 38 5.1 Study Area ................................................................................................................................... 38 5.1.1 Project Footprint Area ................................................................................................. 38 5.1.2 Project Area of Influence ............................................................................................. 38 5.1.3 Core and Buffer Zone ................................................................................................. 38 5.2 Environmental Baseline Findings ................................................................................................. 40 5.2.1 Land Use and Land Cover .......................................................................................... 40 5.2.2 Local Topographical Features .................................................................................... 40 5.2.3 Geology and Hydrogeology ........................................................................................ 43 5.2.4 Hydrology and Drainage Pattern ................................................................................. 43 5.2.5 Climate and Meteorology ............................................................................................ 46 5.2.6 Natural Hazards .......................................................................................................... 47 5.2.7 Water Quality .............................................................................................................. 51 5.2.8 Noise Quality .............................................................................................................. 53 5.2.9 Traffic Survey .............................................................................................................. 56 5.3 Ecological Baseline Findings ....................................................................................................... 57 5.3.1 Objectives of the Ecological Study .............................................................................. 57 5.3.2 Habitat Mapping .......................................................................................................... 58 5.3.3 Ecological Baseline Methodology ............................................................................... 60 www.erm.com Version: 0.2 Project No.: 0441037 Client: Vivid Solaire Energy Private Limited (ENGIE Group) 23 March 2020 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF A 252 CONTENTS MW WIND POWER PROJECT IN THOOTHUKUDI DISTRICT OF TAMIL NADU Final Report 5.3.4 Floral Assessment ...................................................................................................... 61 5.3.5 Faunal Assessment .................................................................................................... 61 5.3.6 Ecologically Sensitive Areas ....................................................................................... 68 5.3.7 Migratory Routes ......................................................................................................... 70 5.4 Social Baseline ............................................................................................................................ 71 5.4.1 Study Area Profile ....................................................................................................... 71 5.4.2 Demographic Profile ..................................................................................................