Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Scanned by CamScanner Ecological Sensitivity Assessment Studies for preparing Biodiversity Monitoring and Management Plan For Visakhapatnam Port Trust Visakhapatnam Prepared by ENVID Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Science & Technology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam Scanned by CamScanner 1.INTRODUCTION 1.1. General Out of 13 major ports Visakhapatnam Port is one among situated on East coast of India. The first South East Asian port which got ISO certifications for Quality (ISO 9001), Environment (ISO 14001) and Safety (OHSAS 18001). The Port is existing from 1933 till date taking an amazing role in building the nation duly serving industrial, commercial and Agricultural Sectors. The location of the port is very ideal in the sense that it affords protection from cyclones which strike the east coast regularly, by a high promontory into the sea, known as Dolphin’s Nose Hill which is to the north of the entrance channel. The low tidal range of a maximum of 1.82 meters is also advantageous for the location of the port. Till the end of the 19th century, major commercial activity in Visakhapatnam was centered on the deep-water port with ships anchored off the sheltered coast. Post world war-I, the Bengal-Nagpur Railways constructed the Inner Harbor and the actual development of Visakhapatnam took place during 1927-33 that resulted in Vizag gaining importance as a hub of maritime/industrial activity. One more multi commodity berth EQ-4 was added to it in 1955. To meet the requirement of Oil Companies facilitating the discharge of crude and petroleum products two berths OR-1 & OR-2 were developed in the year 1957. Subsequently 4 more berths were added in the Inner Harbor between years 1965 to 1968. During the year 1976 Outer Harbor has been developed. The outer harbor is having Ore Berth (OB-I & OB-II), General cargo berth (GCB), LPG berth, OSTT, Container terminal and dredger berth. The Visakhapatnam port is presently handling coal at west quay of Inner harbour. However due to depth constraints in the inner harbour the larger size vessels of coal are lightened / handled at outer harbour due to availability of deeper dredge depths in the outer harbour. The coal at GCB is unloaded from the ships on the wharf using floating cranes and the unloaded cargo is loaded in to the trucks using loaders and stacked in the back up area of the berth and at East Yard until it is lifted to the concerned parties. Handling of COAL at GCB by conventional method and transportation through trucks from the berth to the stack yard are observed to be the main sources of Air pollution. Therefore, To minimise the dust, coal handling is totally mechanised and is being operated by Vedanta on PPP (Public –Private Partnership) mode. Iron ore is handled at ore berth in outer harbour. The ore received from wagons is unloaded at ore handling plant and stacked. The handling of ore is done through fully mechanised facility. The conveyor passing through city and having interface was covered. However small quantity of iron ore fines is handled at west quay of inner harbour. Fertiliser is handled at east quay of inner harbour, which is away from the city. The Visakhapatnam port trust in the earlier years of inception used to handle very less cargo and habitations were very much scattered with less Page | 1 population. Subsequently, due to the establishment of major industries in Visakhapatnam and its surroundings public habitation around Port increased abnormally while the port activities had increased steadily over a period of time. The Port of Visakhapatnam, right from its inception, handles maximum cargo compared to other major ports for the past 7 years and thus is classified as a premier Port of India has been handling dry bulk cargo and the share of dusty cargo is about 50% of the total cargo. More or less the same level is being maintained for the past two decades. Handling of dusty cargo is neither unique to port of Visakhapatnam nor to other Indian seaports. It is a global practice that has existed for over few decades. Sea Ports that act as gate ways to sea borne domestic and international trade are required to handle variety of cargoes required by the industries and Port of Visakhapatnam handling large volumes of coal, iron ore, fertilizer is no exception. With volumes of cargo going up the dust levels have also increased correspondingly and VPT is making all efforts to mitigate the same by taking certain environment protection measures such as dust suppression systems by water sprinkling. Therefore VPT committed to convert the present semi mechanized system into a fully mechanized system with in- built dust suppression system to minimize the emission of dust into the surrounding environment as it was found out through a scientific study carried out by an independent agency that the factors influencing the generation of dust pollution are mainly due to non- mechanized method of handling of dry bulk cargo such as coal, iron ore, fertilizer etc., contributing for dust emissions during loading/unloading and transportation through trucks. 1.2. Scope of Work To assess the existing status of ecological aspects in and around the project site and to prepare suitable bio diversity monitoring and management plan for Visakhapatnam Port. The sampling and analysis of Terrestrial Ecology was carried out by MECON for the development of Multipurpose terminal in the inner harbour and the same data was considered here. Marine ecology study was conducted on 7 sub tidal (offshore) locations and 2 beaches ecological transects. The sampling and analysis was carried out by Terracon Ecotech' Pvt. Ltd. (TEPL) an India’s leading ecological solutions & natural resource management strategic consultancy firm during March- May 2016 The following attributes were studied by using the appropriate methods of marine/coastal sampling as per standard guidelines. • Primary Productivity • Phytoplankton • Zooplankton • Benthic fauna • Nekton • Beach ecology (Intertidal survey & costal survey) • Bio-accumulation of heavy metals The report was prepared for the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) for its project activities Viz, Strengthening, Deepening and Modification by the ENVID group of Andhra University, Department of Environmental Page | 2 Sciences using both primary and Secondary data collected from multiple and varied sources. The secondary data corresponding to project region were gathered from published literature, District Forest Department and Social Forestry Division. The authenticity of field observations are confirmed through discussions with local people and based on secondary data collected from different Government offices like Forest Department, Wildlife Department and Fisheries Department etc. The status of individual fauna species are ascertained as per the schedules in Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. 1.3. Project Location The proposed project site is located on the shore of Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh. The Google image of the Visakhapatnam port is shown in Figure 1. Page | 3 Figure.1: Google Image of the Visakhapatnam port Page | 4 The study area is located on the western shore of the Bay of Bengal. About 36% of the study area is covered by the sea. About 31% is covered by Visakhapatnam city and the Port. The southern boundary nearest National Park, Kambalakonda National Park is 7.85 km north-north-east of the project site. The intervening area is covered by Visakhapatnam city. The project site is a operating berth within the port. The only plants growing at the project site are few saplings of peepal (Ficus religiosa) and banyan (Ficus bengalensis) growing on the buildings. Visakhapatnam Port is a very busy port within a major city. So obviously there is hardly any fauna other than a few common birds found in almost every city and animals such as rat & mice. Most of the study area comprises of Visakhapatnam city. A forested steep ridge the “Dolphin’s Nose” is located on the southern side of the port (i.e. ~2km south of the project site). Due to the steep slope with thin soil cover the vegetation comprises of small trees such as Chloroxylon swietenia, Acacia spp., Ficus spp., Lannea coromandelica, Murraya koenigii, Zizyphus spp. etc. On the other hand Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary (which is located across Visakhapatnam city from the port) is rich in flora & fauna. 73 species of trees, 39 species of herbs & shrubs, 18 species of climbers, 2 species of bamboos and 7 species of grasses are known from the sanctuary. There is an area of about 55 ha on the north-western side of the port’s boundaries which is covered by mangroves. This mangrove area is within VPT’s land extending along the banks of Mehadri Gedda River and small tidal channels linked to the river. The mangroves nearest to the port are located just about 110 m outside the port’s boundary and about 2.75 km from the proposed project site. The Avicennia marina and Excoecaria agallocha are dominant tree species found along the creek whereas Acanthus ilicifolius L. is distributed sparsely among the mangroves. Mangrove associates, namely Aeluropus lagopoides, Cressa cretica, Heliotropium curassavicum, Sarcolobus carinatus, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Suaeda maritime and S. nudiflora , were also recorded from the area. Nine true mangrove species with five mangrove associates were reported from the study area. In most of the study area, due to lack of suitable habitat diversity of animals is low. However the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary is a major animal habitat 2. METHODS OF COLLECTION & ANALYSIS Terrestrial Ecology Ecology of the area was studied by actual field studies / observations and collecting information from published literature (particularly the book “Flora of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh by G.V.