PROPOSED TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) FOR EIA & EMP STUDY 1.0 INTRODUCTION National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is engaged in the development of National Highways. As a part of this endeavor, the Authority has decided to widen and strengthen Ahmedabad – Bamnabore - Samakhiali & Bamanbore – Rajkot sections into 6-lane divided carriageway configuration. The Joint Venture of M/s. Aarvee Associates Architects Engineers & Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and M/s. Nag Infrastructure Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd. has been awarded the work of preparation of detailed project report. The details of the project stretch are given in Table -1. Table -1: Details of the Project Stretch Length Section Chainage NH – No State Km. Ahmedabad – Bamanbore Km. 12.000 to Km. NH-8A – Samakhiali section 306.000 Gujarat 338 (App.) Rajkot – Bamanbore Km. 185.558 to NH-8B section Km. 215.600 Based on the Revised NH No's and viability, the project Road is divided into two packages which are as given in Table -2. Table -2: Details of the Existing and Design Chainage of the NH Package Existing Chainage Ex. NH Design Chainage New NH Km 0.000 to Km I Km. 12.000 to Km. 182.500 NH 8A NH 47 170.700 Km 185.244 to Km 215.600 NH 8B & Km 184.700 to Km II & Km 182.500 to Km NH 27 NH 8A 341.477 306.000 2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION The Form -I and TOR now submitted pertain to Package -II which is reproduced here under: Package -2: Six Laning of Rajkot (Km. 185.258) to Bamanbore (Km. 215.600) section of NH-8B and Bamanbore (Km. 182.500) – Samaikhiali (Km. 306.000) section of NH-8A in the State of Gujarat - (Km.184.700 to 341.477 of New NH 27) The project stretch falls in two districts of Gujarat State namely Rajkot and Kutch. The approximate project length is 156.78 Km The development of the existing project of 4-laning to 6-laning divided carriageway will result in safe and efficient traffic operation and will accommodate the future growth in traffic for the design period. NH -8A and NH-8B will pass through the Bamanbore, Jodhpar, Wankaner, Morbi and Rajkot towns. The project also traverses through the Protected Social Forestry throughout the project stretch. The salient features of the project are given in the Table -3 & 4. Table -3: Salient Features of the Project S.No. Parameter(s) Description 1 Location of Project The proposed highway project stretch falls in two districts of Gujarat State namely Rajkot and Kachchh. (New NH-27 Chainage Km.184.700 to 341.477 in the State of Gujarat) The approximate project length is 156.78 Kms. 2 Terrain The existing project stretch is passing through Plain terrain, Rolling terrain and intermittently it passes through Hilly terrain. Major Settlement The project stretch is having densely populated or 3 along the Project built up areas in Bamanbore, Wankaner, Morbi and Stretch Rajkot towns. Most of the built up areas are having bypasses and new bypasses are proposed wherever required. 4 Rivers/ Streams/ Canals The project stretch is crossing major rivers such as River Bhadar, River Machhu, and their tributaries. The some of the small rivers and streams are: Khari, Kaila, Niruna, Nara, Matiiweriwali, Rukmavati, Kankavati, Bhukhi etc. 5 Forest area and As per the Government of Gujarat, Gazette Sanctuaries Notification, 16th May 1974 / Vaisakha 26,1896, the Government of Gujarat declared the road side area or roads under PWD/ NHAI of the study districts such as Rajkot and Kutchh, as protected forests. Hence, in the entire stretch of 156.78 Km, part of the existing RoW is falling within the Protected Social Forestry. 6 Length of the Existing 153.8 Kms (Approx) Alignment 7 Existing Carriageway The existing carriageway is having 2 X 8.75m with Width 4.5m median with 4-lane configuration throughout the project stretch. 8 Proposed The proposed carriage way is having 2 X 12.75m Carriageway width with 4.5m Median in Six laning and 2 X 8.75m with 4.5m median in Wankaner and Morbi Bypasses. 9 Administrative Rajkot and Kachchh districts locations 10 State Gujarat State Table -4: Other Features of the Project Road S.No. Parameter(s) Existing Proposed 1 Right of Way (RoW) 45m 60m at few locations 2 Design Speed 100Kmph 100 Kmph 3 Major Bridges 9 9+8=17 4 Minor Bridges 34 34+13=47 5 No. of Railway Crossings 3 3 6 Railway Over Bridge (ROB) 2 3+3=6 7 Railway Under Bridge (RUB) 1 0 8 No. of Culverts 118 118+72=190 9 Pedestrian / Cattle Underpasses 2 2+10=12 10 Vehicular Underpasses / 6 6+10=16 Overpasses 11 Fly Overs 0 0 12 Foot Over Bridges 0 0 13 Bus Bayes 40 40 14 Truck Lay Byes 0 5 15 Rest Areas 0 1 16 Toll Plazas 2 3 17 Bypasses / Realignments 2 1.Wankaner: This alignment takes off at Km. 204.100 and traverses on the right hand side of the existing alignment and joins at Km. 212.000. 2. Morbi: This alignment alternative takes off at Km. 227.800 and traverses on the right hand side of the existing alignment and joins the existing at Km. 243.800. 18 Total Number of trees affected 3135 nos. -- 19 Tree Plantation Proposed -- 9500 nos. (1:3) 20 Land to be Acquired (Inc. land -- (236.45 + 53.76) 290.21 Ha under Social Forest) 21 Project Cost -- Rs. 1972.2 Crores 2.1 Site and its Environs The reconnaissance survey and subsequent field studies are carried in the months of February to May 2013 in the study area and various aspects pertaining to the geography, geology & soil, hydro-geology, river basins, forests & wildlife sanctuaries, transportation, socio-economic aspects, industries, and climatological conditions of the region are collected and analysed. The details of the findings are given below: a) Geographical features This section contains a detailed description on existing environment of the proposed project area including physical and biological environment in the study districts and more particularly in the area of study. The project area is located in Gujarat State covering two districts namely Rajkot and Kutchh. Rajkot District: There are total 8 districts in Saurashtra region of Gujarat State. Among of them, Rajkot district constituted from the central region of Saurashtra. It is Located at 20.57 North Latitude to 23.07 East Latitude and between 70.20 East Longitude to 71.40 North Longitude. On the north of the Saurastra there is huge Rann of Kutchh, on the east side Bhavnagar & Surendranagar districts located, on the south of the Saurastra Junagadh & Amreli districts located and on the west of the region Jamnagar district is situated. River Machhu is one of the major river in the Rajkot District. Kachchh District: Kachchh is an Ancient land with an Important Historical age. The name Kachchh was derived from its Geographical Characteristics and particularly resemblance of its earth surface with tortoise. Ancient literature mentioned this name Mallinath, in his treatise of Sanjivani defined Kachchh as during ancient time marsh land or fallow land. The foreign travelers who visited the region had mentioned in various records about the name Kachchh. It was also mentioned in rock inscriptions, copper plate inscriptions, ancient writings and manuscripts The physiography of the district is Marshy to saline desert of Rann of Kachchh and Little Rann of Kachchh extends into the saline tracts around the Gulf of Kachchh. This vast expanse of salts mixed with clay is devoid of any vegetation or habitation. The general elevation of this tract varies between 1 to 4 m above MSL. There are numerous small rivers in the Kutch region. Those flowing north disappear in the Rann. While the remaining Join either the sea or the Gulf of Kutch. Some of the main rivers are Khari, Kaila, Niruna, Nara, Matiiweriwali, Rukmavati, Kankavati, Bhukhi, etc. There are dams across Khari, Kaila, Niruna etc. and the other rivers are also prepared to be harnessed by having storage schemes to tide over scarcity conditions affecting this region quite frequently. b) Geology & Soil Characteristics Geology: The Gujarat State exposes rock belonging to the Precambrian, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Eras. Stratigraphically, the record is incomplete as the rocks of Paleozoic era are totally absent in Gujarat. The hard rock covers about 49% of total area of Gujarat. The rest being occupied by sediments of Quaternary period. The hard rocks comprise Precambriam Metamorphites and associated Intrusives, sedimentary rocks of Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras and the trap I flows constituting Deccan Volcanics of Cretaceous, Eocene age. Soil: A major texture of the soil in the study region is 'Loamy'. However, in South-West part (in Ahmedabad and Surendranagar district) a soil texture in few area is found to be 'Clayey'. It is also 'Sandy' soil in some area of the Northern part (Banaskantha district) of the region. The Costal area of the Saurashtra and Kachchh region are saline. Some parts of Kachchh near Rann are strong to very sever saline. North-Western part of Kachchh and costal part of Bhavnagar district are moderately strong saline. Some part of Rajkot district near little Rann of Kachchh, some coastal part of Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Amreli and Bhavnagar are slightly saline. c) Hydro-geology The diverse terrain conditions have given rise to different ground water situations in the study districts. The rock formations ranging in age from Archaean to recent include gneisses, schists, phyllites, intrusive, medium to coarse grained sandstones, basalts and recent alluvium. The high relief area in the eastern and north eastern part occupied by Archaean and Deccan Trap have steep gradient allowing high run-off and therefore have little groundwater potential.