Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of Proposed 65 MW Minpur Solar Power Project in Medak District, Telangana Project Number: 50195-001 May 2018 IND: ReNew Clean Energy Projects Prepared by ARCADIS India Pvt. Ltd. for Helios Infratech Pvt. Ltd. The environmental and social impact assessment report is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “Terms of Use” section of this website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 65 MW Solar Power Project in Medak District, Telangana SEPTEMBER 2016 Prepared for: ReNew Solar Energy Pvt Ltd. Prepared by: Arcadis India Pvt. Ltd. Inc. Langdon & Seah | Hyder Consulting | EC Harris | SENES CONTACTS SUMIT BARAT Project Director T +91 (120) 4368400 ARCADIS India Pvt. Ltd. 3rd Floor, Tower B, F +91 (120) 4368401 Logix Techno Park, Sector – 127, [email protected] Noida – 201301, Uttar Pradesh, India QUALITY ASSURANCE Issue Number /Status Date Prepared By (Team Member) Authorised and Reviewed by Sugandha Rastogi Draft V.01/First Issue 16.09.2016 Sumit Barat Jaydeep Banerjee Sumit Barat Final V.02 12.10.2016 Sumit Barat Sugandha Rastogi Copyright © 2015 Arcadis. All rights reserved. arcadis.com ESIA – 65 MW Solar Power Project in Medak District, Telangana Draft V.01 / September 2016 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................... 15 1.1 Background........................................................................................................ 15 1.2 Project Location ................................................................................................. 15 1.3 Project Phase and Status of Permits ................................................................ 16 1.4 Purpose of ESIA Study ...................................................................................... 17 Approach and Methodology of the ESIA study ........................................................ 18 Limitations .............................................................................................................. 18 ESIA Team ............................................................................................................. 18 Structure of ESIA Report ........................................................................................ 19 Project Description ........................................................................................ 20 2.1 Present Status of Project................................................................................... 20 2.2 Site Suitability and Justification of Project ...................................................... 23 2.3 Project Settings ................................................................................................. 23 2.4 Project Design, Technology and Component ................................................... 24 2.5 Climate Change Effect on Solar Power Plant ................................................... 24 2.6 Resource Requirement ...................................................................................... 26 Land Requirement .................................................................................................. 26 Water Requirement ................................................................................................ 28 Manpower Requirement ......................................................................................... 29 Waste Water Treatment and Disposal System ........................................................ 29 Logistic Arrangement .............................................................................................. 29 Organizational Structure ......................................................................................... 30 Implementation Schedule for the Project ................................................................. 30 Applicable Regulations, Guidelines and Standards.................................... 31 3.1 National Regulations ......................................................................................... 31 3.2 ADB safeguards and compliance...................................................................... 37 3.3 ADB Prohibited Investment Activities List (PIAL) ............................................ 40 3.4 Social and Environmental Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation ........................................................................................................ 42 3.5 Categorization of Projects as per ADB Guidelines .......................................... 51 Environment ........................................................................................................... 51 Involuntary Resettlement ........................................................................................ 51 Indigenous Peoples ................................................................................................ 52 3.6 EHS Guidelines of IFC ....................................................................................... 52 3.7 Equator Principles ............................................................................................. 54 Description of Environment .......................................................................... 57 4.1 Study Area ......................................................................................................... 57 4.2 Baseline Conditions .......................................................................................... 57 Climate and Meteorological Conditions ................................................................... 57 1 ESIA – 65 MW Solar Power Project in Medak District, Telangana Draft V.01 / September 2016 Topography ............................................................................................................ 58 Landuse Analysis ................................................................................................... 59 Drainage ................................................................................................................ 61 Hydrogeology ......................................................................................................... 63 Ground Water Resources ....................................................................................... 63 Seismic Hazard ...................................................................................................... 66 4.3 Environmental Monitoring ................................................................................. 66 Ambient Air Quality ................................................................................................. 66 Ambient Noise Quality ............................................................................................ 67 Surface Water Quality ............................................................................................. 67 Groundwater Quality ............................................................................................... 68 Soil Environment .................................................................................................... 69 4.4 Ecological Environment .................................................................................... 71 Methodologies for Ecological Surveys ..................................................................... 72 Terrestrial Ecology .................................................................................................. 74 Faunal Profile ......................................................................................................... 83 Aquatic Environment............................................................................................... 91 4.5 Socio Economic Environment ........................................................................... 91 Demographic Profile ............................................................................................... 92 Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (SC/ST) ........................................................ 93 Literacy in the study area ........................................................................................ 94 Workforce Participation and Occupation ................................................................. 95 Wages .................................................................................................................... 97 Livelihood Source ................................................................................................... 97 Local Employment and Migration .......................................................................... 100 Gender Empowerment Status ............................................................................... 100 Self Help Groups (SHGs)...................................................................................... 101 BPL Families & Vulnerabilities .............................................................................. 103 Land holding pattern of the District and Mandal..................................................... 103 Irrigation