Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for Proposed Extension of Inland Waterway from Mahe to Valapattanam

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR PROPOSED EXTENSION OF INLAND WATERWAY FROM MAHE TO VALAPATTANAM Proposed Terms of Reference 1. Introduction Water transport has environmental and economic advantages over other modes of transportations like roads and railways. As an alternative mode of transport, with better fuel efficiency, waterways help in dealing many short falls of the roadways including air pollution, traffic congestion and accidents. Also with respect to freight rates, waterways have been always cheaper. Under these considerations, transformation of inland waterways into a regular mode of transportation is a great opportunity for any developing countries where cargo transits are key players in economic developments. India has about 14500 km of navigable waterways through the extensive network of rivers, canals, creek and back waters. It is with the clear understanding on the potential and advantageous of the inland waterways development for the country, that Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) was set up in October 1986 vide IWAI Act 1985 under the Ministry of Shipping and is coordinating the task of developing, monitoring and administering Indian waterways. Kottapuram – Kollam stretch forming part of West Coast canal (WCC) along with Champakkara and Udyogamandal canals is declared as National Waterway (NW 3) in 1993 which is further extended up to Kozhikode in 2016 envisioning futuristic development potential for this sector. In harmony with the central government, an initiative to enhance the potential of waterways both in cargo transit and tourism potentials associated with it, Government of Kerala has come for integration of the NW-3 by extending the southern stretch upto Kovalam from Kollam and northern stretch up to Kasaragod from Kozhikode. Kerala Waterways & Infrastructures Ltd. (KWIL), a special purpose vehicle, was constituted jointly by Government of Kerala and Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), with an objective to facilitate the development of an Inland waterway from Kovalam to Kasaragod. Objective of the present study is to understand and analyze the Environmentasl and Social Impacts associated with the proposed integrated connectivity development between the various water bodies across the proposed waterway alignment from Mahe to Valapattanam, which is a part of the nothern stretch. The location map of the proposed alignment is given as Figure 1.0. Page 1 of 10 Figure 1.0. Location map of the proposed Alignment 2. Description of Inland waterway from Mahe to Valapattanam The Mahe -Valapattanam stretch is the missing link and a major obstacle to the inland navigation potential of the region. Difficulty in acquisition of land, mostly homestead and garden land, is a major obstacle to developing the navigational route in the stretch. The inter connectivity requirements has been falling in 3 stretches given in Table 1.0 below. Table 1.0. Inter connectivity requirements for the Proposed Alignment Sections Description Section I Portions of Mahe river including regulators etc, and the first artificial canal (9.20 kms) starting from Mahe river to Eranjoli river Section II Portions of Eranjoli river including regulators etc. second artificial canal (850 m) and portions of Dharmadom and Anjarakandy rivers including regulators Section III Portions of Anjarakandy river, third artificial cut (15 kms) and portions of Valapattanam river including regulators etc. Note: The length of alignment are approximate only. The proposed length of our project of Inland waterway from Mahe to Valapattanam is 51 km with 60 m right of way. Of this about 26 km is the river portion falling in Mahe river, Eranjoli river, Dharmadom/ Anjarakandy river and Valapatnam river and the remaining 25 km is the Page 2 of 10 missing link where artificial canal is to be constructed to connect these rivers. The canal will be 40 m wide and service roads are proposed on either sides. The proposed depth will be 1.5 m in Phase-I and 2.2 m in Phase-II so as to enable large scale movements of the cargo vessels through the waterway. Proposed Alignment (Mahe – Valapattanam) along with rivers and cuts marked is shown as Figure 2.0 below. Figure 2.0. Proposed Alignment (Mahe – Valapattanam) The first cut starts at Kurulikavu Thekethalakal road, cutting across Keezhmadam - Kallikandy road, Nawaz Masjid road, Kanamvelly street road, SH 38, and Thalassery- Panoor road and finally ending the first cut at Eranjoly river near Chandalapuzha weir. Then along Eranjoly river, it reaches the second cut – cutting across Kolassery road and Thalassery – Irikur road. The second cut (0.7 km) is then ending at Dharmadom river. From Dharmadom river, the proposed alignment is along Anjarakandy river and reaches the third cut (15 km) – cutting across Kulam Mammakunnu road, Edakkad- Kadachira road, SH 38, Chovya Mattanur road and Kannur Mattanur road. From third cut the inland waterway is aligned to Valapattanam river. 3. Reconnaissance Visit and Collection and Review of Literature With the project components availed in detail, a reconnaissance visit along the project area and its immediate influencing areas will be executed towards a preliminary understanding of the environmental profile of region. This will be continued with the collection and review of literature from various published resources towards assessing the critical environmental features associated with the project. Page 3 of 10 4. Delineating the study area As per the guideline, the study area for the proposed EIA Study falls in areal distance of 15km along the project region. While the essential primary data will be collected for the 500m from the center line of proposed waterway, the secondary data will be collected for the wider stretch of 15km around the project area. This is to essentially understand the induced impacts if any in the project region, due to the project intervention. The study area will be primarily delineated in a satellite imagery of high resolution with respect to land, water bodies, settlements and other cultural features. This will be followed by a detailed site visit for preparation of an environmental inventory. 5. Establishing Baseline Environmental Profile of the Project Area The impacts of the proposed waterway development components fall in to three phases of project including Pre-construction phase Construction phase Operation phase. In order to understand the changes induced by a project and to ensure that the proposed developments does not exceed the environmental standard set forth, it is essential that the baseline environmental profile of the project region has to be established in detail. This will essentially lead to analyses the impacts due to the project interventions towards deriving the most appropriate mitigation measures and will act as a benchmark to ensure environmental safeguard during the course of the implementation and operation of the proposed project. Baseline environmental profile of project region will be established through the various environmental attributes such as land, water, soil, biological, and Noise and Socio Economic (SE) environment and a brief methodology for establishing the baseline profile is as follows: 5.1 Land Environment The land use pattern of the project location and its neighboring areas shall be established through developing a land use map using the Google Earth image, the primary baseline data will be collected in the right of way as well as the area falling within 500 meters on either side of right of way and secondary data will be collected within 15 km aerial distance as specifically mentioned at para 9 (iii) of Form I of EIA Notification, 2006 and validation through secondary data and reconnaissance surveys. The land availability for the project activities will be checked and confirmed. Page 4 of 10 5.1.1 Topography Topography of the area will be assessed through the bathymetric charts available for the river portion and the photogrametry survey (drone survey) conducted for the uncut portion. For right of way as well as the area falling within 500 meters on the either side of the right of way one from the project areas, the topographical profile of the project area including terrain features such as relief and slope, land use pattern, habitation, cropping pattern and forest cover will be established through the district planning maps available for the project areas and also confirmed through reconnaissance surveys and previous studies on the project areas. 5.1.2 Geology Geological profile of the project area will be established through the secondary data available for the project area including the earlier studies. Seismic setting of the project area will be presented as given in the seismic zone map of India. Information on the various mineral resources of the project area will be established through published records. 5.1.3 Soil Soil profile of the project area covering right of way as well as the area falling within 500 meters on the either side of the right of way, for the immediate vicinity will be established through the soil survey maps published by Directorate of Soil Survey, Government of Kerala.The site for the excavated soil from the proposed site will be identified and reserved for reuse. The excavted good quality soil will be reused for various purpose such as landscaping.The soil samples will be collectes from various locations and its quality will be moniterd. 5.2 Water Environment Water quality form a critical part of a project like this where water quality variation is critical when

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