Initial Environmental Examination (Draft) Project Number: 51308-001 May 2019 India: Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor: Power Sector Investment Project Prepared by Tamil Nadu Transmission Company (TANTRANSCO), Government of Tamil Nadu (Department of Energy) for the Asian Development Bank. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 27 May 2019) Currency unit – Indian rupee (₹) ₹1.00 = $.01441 $1.00 = ₹69.37450 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank ACSR – aluminium conductor steel reinforced AMSL – average mean sea level CEA – Central Electricity Authority CPCB – Central Pollution Control Board, Government of India DPR – detailed project report EIA – environmental impact assessment EMoP – environmental monitoring plan EMP – environmental management plan EHV – extra high voltage EPC – engineering, procurement and commissioning GCC General Construction Circle of TANTRANSCO GHG – green house gases GoTN – Government of Tamil Nadu GoI – Government of India GRM – grievance redressal mechanism CKIC – Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor TNPCB – Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board TANTRANSCO – Tamil Nadu Power Transmission Corporation Limited TNEB – Tamil Nadu Electricity Board IEE – initial environmental examination IFC International Finance Corporation/World Bank LILO – line-in-line-out MFF – multi-tranche financing facility MOEFCC – Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Government of India PCB – poly chlorinated biphenyl PGCIL – Power Grid Corporation of India Limited RoW – right of way WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ha (hectare) – 10,000 sq m km (kilometer) – 1,000 m kV – kilovolt (1,000 volts) kW – kilowatt (1,000 watts) kWh – kilowatt-hour MVA – Megavolt-Amperes MW – Mega Watt This initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. 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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 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 The Project 1 1.3 Scope of Work and Methodology Adopted 3 2.0 POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 5 2.1 Indian - National, Local, Other Applicable Environmental Laws, Regulations, and Standards as applicable to the project. 5 2.2 India and Multilateral Environmental Agreements 11 2.3 Technical Standards, Rules and Regulations for Indian Power Sector 12 2.4 Asian Development Bank’s SafeРuards Policies 13 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 16 3.1 Type of Project 16 3.2 Category of Project 16 3.3 Need for the Project 17 3.4 Location 17 3.5 Size and Magnitude of the Operation 21 3.6 Associated Facilities 36 3.6.1 Existing Thermal and Renewable Power Plants 36 3.6.2 Proposed Thermal Power Plants 36 3.6.3 Renewable Plants that are under construction 37 4.0 DESCRIPTION OF ENVIRONMENT 39 4.1 Physical Resources 39 4.1.1 Geographic Profile of Tamil Nadu 39 4.1.2 Climate, Rainfall and Temperatures 40 4.1.3 Topography and Soils 43 4.1.4 Water Resources (Surface and Ground Water) 46 4.2 Environmental Qualities 49 4.2.1 Baseline Air Quality 51 4.2.2 Baseline Noise Data 54 4.2.3 Baseline Surface Water Quality 54 4.3 Ecological Resources 56 4.3.1 Forest 56 4.3.2 Biosphere Reserves, National Parks, Wildlife and Bird Sanctuaries 60 4.3.3 Wetlands 64 4.4 Economic Development 69 4.4.1 Economy 69 4.4.2 Employment and Livelihood 71 4.4.3 Mining Activities 71 4.4.4 Industries 72 4.4.5 Infrastructure facilities 75 4.4.6 Land Use 77 4.4.7 Agriculture 80 4.4.8 Livestock 80 4.4.9 Fisheries 80 4.4.10 Tourism Facilities 81 4.5 Social and Cultural Resources 83 4.6 Climate Change in Tamil Nadu 84 4.7 Sites of Cultural, Archaeological and Historical Significance 87 5.0 ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 88 5.1 Impact assessment methodology 88 5.1.1 Impact Magnitude 88 5.1.2 Sensitivity of Receptor 89 5.1.3 Assigning Significance 90 5.1.4 Impact Matrix 90 5.2 Environmental Problems Associated with Project Location and Design 94 5.3 Environmental Impacts Associated with Pre-Construction Stage 98 5.3.1 Impact on Environmental Resources 98 5.3.2 Land Resourses 98 5.4 Environmental Problems Associated with Construction Stage 100 5.4.1 Impact on Environmental Resources 101 5.4.2 Impact on Physical Resources 104 5.4.3 Impact on Ecological Resources 105 5.4.4 Impact on Terrestrial Ecology 106 5.4.5 Impact on Socioeconomic Resources 125 5.5 Environmental Impacts Associated with Operations and Maintenance Stage 127 5.5.1 Transmission lines 127 5.5.2 Substations 130 5.5.3 Cumulative Impact Assessment 131 5.6 Possible Hazards 144 6.0 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 152 6.1 TANTRANSCO’s ApproacС for Route Selection 152 6.1.1 Methodology for Selection of Route: Environmental View 152 6.2 Alternatives for Subproject Components 153 6.2.1 Transmission Lines 153 6.2.2 GIS Substations 153 6.2.3 Reasons for the final selection 154 7.0 PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE 158 7.1 Information Disclosure 158 7.2 Consultation and Participation 158 7.3 Consultation Details 158 8.0 GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 165 8.1 The Grievance Redress Mechanism 165 8.2 Formation of GRC 165 8.2.1 GRC at GCC, Madurai 166 8.2.2 GRC at TANTRANSCO Headquarters 166 8.3 Grievance Redress Process 166 8.3.1 GRC Record Keeping 167 9.0 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 169 9.1 Mitigation 169 9.1.1 Critical Environmental Review Criteria 169 9.1.2 Emergency Response, Disaster Management, Health and Safety 169 9.1.3 Training Programs 170 9.1.4 Climate Risks Adaptation Measures 172 9.1.5 Environmental Management Plan 172 9.2 Monitoring 211 9.2.1 Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMoP) 211 9.2.2 Performance indicators 218 9.2.3 Reporting 219 9.2.4 Environmental Management Plan Budget Costs 219 9.3 Institutional arrangements 220 9.3.1 Implementation Plan 220 9.3.2 Implementation Arrangements 223 9.3.3 Project Implementation Organizations: Roles and Responsibilities 224 10.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 230 ANNEXURES Annexure 1: Minimum Ground Clearance as Per IE-1956 (Rule 77) 232 Annexure 2: Site Analysis for Grid Substations 235 Annexure 3: Route Analysis for Transmission Lines 238 Annexure 4: Inventory along the Transmission Lines 255 Annexure 5: Environmental Audit Checklist for Electric Power Transmission Substations 262 Annexure 6: Standards, Baseline Environment Monitoring for Air, Water, Noise and Soil Sampling for Subprojects 304 Annexure 7: National Parks and Sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu State 314 Annexure 8: Important Bird Area Information 325 Annexure 9: Details of Sample Public Consultations 373 Annexure 10: Terms of Reference for National Safeguards Consultant for Monitoring during Construction and comissioning 423 Annexure 11: Due Diligence Report of 2x800 Uppur Super Critical Coal based Thermal Power Plant 427 List of Tables Table 1: Proposed Capacities to be installed i Table 2: CKIC Subprojects 2 Table 3: Project Investment Plan ($ million) 3 Table 4: Project Financing Plan ($ million) 3 Table 5: Indian Regulations as Applicable for the project 7 Table 6: Acts and Rules Pertaining to Forest Protection in Tamil Nadu 9 Table 7: Indian Policies related to project 9 Table 8: Environment Safeguards Categorization: Definition 13 Table 9: List of Subprojects in CKIC power sector project in Tamil Nadu 16 Table 10: Different locations of proposed subprojects 17 Table 11: Location Details of substations, and transmission line from Grid Substations to other substations or LILO points 20 Table 12: Details of Substation Land Area and Coordinates 21 Table 13: Equipment at S1: Virudhunagar 765 kV Substation 21 Table 14: S1-Virudhunagar (2x1500MVA) 22 Table 15: Equipment at S2: Ottapidaram Substation 23 Table 16: S2- Ottapidaram (2x500MVA) + (2x200MVA) 24 Table 17: S3.1-400 kV bays at Kamuthi substation 25 Table 18: S3.2-400 kV bays at Kayathar substation 26 Table 19: S3.3- 110 kV bay at Vijayapuri substation 27 Table 20: T1.1: 765 kV double circuit Virudhunagar - Coimbatore transmission line 31 Table 21: T1.2 - 400 kV double circuit line Virudhunagar – Kayathar transmission line 31 Table 22: T1.3 - 400 kV double circuit line in and out at Virudhunagar for Kamuthi to Thappangundu details 31 Table 23: T2.1 - 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Udangudi transmission line details 33 Table 24: T2.2 - 400 kV double circuit line Ottapidaram - Kamuthi transmission line details 33 Table 25: T2.3 - 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot - Kavanoor line details 33 Table 26: T2.4 - 230 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Sipcot - Savasapuram line details 34 Table 27: T2.5 - 110 kV double circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for Ottapidaram - Eppothumvendran details 34 Table 28: T2.6 - 110 kV single circuit line Ottapidaram - Vijayapuri details 34 Table 29: T2.7 - 110 kV single circuit line in and out at Ottapidaram for TTN Auto - T-off Sipcot line details 36 Table 30: List of Classifications in Tamil Nadu 41 Table 31: Distribution of rainfall range in various districts 2015-16 41 Table 32: Temperature at selected stations in Tamil Nadu 2005-06 (in Celsius) 42 Table 33: Classification of Tamil Nadu Soils 44 Table 34: River Basins ground water potential 48 Table 35: Locations for Monitoring 50 Table 36: Baseline Air