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No.Env-4(1)/2013 / F-V / lr 9th Sept, 2013 To

The Office of Chief Engineer, Narmada Canal project, Sanchor. () FM02979_223380

sub: visit report ,,Field of Director Environment, Narmada contror Authority, rndore regarding.

r am to encrose herewith a copy of the fierd visit report undertaken arongwith lnvestigators from N|MR and officiar oi Govt or na;asttran for reference and further followup action please. We may be kept informeO of'G piogr"ss regutarly. 4

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.NVHISVTVU NI v=tuv IcSt oud oNvt^truoc vovt^tuvN : IUOdfU llsln Ot:ilJ FIELD VISIT REPORT NARMADA : COMMAND PROJECT AREA IN RAJASTHAN, gth MAY,2013.

Sanchore is a town in the Jalore district in the state of Raiasthan. lt is the headquarters of the Sanchore fehsl located on National Highwav 15. The historical town is situated 63.2 kilometres (39.3 mi) from tnllrty of Jalore. Narmda Canal enter Rajasthan at siru Vitage B km - from sanchore city. The Narmada canar was inaugurated on 24 Apr,2008. The bressing of has given happiness to the farmers of Rajasthan,

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To utrrize the share of Rajasthan project Narmada canar was approved by pranning commission in 1996 for Rs 467.53 crores with the condition that,'Environmentar action plan for the project wiil the prepared and implemente d parr passu wjth enginee.ng works under overall guidance of NCA for the areas shown in map above.

The command area of the Narmada canai is fixed based on the areas incruded by NWDT for purposes of considerng requirement of Narmada water for irrigation. rn Rajasthan 75,000 ha of GcA was incruded in the NWDT. Environmentar Action pran prepared by Govt. of Rajasthan was submitted to the Ministry of Environment & Forests during '1990. However MoEF directed that in terms of order of crearances thrs pran is required to be submitted to the Narmada contror Authority for approvar before implementation. rn pursuance thereof the pran Action (1990) was received in the office of NCA and this plan was placed before the Environment Sub_group.

The Environment sub-group suggested preparation of a detaired command Plan and Area suggested EIA studies to be taken up ior tire prrpor".

The studies were assigned by Govt of Rajasthan to wApcos and report was received from wApcos which was presented to the Environment sub-group. rt was observed by the expert members o-f the sub-group that apprication or iow' inigation originally suggested is not conducive for the areas- in Ra.lastnan and a recommendatron for extending areas of irrigation was accepted by the Govt. of Rajasthan. nccoroinlry anout 2'46'000 ha. is under deveropment through Narmada water. commensurate development with of rrrigation in the command areal

Govt of Rajasthan through competitive bidding engaged preparation rAHAL consurtant for of the comprehensive command area" development preparation pran arong with of Environmentar Action pran. pran The prepared by Tahar consurtant was received & circulated to the Members of the Environment Sub_group of NCA.

The plan for water conveyance system included pressurised irrigation through sprinkrers and method of dighies. A typicar pran consisted of Main canar distributaries minors,sub minors and dighies. From these dighies water is being carried through to the

SAN{-]II{.)R sprinklers through pumps. Diagrammatic sketch for the Sanchore area netwotk IS presented above, where dots represented djqhies The plan is under advance stage of implementation. lrrigation already commencedi

The plan prepared was presented to the committee from time to time. Members/ institutions made certain suggestions for improvement of the pran. These were accepteo and updating of the pran was set in motion. The committee during its meeting herd on .1st April 2011, approved the ToR towards updation of the plan. subsequenry covt. of Rajasthan entrusted the works through competitive bidding to WApCOS

UPDATION OF CAD PLAN

Central Arid Zone research institute had given following suggestion for incorporation in the revised plan

. lt is, perhaps, wiser to restrict/avoid irrigation in Zone L lf rrrigation is not avoidable, provisions for deep drainage, soil conditioning and highly restrictive use of canal water (without any groundwater mixing) for precision agriculture could be thought about, based on proven research results under such conditions. . lt is also better to restrict irrrgation along the Panoriya Lift System in Zone V b, where saline ranns abound in the interdune plains. Limited irrigation through the use of sprinkrer is a better option in Zones and V. m, rV ln Zone t mechanism for reaching of the sarts courd be kept as a part of p-ackage Agro-forestry the and deep drainug".orid ut.o n" considered. lf possible, the water saved through uuoiding irrigation in Zone I and restricting it Zone V b coutd be usld for ext;dtn; ih; facitity in the western part of Zone lV and north-eastern part of Zone f tf] iimiteO use of water through pressurized systems would delay ttre process of salinity build up It is, perhaps, wiser to restricvavoid irrigation in zone r. rf irrigation is not avoidable, provisions for deep drainage-, soit conOitioning uni t.,,gt.,ty restrictrve use of canar water (without any groundwrler mixing) for precisron agriculture- could be thought about, based 6n prou"n'i"r"arch resurts under such conditions.

g It was informed by the representatrve of the wApcos that studies were under progress and that some more time is needed to comprete the studies. It was assured tnat ituoy report shall be submitted soon. As per directions of the Environment sub Group networking rs a toor for efficient utilization of the resources, there was need a for formation of a monitoring ce, under the control of the chief Engineer, Narmada project, canar sanchor on the rines these have been established in other party states with a view to draw support from various departments of the state Govt. for deveropment of the command area in Rajasthan for ensuring implementation of Environment safeguard Measures rn the command. This is required to be attended to on priority.

stipurations contained in the environment / forest / investment crearance to the ssP by the departments / agencies of the Govt. of rndia required that

(i) Tree planting will be done on either side of the canals, roads, forest area of the reservorr and In the wasteland/vaca nt land under the control of the lrrigation Department (ii) The state shourd set up a speciar group of experts to study the sirtation aspect in the main canars under aI operating conditions since such sirtatjon, if occurs, is likely to pose a serous probrem during the actuar operation of this project and may require a huge expenditure for desrlting as well as result into serious operational difficulties. (iii) state shourd draw up a detaired time schedure for compretion within five years the lnvestigation, detaired survey, pranning and working out the detaired cost estimates for micro rever network system for the barance area of the totar command this project. of (iv) Past experience of lrrigation projects have revealed that main and branch canals are compreted up to the end but, in absence of micro-rever networks to take irrigation water up to ouflet, corresponding rrrigation benefits do not start accruing rn spite of huge financiar investment made. To avoid this, the state shourd draw up an implementation schedlle segment wise, for completion of canal network, in such a way that a segment of the canar network, taken up from head reaches is compreteo in arr respects so as to make the irrigation waters avairabre, for the designed potential of that segment, up to the ouflet ln that particular segment.

rt was observed that the pran prepared by TAHAL consurtant required updating on environmentar issues particurarry wirdrife proteciion, hearth aspects & certain irp".L the irrigation pranning in Arrawari hirr ranges as identifled by centrar Arid Zone Research"r lnstitute. with the attainment of FRL inigation wourd be avairabre for the entire command area in & Rajasthan. The Environment sub-group has been monitorrng the progress for ensurng compriance of safeguard r""rri", pari passu with progre-ss of engtneering works on the project.

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ln pursuance of the direction of Environment sub-Group (ESG) chaired by the union secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, a meeting to discuss and resorve outstanding issues rerated to pranning and imprementation of cAD pran in Rajasthan was held on 1 6th rr4arch, 2oo7 at Jaipur, Rajasthan, wherein rt was directed that, the action plan for implementation of the Environment safeguard lvreasuTes received from Govt. of Rajasthan was not in accordance with the directions given by the sub-group from time to time and that it required revision. A committee was foimed under the chairmanship of the Executive Member, NCA for approving the pran, reviewing the progress and for removrng the bottleneck in smooth imprementation of environmentar safeguard measures. The above issues were discussed by the committee so formed by the Environment sub-group. As per discussions and approvar of the cAD committee folowing studies were undeiaken to aid the development of Command Area plan.

l ElA studies on wirdlife in the impact area to the wiidrife rnstituie of rndia. 2. EIA studies on hearth aspects in the impact area to the rndian council of Medicar Research, New Derhi. Scientists of the NrN/R (rcMR) are conducting the studies periodic and reports are being received in the NCA office. 3 lrrigation aspects and integration of the above studies to the wApcoS. Interim reports were received & final report is expected shorfly.

Govt of Rajasthan proceeded for updating action pran in accordance with the directions of the Environment sub-group of NCA and studies in the identified areas of health & biodiversity was entrusted Nationar to rnstitute of Marariarvrordr rd Research,Ut I, underUIIAeT InditnOlan Research, ^csccll y:d,:", New Derhi and witdtife rnstitute of tndia, Mrnistry olof ::::-clEnvironment :l & Forests, Dehradun. A comprehensive Teview of the commano ir".', Development (CAD) for bridging the gaps on identified parameters was entrusted through competitive bidding to wApcos New Derhi as per ToR approved by the Expert Committee .tst on CAD of NCA during its meeting held on Aprit 2011

ln order to ascertain ground condition and to remove any botfleneck in smooth implementation of the project, it was decided to undertake fierd visit for reconnaissance of the impacted areas in sanchor to aid deveropment of Environmentar rmpact Assessment (ElA) pran & Environmental Management (EMp) for the Narmada command project (NCP) area in Rajasthan. Accordingry a fierd visit to the NCp area was undertaken by Director Environment, NCA and Member secretary of the cAD committee joinfly with Project coordinator, NrMR and officiars of the Govt. of Rajasthan on 9th May, 2013 as per following schedule:-

5 Arr: Sanchor: Assembly at Guest House , Sanchor Review meeting 1O A.M. Field visit to CAD areas in Sanchore Distt Full day Wrap-up meeting at Sanchor lrrigation Guest House, 4 30 P.M Sanchor, Distt. Jalore A ljst of Participants is enclosed at Annex - l.

FIELD VtStT :-

The Narmada CommandI Project area within the district of Sanchor was inspected . for functioning u xlF - of water quality monitoring undertaken by State Ground Water Board, developm"nt of W"t", delivery conveyance & system undertaken in the Commard, compensatory plantations undertaken along the main canal & distributaries, health facilities for management of mosquito born diseases.

Freld officers of the Govt. of Rajasthan from the Department of Ground Water, publjc Health Engineering, Forest Department, Agricultural Department besides officers of the lrrjgation Department and project investigators from WAPCOS participated

PLANTATIONS:-

Prantation a scheme for undertaking prantations ,'nfq1 entited {ai geTRqRnT Tyt FqD" ) oS zooe-oo t zorg-zo , - qTgnr q.r qrs?r, irtrd _ U)U$t is under implementation. The scheme ",.n- envisages plantations on Narmada main canal distributaries & minors. The 74 km. long canal passes through Jalore Distt.(O.O to 5'1.50 km. & thereafter upto 58.375 km. in Barmer Distt and again upto 68.250 km thereafter in Barmer Distt. for about 2 km. tn Barmer and thereafter the balance reach of the canal in Jaiore Dtstt. l-

PLANTATIONS ON MAtN CANAL :_

The average .-.]$Wqf width available for plantation atong the l:tgg** main canal is 25 meter by the end of August, 2011, target were achieved. The key species tliljiiolanted inctuded Neem' shisham, Arandu, Gunda, Gundi, o".nuu .i,rrli""""li, rrt"", Ber, Kumtha, Torflis etc. More than 2.0 lacs tress were pranted during 2oog-10,2011_i2. Four number nurseries of of capacity 50,0OO trees were established earlier.

There are 6 distributaries where prantations are proposed to be taken up in goo RKM of which about 50% of work was arready completed. In the curent yeau 2012-13 abouL 50,000 trees have been pranted by the Forest Department. g news nurseries have been created four jn each Jajore & Barmer for raising quality plants seedlings, PROTECTION (WATCH & WARD) :-

A total of 6 nos of Forest Guards chowki have been established along the main canal at a interval of about 1O km. apart, these are coordinated by Range Officer established at Sutdi. A '13 total of numbers of forest guard, 5 numbers of foresters, 2 nos. of RFO 1 and ACF quarters at project sites have been put in place.

PROJECT COST :- Total cost of the prantation project is estimated at Rs.74.g779 crores. of which about 1 5. 1 689 crores was spent until March 20.1 3. on the whore prantations are successfuty frourishing arong the canar bank, a resource has been created where nothing existed in the past. The prantations so raised would require continuous up keep watch and ward through ski|ed personars on rong term basis once these are transferred to the irrlgation department

WILDLIFE AND BIODIVERSITY

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To avoid jmpacts and address on wildlife species of flora and fauna, the following mitigation measures were recommended by the Wl . Mapping of all grazing lands within the command area using remote sensing technology to evaluate the rjsk of the conversions of priority grazing lands to croplands due to intensification of irrigation in the area . Habitat management and restoration within grazing lands through plantation of indigenous species and regulated grazing would be necessary to protect the grazing lands from overuse. . lt is recommended that conservation and management plans should be prepared for grazing lands specially Palari, Golasan, Dhabal, Arna that are priority areas for protection of Chinkara, Gerbils and other desert species.

. lt is also recommended that the State Government should also consider declaring two important areas viz Gorasan (42i ha) and pirari (194 ha) that represent grazing lands as community reserves for protecting the endemic flora and fauna and the traditionar conservation varues and piactices of the Thar Desert ecosystem.

Rann saline wasteland, the largest saline patch in the command area also merits protection as a habitat for Chinkara. creative Management 'Escape of Areas' as wefland habitats shourd be encouraged to provide wintering grounds for migratory birds that visit severar temporary wetlands within the command area.

j Survey report of Sanchor study unit for the period Nov. 2012 to Feb. 2Oj3 of tne pro;ect entitteJ 'Studies of Health lmpact assessment of Sardar Jarovar proJect in Command areas of Rajasthan,, was received from National Institute ot'Vataiia Research, New Delhi. The report jncluded the areas of Sanchor lift distributaries, other distributar,"r, canal, ;;i; sump wells, mjnors and sub_minor, overflow, and land face with problem ;;"p;;;,"g;t" covering 21 villages "f .about Jalore Djstrict and 5 vtttages in Distt. Balmer. The two vilages viz. Gimdaai and Meerpura where the water iJ yet to reach were used as controlled villages. . lt was observed that dlggies, sump wells, outtet5 frJ31636a main canal. OistriOutarie. I 'I minors & sub_minors besides overflo; were the ;";;i sites for potential breeding of vectors mosquitoes. probable The breeding areas in by Ni M R';h i ;; ;":; cement ::,""::Tpits, :: :,1:^.. T:l:y"d ;;#' ; ;J ffi iiJ':nl hill iron container, pitcher pots etc. Mosquito breeding was arso,observed in contror vitages, data was arso corected from the relevant public heatth *;i";;;;ffir *,u ,rin & branch canar was also tested for bacterial contamjnation:entres. *ni.f, *", neg"tive throughout. Actions were initiated for curtairing the breeding or uector chikengunia' responsible for malaria, dengu & firaria by removing ,r*."ild'olo"rrs weeds, sercandas humus from the canal & tributaries. & Villagers were arso given necessary information with the help of prMS estabrished participation *","" ,no"',o*un for enrisrins actjve 3l_lil"""#t;,:lj:l::,i.1.:^::r","u"t,""of the villagers for containing disease jn impacteO areas.

Larvivorous fishes were reared & transported to the sites and with the help of villagers in the areas where fishes were introduced mosqujto laryae were not observed

1 villagers were educated through ' door to door contracts in a participatory approach.

On the whole vector breeding was brought under control through combined efforts of NIMR scientists, Officiats of the covt of Rajasthan and the vijlages as could be seen from the data presented in the table-1

lssues were discussed during the wrap_up meeting. Following emerged from the discussrons

Plantations under taken by the forest Department on rand acquired by the irrigation department which are presenfly good in shape are rikery to be handed over to the irrigation department on compretion of the scheme commencing May 2015. The watch & ward, causarity repracement and management of resource wourd require man power and resources, This can be achieved by reinforcement of infrastructure under the contror of cE, NCp by way of estabrishing Environment monitoring cet and drawing manpower from Forest Department on deputation/ appointment on contract etc. The issue regarding prantations arong minors and sub-minors, where onry one/ two rows could be pranted was discussed and it was agreed that as the revenue rand acquired for prantation sharr require protection on rong term basis which may be very difficuit over a period of time, therefore shelter bert pLntation or setting aside certain areas in the prospective command for conseryation of biodiversity in line to the recommendatron of the wirdrife rnstitute of may be considered in substitution plantations of along minors & sub_minors, if considered appropriate.

lc, o wirdrife rnstitute of rndia has compreted a studies on Biodiversity, the report was arso approved by the Expert committee. The recommendations were required to be implemented simurtaneous to project imprementation in the Narmada command. The imprementation of these recommendations may not wait updating of the pran currenry under progress by the wApcos. rt was pointed out that wirdrife rnstitute of rndia having compreted their works is seeking croser of contract and setflement of dues as per TOR. This may be expedjted. coordination towards integrated pest ' management by the Department of Quarantine plant protection and agricurturar department considering possibre invasion of rocusts / termites and other sjmilar pests should be initialized. The Hearth suryeirance system, currenty ' in prace under the expert supervision of the Scientist of NIMR of ICMR and is working well. However there is a need for developing infrastructure for undertaking thrs kind of work on rong term basis by strengthening in-house monitoring mechanism under the control of the chief Engrneer, NCp so that at the end of the contract project / good works ,il";;;; lmain in place to mitigate any adversities in future. There is a need for strengthening ' water users associations and for devising a method for networking of the experts by enhancing rnter departmentar coordination amongst officiars of the various departments of the Rajasthan Govt. invorve in integrated development of the command area in Rajasthan. presenty tn" ryrt", L r"ur,.-' As the irrigation is new to the area ' and farmers are hesitant in investing besides they need guidance for sustaining the benefits of irrigation for which demonstration forms are required to be deveroped. This courd be achieved by enristing tne support of Krishi Vigyan Kendra of rcAR and extent ion department of the Agricurturar University in Rajasthan. State Govt may explore possibtlity ' of adopting certain identified villages or blocks for in-situ / ex-situ demonstration of the viabre agricurturar practices Js per prevaiting ground conditions. These demonstration proti courd be used for motivating and catalyztng farmers into healthy agricultural practjces Potentiar of ground water ' resources for conjunctive use is required to be re-assessed with regards to avairabirity in quantity and quarity of ground water, for which greater coordination is required amongst r"rpon.ibre for ground water monitoririg both at the State & Central level. "g"n.y Avairability of the Narmada water ground ' / water (both in quariiy & quantity) is required to be re-assessed considering conveyance / apprication rosses besides allocation of water for drinking purposes. chief Engineer NCp wourd ' take necessary measure for creation of envrronment monitoring cell in simirar manner as operating in other states for ensuring sustainabirity of the intended benefits and for addressing the issues as they arise A pioposar in this regard would be worked out with approvar of the state Govt and made avairabre before the next meeting of the environment sub group

rt was discernibre that, works were progressing satisfactoriry ' pari passu with development of irrigation in all the identified p"i.r"t"rr.

It AII necessary _ Logistic hetp and active participation by the Chief Engineer NcP Govt of Rajasthan and his team made the present fierd visit a success is thankfully thankfully acknowledged. l

ANNEX _ I

Narmada Control Authoritv '1. Dr. Pawan Kumar, Director (Environment), NCA, lndore.

NIMR. ICMR: 1. Dr. B.N. Nagpal 2. dr .,

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Govt. of Raiasthan :

lrrigation / Ground Water / Agriculture public / Health Engg. Department : Shri 1. D.K.S Rai , Chief Engineer, NCp, Sanchore, Rajasthan. 2. Shri Tyagi , , Superintending Engineer, NCp, Sanchore. 3. Shri 4. Shri 5. Shri 6. Shri 7. Shri

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