Nanjankulam (Regrouped) Limestone Mines (G.O.Ms.No. 133, Extent - 2.185 Ha) of The Cements Limited (ICL), Sankarnagar, District, .

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT

M/s. The Limited (ICL) is having three mining leases in Nanjankulam working of Nanjankulam (Regrouped) Limestone Mine in Ramayanpati village, Tirunelveli Taluk and district. These three mining leases are 133/08-10-1998 (2.185 Ha.), 813/03-12-1987 (28.430 Ha.) & 526/31-12-1991 (7.330 Ha.). All the infrastructural facilities are commonly used by these 3 leases. This report is prepared for G.O.Ms.No. 133 over an area of 2.185 Ha. Limestone from these mines is being supplied to cement manufacturing unit of India Cements Ltd at Sankarnagar plant located about 7.0 km – E (By Road) from the mine site. The original lease was granted vide G.O.854 dated 04.03.1952 for a period of 20 years and the lease deed was executed on 10.10.1955. The first renewal was granted vide G.O.681 dated 01.06.1976. Subsequently, the second renewal was granted vide G.O.133 dated 08.10.1998 for a period of 20 years and is valid up to 09.10.2015. Now, the mining lease renewal application has been filed in Form –J and the renewal process is under consideration by the Government of Tamil Nadu. However as per MMDR Amendment Act 2015 the validity of mining lease is extended up to 31.03.2030. The present mining plan submitted for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20 and was approved by IBM vide letter No – TN/TNL/MP/LST-1956-MDS dated 13.10.2015 Since the mining lease area is less than 50 Hectare and the declared Gangaikondan Spotted Deer Sanctuary is located 8.1 km away from the mine site (i.e >5km from the Sanctuary), this project falls under category B as per MoEF&CC Notification. The peak limestone production from this lease would be 0.21 LTPA (Lakh Tonnes per annum). The project is located in Ramayanpatti village, Tirunelveli Taluk, of Tamilnadu. The district Headquarters, Tirunelveli is about 14 km (road) away from Project and the nearest railway station, Talaiyuthu is about 8.6 km - SE (by road) away from project. The project is easily approachable from SH-47 connecting Tirunelveli to Sankarankovil on the western side. Besides that, the site is also approachable from NH-44 connecting Kanyakumari and Srinagar, on the eastern side through the dedicated limestone transporting road. Mining operations are commenced in this area by the project proponent right from the year 1955 onwards. Entire land is non-forest Government land. The lease area falls between

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Nanjankulam (Regrouped) Limestone Mines (G.O.Ms.No. 133, Extent - 2.185 Ha) of The India Cements Limited (ICL), Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu. latitude 8o 47’ 50.53” N to 8o 47’ 57.71” N and longitude 77o 40’ 59.49” E & 77o 41’ 3.37” E and falls in Survey of India Toposheet No. 58 H/9. The lease area is gently sloping terrain. RL ranging from 108m to 114m AMSL. The lease area does not include any forest lands. Other than Gangaikondan Spotted Deer Sanctuary no ecologically sensitive features like national parks, biospheres, elephant corridors, Tiger reserves, flight paths of migrating fauna, etc., occur in buffer area of the project. The area does not come under CRZ category. There are no streams or water bodies within the lease area. In the 10km radius study area, major water body - Thamirabarani River – 7.1 km (SE) flowing away from the lease area. Talaiyuthu R.F - 3.0 km (S) & Gangaikondan P.F– 7.6 km (SE) are located from the lease boundary. The total Magnesia limestone reserves available mining lease hold as on 01.09.2015 is 2.41 Lakh tonnes. The anticipated life of the mine will be about 20 years. The waste rock generated from the mining is the interstitial rock calc gneiss and side wall development rocks Charnockite and quartzite. The total waste to be generated from this mine for the balance mine life is estimated to be 0.620 lakh tonnes. Out of this 0.016 lakh tonnes are developmental waste and 0.604 lakh tonnes are interstitial waste. Entire waste will be dumped externally within the lease area. In the present mining plan, Mechanized Open Cast mine is used with conventional drilling and blasting. DTH drilling is done and sequential timer blasting machine is utilized for controlled blasting. Secondary breaking is done with hydraulic rock breakers & there is no secondary blasting in this mine. The blasted materials are handled with hydraulic excavators and loaded in to tippers for transporting to the factory and for dumping waste rocks in the waste dumps. The mine will be worked in 5 m slices and the ultimate dimension of benches will be 10mX10m. So the slope angle of 60º will be maintained. In the post mining stage, out of 2.185 Ha of lease area, 1.418 Ha will be the excavated area. External dump will be 0.216 Ha, Green belt creation will be 0.430 Ha and about 0.121 Ha will remain undisturbed. The rainfall precipitation within the mine pits area collected as rain water harvesting at the bottom of pit. Totally around 750 trees have been planted covering an area of 0.750 Ha in the nearby patta land and it is proposed to develop green belt covering 0.125 Ha in the lease area in future.

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Nanjankulam (Regrouped) Limestone Mines (G.O.Ms.No. 133, Extent - 2.185 Ha) of The India Cements Limited (ICL), Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu.

These mining leases are being (G.O No. 813, 526 & 133) worked contiguously on direct basis works out to 18. Indirectly more than 100 people derive benefit due to allied service sectors like trading, logistics, casual labor needs, green belt development etc., Total combined water requirements for the ML operations (G.O No. 813, 526 & 133) of Nanjankulam (Regrouped) limestone mine will be about 27.5 KLD comprising Domestic – 1.5 KLD, Water sprinkling/ dust suppression – 16 KLD and Green belt development/plantation – 10 KLD. Industrial water requirement like dust suppression, green belt, etc., will be met from mine sump water & bore well. Drinking water requirement will be met from own bore well. Common site services like mine office, first aid room, rest shelters, toilets, already existing in the mines. ICL is having a common service station in Sethurayanpudur workings of Nanjankulam (Regrouped) Limestone mine (G.O. No. 762). The proponent is having a centralised workshop at mines maintenance division. Licensed Magazine located at Ramayanpatti village is used commonly for Nanjankulam regrouped mines and Tenkulam mines for storage of explosives. There will not be any storage of explosives in the site. ICL has already carried out various social welfare measures and peripheral developmental activities with a good social outreach, so as to enhance the life style, income generation opportunities and educational levels of the local community in a big way. It has been involved in developing health, education, skill development, environment and spiritual development of the society. For various CSR activities, M/s. The India Cements Limited spent about Rs. 191.40 Lakhs in the period of 2010 – 2014. A combined budgetary provision of Rs. 20 lakhs per annum is allocated for CSR activities for the five mining leases of Nanjankulam Regrouped Limestone Mines. The total cost of the project: This is a working mine since year 1955, hence estimation of project cost at this juncture does not arise. Setting up of mines and the cement factory has resulted in overall development of the region due to provision of direct & indirect employment, improvement in the general living standards and knowledge sharing, improved wage level and the living standard of the local people and continual improvements of the local amenities for the local society. Besides, the local panchayats, State and Central Governments will also benefit due to receipt of taxes, cess, royalty etc., from the project proponent.

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Nanjankulam (Regrouped) Limestone Mines (G.O.Ms.No. 133, Extent - 2.185 Ha) of The India Cements Limited (ICL), Sankarnagar, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu.

In the context of accrual of tangible benefits on all fronts arising from project operations, the project is worthy of approval for improving the infrastructural, social and financial status of the region, the State and the country, as a whole.

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