EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of EIA & EMP REPORT for SAND MINING IN THE RIVERBED OF AJOY RIVER (21 Sand Mining Stations having total area of 414.36 Ha & Peak Sand Extraction Capacity of 2.0 Million m3/ year) Raniganj Coalfield Eastern Coalfields Limited 1.0 Purpose of the Report Sand stowing is essential for safety of the mines as well as for conservation of coal. Depillaring needs to be undertaken with stowing to recover about 80% of coal blocked in pillars and it is imperative to maintain continued supply of sand in adequate quantity for ensuring safety and productivity of the underground mines. About 3.5 million cubic meters per annum of sand is required for stowing purpose in the mines of ECL falling in Raniganj Coalfield. To meet this requirement, sand is obtained from Ajoy and Damodar rivers flowing on the northern and southern flanks of Raniganj Coalfield, respectively. Sand from these two rivers is being extracted by ECL for the last 40 years on the basis of temporary leases / permits obtained from the Govt. of West Bengal. Presently, there are 21 sand mining stations / sites in the riverbed of Ajoy spread over 30 kms of its course through the Raniganj Coalfield. The total area of these stations is 1023.48 Acre (414.36 Ha) which is only a very small fraction of the total riverbed area of Ajoy falling along the Raniganj Coalfield. Since all the 21 stations are in the same riverbed of Ajoy River, it was felt that a composite application for sand mining in the Ajoy Riverbed be made covering all the 21 stations rather than making piecemeal applications. An EIA & EMP document has been prepared for obtaining Environmental Clearance for extraction of riverbed sand from Ajoy River. TOR was obtained from MoEF vide letter no. J – 11015 / 269 / 2012 – IA. II (M) dated 29 – 01 – 2014 on the basis of composite plan covering all the 21 stations. This report covers the environmental impacts and suggests remedial measures for extracting 2.0 million cubic meters per year (peak extraction) of sand from the 21 stations, with total leasehold area of 414.36 Ha in the riverbed of Ajoy River. 2.0 Lease Details ECL is in possession of lease from the West Bengal Govt. for sand extraction from the following stations in Ajoy Riverbed – Executive Summary of EIA/EMP Report for Sand Mining in the Ajoy Riverbed Page 1 by Eastern Coalfields Ltd. for stowing purpose in underground mines Mouza & Plotwise land in Ajoy Riverbed where sand is being extracted for stowing purpose Maximum Sta Sand Area J.L. Gram extraction tion P.S. Mouza Mining Plot No. (Acre) No. Panchayat per year No. site (M Cum) 1 236 4.00 1, 3, 24, 444, 890, 2 50.00 897, 130 1 Pandaveswar 3 Ramnagar Kendra 6, 38, 49, 50, 51, 0.150 3 100.00 1166, 1167, 1275 1193, 1194, 1144, 4 70.00 895, 896 1 543 4.00 1, 32, 32/296, 36, 37, 484, 35, 34, 33, Baidyanathp 0.050 2 Pandaveswar 6 Gobindapur 2 150, 149, 284, 297, 80.65 ur 40, 41, 148, 287, 289, 288, 309 3 296 10.00 0.050 1 278 4.00 Baidyanathp 3 Pandaveswar 7 Konda 2 593 20.39 0.050 ur 3 149 12.41 4 Jamuria 64 Bagdiha Chinchuria 1 2/763 4.00 0.050 1 480 4.00 5 Pandaveswar 67 Chatrishgonda Samla 0.100 2 980 50.00 1 1155/2378 4.00 2 2760 50.00 6 Pandaveswar 66 Samla Samla 0.616 2457, 2458, 2454, 3 17.00 2456 7 Faridpur 5 Bhaburia Gourbazar 1 1384 30.00 0.100 1 175, 610 50.00 Baidyanathp 8 Pandaveswar 8 Deshlopa 2 68 50.86 0.150 ur 3 651, 652 0.63 9 Faridpur 4 Madhaipur Gogla 1 2378 30.00 0.05 1 3400 20.00 10 Khairasole 113 Barjora Kendgore 2 3420 41.60 0.05 3 3375/3398 28.58 1 2098 20.00 11 Khoirasole 144 Rashidpur Kendgore 2 1893 5.00 0.05 3 1894, 2027, 2028 8.00 12 Dubrajpur 154 Palasdanga Loba 1 2905, 2456 30.00 0.05 13 Khairasole 146 Bolta Panchra 1 1131, 1136 30.00 0.05 1 244/265, 265/271 30.00 14 Khairasole 147 Parulboni Panchra 0.05 2 271 9.00 1 626/663 32.86 15 Khairasole 143 Ratanpur Kendgore 2 663 5.00 0.05 3 6642, 2669 3.00 Baidyanathp 16 Pandaveswar 4 Dalurband 1 1700 56.00 0.05 ur 17 Khairasole 144 Beldanga Kendgore 1 227 5.00 0.05 Baidyanathp 18 Faridpur 7 Shyamsundarpur 1 4982 8.00 0.05 ur 19 Khairasole 137 Churur Kendgore 1 1208 5.50 0.05 20 Khairasole 97 Nabason Parasundi 1 2258 20.00 0.05 21 Khairasole 92 Jamalpur Parasundi 1 855 20.00 0.05 Total 1023.48 1.966 i.e. 414.36 Ha Peak: 2.0 Source: J K Ropeways, ECL Executive Summary of EIA/EMP Report for Sand Mining in the Ajoy Riverbed Page 2 by Eastern Coalfields Ltd. for stowing purpose in underground mines 3.0 Method of Sand Mining The methodology of extraction of riverbed sand is as follows – The sand collection is restricted to 1 m (average depth of about 0.5 m considering the total leasehold of 414.36 Ha) and confined to lean season (non – monsoon period) only. The removal is done without affecting the base flow of the river and in such manner as to maintain the smooth flow of the river during the monsoons. This helps in protection of the banks from erosion. The sand will be mined manually from surface of river-bed. There is no drilling and blasting involved. There is no rehabilitation & resettlement involved. There is no dust generation and liquid effluent generation during collection of sand. The transport of sand from the sand ghat is done through tippers covered with tarpaulin / thick plastic sheets. Sand is transported either directly to the linked underground mines or stored in depots at transfer points for subsequent transport to the mines. The maximum distance of transportation is around 5 to 6 kms. Sand extraction and transportation activities are outsourced to experienced contractors and carried out under the supervision and guidelines of ECL. All necessary facilities like shelter, drinking water, safety equipment, etc are provided to the contractual workers deployed for the collection of sand from the river bed. Images showing sand extraction by manual means Executive Summary of EIA/EMP Report for Sand Mining in the Ajoy Riverbed Page 3 by Eastern Coalfields Ltd. for stowing purpose in underground mines 4.0 Sand Extraction from the riverbed of Ajoy River since 2000 The year-wise sand extraction from the Ajoy Riverbed since year 2000 has been tabulated below. Sl. No. Year Quantity Extracted (Million m3) 1. 2000 2.06 2. 2001 2.34 3. 2002 1.66 4. 2003 1.56 5. 2004 1.70 6. 2005 2.18 7. 2006 2.15 8. 2007 1.73 9. 2008 2.04 10. 2009 1.87 11. 2010 1.55 12. 2011 1.24 13. 2012 0.90 14. 2013 0.78 15. 2014 (till Sep’14) 0.90 Average extraction / annum 1.64 Source: ECL Sand extraction data prior to year 2000 is not available. It can be seen from the above table that the highest extraction of 2.34 Million m3 was made during the year 2001. However, for the last five years, sand extraction has not crossed 2.0 Million m3. 5.0 A Short Note on Ajoy River The Ajoy River originates on a small hill about 300 metres (980 ft) high, southwest of Munger in Bihar. It then flows through Jharkhand and enters West Bengal at Simjuri, near Chittaranjan. It first forms the border between Bardhaman District and Jharkhand and then between Bardhaman District and Birbhum District, and finally it enters Katwa subdivision of Bardhaman district at Nareng village in Ketugram police station. It then joins the Bhagirathi River at Katwa Town. Total length of the Ajoy is 288 kms, out of which 152 kms is in West Bengal. The Raniganj coalfield extends upto 30 kms with most of the mines on the southern bank. Average slope of the Ajoy River basin area is 1 in 750 from source point to Pandabeswar and beyond this, in the lower stretch the slope drops down to about 1 in 2250, i.e. from Pandaveswar to confluence point. Due to low gradient, the river course is much wider during its course through the Raniganj Coalfield and has been measured as 1225 m at Palashdanga and 1020 m at Pandaveswar. Moving away from the Raniganj Coalfield the channel width steadily decreases leading to heavy flooding of the lower basin during monsoon months. Executive Summary of EIA/EMP Report for Sand Mining in the Ajoy Riverbed Page 4 by Eastern Coalfields Ltd. for stowing purpose in underground mines 6.0 Beneficial Role of Sand Extraction in Flood Control As the Ajoy River enters from plateau region into the plain region near Pandaveswar, a sudden change in gradient is observed. This results in the release of the river load along the bed leading to the siltation. The resultant siltation leads to the aggradation of the river bed, decreasing the carrying capacity of the river and thus increases the probability of flood hazard. In addition, the embankments Executive Summary of EIA/EMP Report for Sand Mining in the Ajoy Riverbed Page 5 by Eastern Coalfields Ltd. for stowing purpose in underground mines constructed along the river banks also force the carried materials to be deposited within the river channel.