Smarco Industries Summary and Conclusion Chapter 11.0 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 11.0 Introduction The Nellore silica sand deposits are confined exclusively to the coastal zone between the Kandaleru and Swarnamukhi rivers in the Chillakur and Kota mandals in Nellore district essentially between North Latitudes 14°02’ and 14°10’ and East Longitudes 79°51’ and 80°09’ in the Survey of India topographic maps 57 N/16 and 66 C/1 on a scale of 1:50,000. Silica sand deposits are widely spread over a span of 110 km2 area east of Gudur town in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. M/s. Smarco Industries proposes mining in an area of 5.342 ha to extract Silica Sand of 42410 TPA. In principle approval by department of mines and geology, Government of Andhra Pradesh vide letter no. 1582/R3-1/2018, dt. 20.06.2018. The proposed mine lease area is revenue land. Terms of reference for preparing the EIA report as part of obtaining prior environmental clearance for a production capacity of 42410 TPA was obtained vide letter no. SEIAA/AP/NLR/MIN/11/2018/743-1523, dt.15.11.2019. The capital cost of the proposed activity of mining is Rs. 45 Lakhs. The Mining plan was approved by the Deputy Director of Mines and Geology (DDMG), Guntur, Government of Andhra Pradesh, vide Letter No. 3268/MP/SS/NLR/2018, dt. 13.08.2018. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India (GOI) issued notifications vide SO 1533, dt. 14.9.2006, its amendments based on the directions issued by National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi vide O. A. No. 16 of 2016, dt.13.09.2018 and vide E.A.NO 55/2018 of O. A. No. 520/2016, dt. 11.12.2018 on Moefcc notification S.O.2269 (E), dt.01.07.2016 and S.O.3977 (E), dt.14.08.2018 and Office Memorandum dt.12.12.2018 issued in compliance with the hon’ble NGT orders, New Delhi, which mandate prior environmental clearance for all mining leases across the country. The notification and its amendments based on NGT directions, classify mine lease areas of 5 - 25 ha as category B2 at par with B1, and stipulate a three-stage process of scoping, public consultation and appraisal by State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to issue prior environmental clearance. Accordingly scoping for preparation of environmental 11 - 1 Team Labs and Consultants Smarco Industries Summary and Conclusion impact assessment (EIA) was done by the state expert appraisal committee (SEAC), which issued terms of reference vide Letter No. SEIAA/AP/NLR/MIN/11/2018/743- 1523, dt.15.11.2019 for a production capacity of 42410 TPA in an area of 5.342 ha. The present study follows the prescribed TOR’s to prepare draft EIA/EMP report for public consultation, to facilitate informed view on the project by public/stakeholders for this mine lease area and other mine leases in this cluster namely Nishitha Mines and Minerals and A.V.S. Mining Company and the total cluster area of 31.578 ha. The report presents cumulative environmental impacts due to the mining cluster and the environmental management plan to address the same in addition to the impacts assessment and environmental management for this project. M/s Team Labs and Consultants prepared Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the proposed activity. The report is been prepared using baseline data of environmental status within 10 km radius of the mine lease area for major environmental components; water, air, noise, soil, flora, fauna and socio-economic environment for one season, and the proposed measures to be adopted for mitigating and controlling pollution. 11.1 Mine Location Details of the mine lease location Description Remarks Name of the Project (s) M/s. Smarco Industries Survey No. 24/3B, 24/4A, 24/4B, 29/1 & 29/2, Addepalli Village, Location of the Project Chillakur Mandal, SPSR Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh. Project / Activity 1(a) Land Use Pattern Patta Land, Open area – 5.342 ha Latitudes (North) 14°8'53.0" to 14°8'57.3" Longitudes (East) 80°4'23.7" to 80°4'37.8" Survey of India sheet No D44I04 (66 B/04) Elevation above Mean Sea Level (AMSL), m 6 m Seismic zone Seismic Zone: II as per IS: 1893 North : Road East : Open Lands Site surroundings West : Open Lands South : Open Lands Nearest Village Komaravaripalem village – 0.5 km – East direction 11 - 2 Team Labs and Consultants Smarco Industries Summary and Conclusion Description Remarks Accessibility to site Site connecting – North direction Road access Komaravaripalem to Chintavaram road – 60 m – North direction Nearest Town and District Head quarters Nellore – 34 km – NW direction Nearest Railway station Manubolu station – 23.2 km – NW direction Nearest airport Tirupathi Airport – 81 km – SW direction Nearest Port Krishnapatnam Port – 12 km – NE direction Kandleru or Upputeru River - 6.0 km - NW direction Water Bodies in buffer Buckingham Canal - 1.2 km - E direction area Challa Kaluva 7.5 km - SW direction Momidi RF - 0.9 km - W direction Udatavaripalem Protected RF - 8.0 km - SW direction Reserve Forest Kottapatnam RF - 2.5 km - SE direction Vallipedu RF - 9.5 km - SW direction Tammenapatnam RF - 7.5 km - NE direction Inter-state boundary and international boundary Nil within 10 km Protected Areas notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 Nil within 10 km Eco-sensitive areas as notified under section 3 of the E (P) Act, 1986 Nil within 10 km Critically polluted areas as identified by the Central Pollution Control Board from time to time, Nil within 10 km 11.2 Proposed Method of Mining The process of silica sand mining will be opencast semi-mechanized mining without drilling and blasting. It involves digging, scooping and excavating with the help of simple tools like spade. Excavator will be used occasionally for scooping of sand. Land use pattern of the Mine Lease Area Type of Activity Area Utilized during plan period, ha Area to be excavated 4.13 Infrastructure (Workshop, office) 0.03 Roads 0.05 Mineral storage 0.1 Green Belt 0.25 Area remains untouched 0.782 Total 5.342 11 - 3 Team Labs and Consultants Smarco Industries Summary and Conclusion 11.2.1 Development and Production The Silica Sand is exposed to surface without over burden. No waste generation is anticipated. 11.3 Employment Potential The manpower requirement for the above-mentioned production capacity is approximately 35 no’s and all the workers are supervised by Mines manager. 11.4 Site services It is proposed to provide an office cum store room, first aid room cum rest shelters, toilets and stock yard with temporary structures in the mine lease area as part of site services. Temporary sheds with cement plastered brick walls and G.I. sheet or grass roofing are constructed for site services. The workers required shall be sourced from surrounding villages. Drinking water is obtained from Addepalli village through tractor mounted tankers for the mining staff and workers. A tractor mounted tanker is proposed for sprinkling of water mainly on village roads to suppress the dust generated due to vehicular movement. Fencing shall be provided around workings pit to avoid accidental slippage of men and animals, while worked out pit is used as reservoir for storage of rain water. 11.5 Water Requirement and Effluent Generation The total water requirement is 6.3 KLD. Water requirement for the project is mainly for sprinkling on the haul roads (2.2 KLD) to mitigate dust emissions, for maintaining green belt (2.5 KLD) and for domestic purposes (1.6 KLD). Rainwater stored in worked out pit is used for sprinkling, green belt development. The domestic water will be drawn from Addepalli / storm water storage. Total water required for the cluster is 18 KLD. 11.6 Baseline Environmental Status The baseline data for ambient air quality, surface and ground water quality, noise, and soil quality was collected and analyzed for various parameters to determine the existing quality and flora and fauna study of the impact area was conducted during period of January – March 2019. The ambient air quality monitoring results show 11 - 4 Team Labs and Consultants Smarco Industries Summary and Conclusion that the values are within the prescribed limits of National Ambient Air Quality standards. Ground water sample analysis results show that the values are saline or hard water in the bore wells most of the locations compared to Indian Standard Drinking Water Specification of IS: 10500-2012. Noise quality parameters in the study area are within prescribed limits of Ambient Noise Standards. There are no Schedule I flora or fauna within the impact area. 11.7 Identification and Quantification of Impacts The project activities that are likely to cause potential impacts on environment are mining operations and associated infrastructure. Mining operations involve development of haul roads, excavation, handling and transportation of silica sand. The likely effects of these activities are land degradation, Fugitive dust generation, noise and vibration levels, increased run-off during monsoon and Human health risks. ISCST3 model was used for air quality impact predictions. The predicted maximum 24 hourly GLC’s of PM, PM10 and PM2.5 are 0.85, 0.34 and 0.15 g/m3 respectively falling within the mine lease area. The cumulative values (baseline and predicted) are found to be within the prescribed standards of national ambient air quality. 11.8 Environment Management Plan The management plan is drawn in consultation with the project proponent, mining engineer and geologist after evaluating various methods for mitigation and control of pollution.