ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORTS VOLUME-2A: Basin Level Study ... - The World...

“CAPACITY AUGMENTATION OF NATIONAL WATERWAY.1”

(Jal Marg Vikas Project)

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORTS

VOLUME-2A: Basin Level Study on Critical

Environmental Resources (CER)

May 2016 (Revised September 2016)

IRG Systems South Asia Pvt.

Ltd.

Abnaki Infrastructure Applications &

Integrated Development Pvt. Ltd.

INLAND WATERWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

Ministry of Shipping, Government of India

EQMS India Pvt. Ltd. In JV with

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Basin Level CER Report of

National Waterways-1 : Volume – 2A

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................... 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 2

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND ................................................. 6

1.0 BACKGROUND ..............................................................................................................6

2.0 STUDY BRIEF, APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY .............................................................6

3.0 FORMAT OF THE REPORT ............................................................................................ 12

CHAPTER 2: OVERVIEW OF NATIONAL WATERWAY (NW) -1 PROJECT . 13

2.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 13

2.1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF NW 1..................................................................................... 13

2.2 NEED FOR THE PROJECT............................................................................................. 15

2.3 IWAI’S PROPOSED PRIORITY INTERVENTIONS / DEVELOPMENT IN NW-1..................... 18

CHAPTER 3: LEGISLATIVE, REGULATION AND POLICY CONSIDERATION

........................................................................................................................................... 19

3.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 19

3.1 REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................... 19

3.3 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS, PROTOCOLS AND AGREEMENTS................................ 21

3.4 OTHER CONVENTION AND POLICIES ............................................................................ 27

CHAPTER 4: INVENTORY OF CRITICAL ENVIRONMENT RESOURCES

(CERS) ............................................................................................................................. 28

4.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 28

4.2 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES IN GANGA RIVER BASIN .............................................. 28

4.3 CRITICAL ENVIRONMENT RESOURCES IN NW-1........................................................... 68

4.6 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................ 71

CHAPTER 5: STANDARDS ........................................................................................ 72

5.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 72



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CHAPTER 6: ANALYSIS, CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ............. 78

6.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 78

6.1.1 CRITERIA FOR IDENTIFICATION OF NO GO AND RESTRICTED AREAS:.......................... 78

6.2 ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................... 78

6.2.1 EXCLUSION (NO GO) AREAS IN GANGA BASIN AND NW-1 (WITH RESPECT TO

WILDLIFE PROTECTED AREAS) ............................................................................................ 78

6.2.2 RESTRICTED AREAS ................................................................................................ 83

6.2.1 EXCLUSION (NO GO/RESTRICTED) AREAS IN GANGA BASIN AND NW-1 (WITH

RESPECT TO ARCHEOLOGICAL PROTECTED AREAS WITHIN 300 M RADIUS OF NW-1) ........... 87

6.2.4 DETERMINATION OF AREAS HAVING MINIMUM IMPACTS ........................................... 89

6.3 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................... 89

LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1.0: STATE WISE DISTRIBUTION OF GANGA RIVER .................................................... 10 TABLE 2.1: CURRENT MAJOR IWT TERMINALS OF NW-1 AND THEIR NEAREST EXISTING RAIL

AND ROAD LINKS (AS PER THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM IWAI) ................................... 14 TABLE 2.2: ORIGIN AND NATURE OF CARGO, DISTANCE FORM NEAREST TERMINAL ............... 16 TABLE 3.1: KEY ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION AT A GLANCE ............................................. 19 TABLE 3.3 INTERNATIONAL MARITIME CONVENTIONS, PROTOCOLS AND AGREEMENTS........ 22 TABLE 4.1: ERS WITHIN THE GANGA BASIN ......................................................................... 28 TABLE 4.2: BIOSPHERE RESERVES LOCATED IN THE GANGA BASIN ..................................... 29 TABLE 4.6 LIST OF IMPORTANT BIRD AREAS IN GANGA BASIN ............................................. 45 TABLE 4.8: STATE-WISE FOREST AND TREE COVER IN GANGA BASIN STATES ..................... 55 TABLE 4.9: POPULATION STATUS OF DOLPHINS IN THE GANGA RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES 56 TABLE 4.10: STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION AND OF FRESHWATER TURTLES IN RIVER GANGA .. 58 TABLE 4.11: NESTING SITES OF TURTLES BETWEEN BIJNOR TO KANPUR ............................. 59 TABLE 4.12: BREEDING STATUS OF FRESH WATER TURTLES OCCURS IN THE GANGA

RIVER BETWEEN RISHIKESH AND KANPUR .......................................................................... 59 TABLE 4.13: CHARACTERISTIC VERTEBRATE TAXA (TURTLES, GHARIALS AND DOLPHIN) OF

MIDDLE GANGA STRETCH.................................................................................................... 59 TABLE 4.14: TOTAL NUMBER OF FISHES (TAXA) IN RIVER GANGA ......................................... 60 TABLE 4.15: CRITICAL DOLPHIN STRETCHES ALONG GANGA RIVER BASIN .......................... 63 TABLE 4.16: LOCATION OF HILSA SANCTUARIES (PROTECTED AREA FOR HILSA) IN RIVER

BHAGIRATHI, WEST BENGAL ............................................................................................... 65 TABLE 4.17: LIST OF ARCHEOLOGICALLY PROTECTED MONUMENTS IN THE DISTRICTS

LOCATED IN NW-1 ROUTE ................................................................................................... 65 TABLE 4.18: LIST OF ARCHEOLOGICALLY PROTECTED AREA/HERITAGE SITES IN BASIN AREA

........................................................................................................................................... 67 TABLE 5.1: STANDARDS FOR DISCHARGE OF EFFLUENTS .................................................... 72 TABLE 5.2: SURFACE WATER BODY CLASSIFICATION, CPCB .............................................. 73 TABLE 5.3: CRITERIA FOR LEVEL OF EUTROPHICATION ........................................................ 74 TABLE 5.4 STANDARD FOR PERMISSIBLE LEVEL OF WATER QUALITY INDICATOR ................. 75 TABLE 5.5: CRITERIA FOR HARMFUL BOTTOM SEDIMENTS, JAPAN (UNIT: MG/L) ................... 76 TABLE 5.6: CRITERIA FOR OFF-SHORE DUMPING OF DREDGED MATERIAL (UNIT: PPM OR PPB)........................................................................................................................................... 76



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TABLE 5.7: APPROXIMATE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT GENERATION FROM DREDGING OPERATION

........................................................................................................................................... 77 TABLE 6.2: RESTRICTED AREAS W.R.T CRITICAL ENVIRONMENT RESOURCE IN NW-1.......... 83 TABLE 6.3: RESTRICTED AREAS W.R.T ARCHEOLOGICALLY PROTECTED AREAS IN NW-1 ..... 88

LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.0: SUMMARY OF OVERALL APPROACH & METHODOLOGY FOR SEIA/EIA/EMP FOR

NW 1.................................................................................................................................... 7 FIGURE 1.1 MAIN RIVER BASIN’S OF INDIA (GANGA RIVER BASIN IS YELLOW MARKED AS 2A). 8 FIGURE 1.2: LINE DIAGRAM FOR RIVER GANGA AND ITS MAJOR TRIBUTARIES ....................... 9 FIGURE 1.3: GANGA RIVER BASIN MAP ............................................................................... 10 FIGURE 2.1: THE GANGA-BHAGIRATHI-HOOGHLY RIVER SYSTEM COMPRISING NATIONAL

WATERWAY – 1 (HALDIA TO ALLAHABAD) ............................................................................ 13 FIGURE 4.1: LOCATION OF BIOSPHERE RESERVES IN GANGA RIVER BASIN ......................... 30 FIGURE 4.2: LOCATION OF NATIONAL PARKS IN GANGA RIVER BASIN ................................. 31 FIGURE 4.3: LOCATION OF TIGER RESERVES IN GANGA RIVER BASIN ................................. 35 FIGURE 4.4 LOCATION OF WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES IN GANGA RIVER BASIN ......................... 38 FIGURE 4.5 LOCATION OF IMPORTANT BIRD AREA IN GANGA BASIN .................................... 44 FIGURE 4.6: LOCATION OF IMPORTANT WETLANDS IN GANGA BASIN ................................... 50 FIGURE 4.7: RESERVED FORESTS IN GANGA RIVER BASIN .................................................. 54 FIGURE 4.8: CRITICAL STRETCHES OF DOLPHIN MOVEMENT IN GANGA RIVER BASIN .......... 62 FIGURE 4.9: LOCATION OF HILSA SANCTUARIES .................................................................. 64 FIGURE 4.10: IMPORTANT PROTECTED /HERITAGE AND CULTURAL SITES IN GANGA BASIN .. 67 FIGURE 4.11: MAP OF PROPOSED SITE AT RAMNAGAR TERMINAL AND TURTLE WILDLIFE

SANCTUARY IN NW-1.......................................................................................................... 68 FIGURE 4.12: RAMNAGAR FORT AND OTHER ENVIRONMENT FEATURES IN 10 KMS FROM THE

PROPOSED RAMNAGAR TERMINAL....................................................................................... 69 FIGURE 4.13: LOCATION OF PROPOSED TERMINAL AT HALDIA AND HILSA SANCTUARIES

PROPOSED TERMINAL AT SAHEBGUNJ, SAHEBGUNJ DISTRICT, JHARKHAND AND NAVIGATION

LOCK AT FARAKKA, MURSHIDABAD DISTRICT, WEST BENGAL............................................... 70 FIGURE 4.14: LOCATION OF VIKARAMSHILA GANGETIC DOLPHIN SANCTUARY (NW-1). UDHWA

LAKE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY AROUND SAHEBGUNJ AND HILSA SANCTUARIES IN FARAKKA (NW-1) ....................................................................................................................................... 71 FIGURE 6.1: EXCLUSION (NO GO AREA) IN TURTLE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY (TWS) AND 10 KMS

RESTRICTED AREA AROUND TWS........................................................................................ 81 FIGURE 6.2: EXCLUSION (NO GO AREA) IN VIKARAMSHILA GANGETIC DOLPHIN SANCTUARY

(VGDS) AND 10 KMS RESTRICTED AREA AROUND VGDS .................................................... 82



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Abbreviations

AFS : Anti-Fouling System

A&M : Approach and Methodology CER : Critical Environmental Resources

COLREG : Convention on International Regulation for Preventing Collision at Sea

CPCB Central Pollution Control Board

CSC : Convention for Safe Container DGPS : Digital Global Positioning System

DWT : Dead weight Tonnage EIA : Environmental Impact Assessment

EMP : Environmental Management Plan

ER : Environmental Resources GIS : Geological Information System

GB : Ganga Basin HNS : Hazardous and Noxious

INTACH : Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage

IMO : International Maritime Organization IWAI : Inland Waterway Authority of India

IWT : Inland Water Transport LAD : Least Available Depth

MoEFCC : Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

NRCD : National River Conservation Directorate NTPC : National Terminal Power Corporation

NW-1 : National Waterway-1 ODC : Over Dimensional Cargo

OPRC : Oil Pollution Preparedness Response and Cooperation

PA : Protected Areas RAP : Resettlement Action Plan

RIS : River Information System SEIA : Social and Environmental Impact Assessment

SEIAA : State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority

SFV : Safety of Fishing Vessel SOLAS : Safety of life at Sea

SPCB : State Pollution Control Board STCW : Standard of Training, Certificate and Watch STP : Special Trade Passenger

TOR : Term of Reference VECS : Valuable Environmental Components

WLS : Wildlife Sanctuary WHO : World Health Organization



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Executive Summary

1.0 Introduction

From the beginning of history, human sensitivity has revealed an urge for mobility leading to a measure of Society's progress. The history of this mobility or transport is the history of civilization. For any country to develop with right momentum modern and efficient. Transport as a basic infrastructure is a must. It has been seen throughout the history of any nation that a proper, extensive and efficient Road Transport has played a major role. Where roads are considered as veins and arteries of a nation, passenger and goods transported are likened to blood in circulation, water transport is the cheapest and the oldest form of transport for heavy goods and bulk cargoes. Inland waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is a statutory body under Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India. IWAI is primarily responsible for development, maintenance and regulation of Inland Water Transport (IWT) in the country specifically on National waterways. In this context, the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia has been declared as National Waterway-I (NW-I). It is a natural highway of about 1620 km in length and passes through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. One of the limitations on viable Inland waterway transport on NW-1 is a week navigation infrastructure. Therefore, IWAI has proposed the Capacity Augmentation of navigational infrastructure of NW-I between Allahabad to Haldia with technical and financial assistance from The World Bank. In this regard, IWAI has commissioned Social & Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) studies to map and understand potential environmental and social impacts associated with navigation improvement of NW-I and to prepare plan for effective mitigation and management of the Impact associated with the project. This report, Basin Level Critical Environmental Resources Study is the part of the above study and being submitted as the first output of the SEIA study. Objective of the Study

The main objective of basin level critical environmental resources study is to identify the environmentally sensitive areas within the Basin where the project footprints should be avoided and the areas where project will have negligible effect. Methodology

This study has been supported by ground truthing to firm up resource mapping. The findings and mapping inputs would be useful to the feasibility preparation and ensure that the recommendations of this output are duly incorporated. This will help in environmentally feasible development of the project. This study has been carried out using secondary data and GIS platform for inventorying Critical Environment Resources (CERs) and generating maps. Spatial and non-spatial data sets include inventory of CERs, Satellite imageries, toposheets and secondary data collected from published studies and other sources. Main sources of include Basin level studies undertaken by IIT consortium, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, National Mission on Clean Ganga, National Ganga River Basin Authority, secondary data from ENVIS centres, notifications of on Eco-sensitive



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zones, Protected areas. National Wetland Inventory and Assessment, MoEFCC, Archaeological Survey of India, etc. Basin Understanding A river drainage basin is an area drained by a river and all of its tributaries. A river basin is made up of many different watersheds. A watershed is a small version of a river basin. Every stream and tributary has its own watershed, which drains to a larger stream or wetland. These streams, ponds, wetlands, and lakes are part of a river basin. Ganga River Basin: The Ganga River flows through the five states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The extent of the entire Ganga basin is, however, spread over six more states (Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan) in addition to the aforementioned five. In the entire basin, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand together share the maximum basin area of 34%, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. 2.0 Brief Description of NW-1

NW-1 is a waterway of national significance passing through four states and potentially serving the major cities of Haldia, Howrah, Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Patna, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Allahabad, their industrial hinterlands, and several industries located along the Ganga basin. The waterway, opened on 27th October, 1986 covers a distance of 1620 Km between Allahabad and Haldia making it the longest waterway. Currently, NW-1 is catering to the requirements for the thermal power plants, cement companies, fertiliser factories, oil refineries, the Food Corporation of India. It carries products like the coal, fly-ash, cement and clinker, stone chips, edible oils, petroleum products, food grains and other cargos. IWT terminals (25) of NW-1 have comparatively good connectivity to the road as well as the railway network. Though, currently the above mentioned items are being transported in some stretches of NW 1, its potential need to be fully realized. In the recent past, a substantial demand for waterway transportation has emerged which includes coal, fly-ash, food grains, cement, stone chips, edible oil and over dimensional cargo. These are some of the cargos which can be transported on NW-1 in large quantities. Need of the Project

The development of infrastructure on NW-1 would lead to increased cargo traffic on large vessels between Haldia and Farakka, also reduce transport cost for shippers, reduces congestion and accidents on highways and provide savings in carbon emissions for traffic on NW-1. Since the rail and road corridors of this region are already saturated, the development of NW-1 would result in a viable supplementary mode of transport for huge quantities of bulk cargo. It is cost effective and provides a drainage channel. In addition, Inland waterway transport is expected benefit the air quality and decrease traffic congestion on the roads. 3.0 Legislation & Regulatory Policy

The GOI has detailed legislative framework imposing large nos. of restrictions for developments inland & water areas. The attempt has been made to summarize the legislations which will



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determine the no go/restriction areas for project foot prints. The key legislations related to the study are:

Wildlife Protection Act

Forest Conservation Act Environmental Protection Act

Archaeological Act 4.0 Critical Environment Resources (CERs)

The CERs along the Ganga river basin have been identified and mapped followed by CERs identification in the context of NW-1. These are Biosphere Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks, wetlands, Tiger Reserves, Reserved Forests, Breeding and nesting grounds for aquatic species (Schedule-I species), fish habitats and fish range, heritage sites and regulated buffer area of above as applicable. CERs in Ganga Basin are located in ecologically fragile zones which need to be protected on account of their importance for providing suitable habitats for forests and wildlife, humans, and their role in sustaining ecological functions. About 22 percent of the National Parks in India are located in Ganga Basin along with 12 percent of Wildlife Sanctuaries protecting some of the endangered species like Bengal Tiger, Ganga Dolphin, and Turtles etc. Mangroves which are more resilient and very unique ecosystem are also located in the Ganga basin at Sundarbans (West Bengal). 5.0 Analysis, Conclusion & Recommendation

As per the Scope of Work, Basin Level Critical Environment Resources (CERs) have been identified, inventoried and mapped. Criteria for identifying exclusion (No Go areas) and restricted areas is evolved based on identification of these CERs and provisions of related regulation to these CERs. Criteria for Identification of NO Go and Restricted Areas: The presence of Wildlife Protected

areas (Biosphere Reserve, National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Tiger Reserve, Protected Wet Land) are considered as No Go activity area for project footprint. The buffer areas of above protected areas and other areas (like Reserved Forest, Critical stretches for Conservation of Dolphins (NGRBA), Hilsa Sanctuaries and 300m buffer of archeologically protected monuments) are considered as restricted area. The area other than No Go and restricted areas are considered as minimal impact areas. NO Go Areas along Ganga Basin: Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch) is declared

as a Ramsar Site. Moreover, Ganges Dolphin Conservation Zone Garhmukteshwar – Narora Barrage has been recommended to be declared as “No Go area” for which detailed studies have been done by WWF- India. Given the recognition of Upper Ganga River as a Ramsar site and in line with finding of previous studies and recommendations, this stretch is further recommended to be Exclusion (No go area). Since, this river stretch is outside the purview of NW-1, it would not be directly impacted by plying of IWAI’s vessels. However, hydrological interventions for augmenting flow in the NW-1 should avoid this area for planning any hydrological interventions. No-Go Areas- NW-1 stretch



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Two notified wildlife sanctuaries i.e Turtle WLS, Varanasi and Vikaramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, Bhagalpur are located within the main stem of river Ganga in NW-1. The Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary stretch (the 7 Km long river stretch) at Varanasi and the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary stretch located in Bihar State (starting from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon pahad, about 50 km+ stretch) is recommended to be exclusion (No Go area) in NW-1 from the point of IWAI’s interventions. Restricted Area

The restricted areas are identified as per the criteria defined in above section. As per this criteria the buffer zone of two sanctuaries i.e. Turtle WLS1, Varanasi and Vikaramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, Bhagalpur located within NW-1 (the No Go areas) and one sanctuary located about 9 Km away from NW-1 is identified as restricted areas. Further 300 m radius around any archeologically protected areas shall also be the restricted area. If any intervention or activity is to be undertaken within 300m radius of any archeologically protected monuments/heritage site than prior permission shall be obtain from Archeological Survey of India. There are certain culturally sensitive locations (like Ghat at Varanasi, Patna ). The construction activity shall be planned such that these do not interfere with any such religious activities. Further details about this sensitivity shall be available based on social impact assessments of respective intervention to be undertaken following the identification of each intervention. Recommendations

IWAI and vessels plying in NW-1 through restricted and critical stretches as identified above should take adequate environment and social safeguards.

1 State Wild Life Board recomonded zero buffer area for Turtle Wild Life Sanctuary.



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Chapter 1: Introduction & Background

1.0 Background

Inland waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is a statutory body under Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India. IWAI is primarily responsible for development, maintenance and regulation of Inland Water Transport (IWT) in the country specifically on National waterways. In this context, the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Allahabad to Haldia has been declared as National Waterway-I (NW-I). It is a natural highway of about 1620 km in length and passes through the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. One of the limitations on viable Inland waterway transport on NW-1 is a week navigation infrastructure. Therefore, IWAI has proposed the Capacity Augmentation of navigational infrastructure of NW-I between Allahabad to Haldia with technical and financial assistance from The World Bank. Inland waterway development requires the improvement or development of navigation and related infrastructure. To sustain navigation, waterways must be safe and reliable, with certain physical characteristics related to depth, clearance, width, alignment and current velocity. To sustain the ecological character and environmental quality of river waterways must also maintain their ecosystem functions (their natural physical, chemical and biological processes). Therefore, sustainable waterway development and management necessitate strik ing a balance over the intermediate and long run between the objectives of various water users and the carrying capacity of the natural system. In this regard, IWAI has commissioned Social & Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) studies to map and understand potential environmental and social impacts associated with navigation improvement of NW-I and to prepare plan for effective mitigation and management of the Impact associated with the project. IWAI has hired a joint venture of EQMS India Pvt. Ltd (Lead Partner) along with M/s IRG System South Asia Pvt. Ltd. & M/s Abanaki India Pvt. Ltd. to conduct the SEIA/ EIA studies and prepare social & environmental management plans for capacity augmentation of the NW-I. This report, Basin Level Critical Environmental Resources Study is being submitted as the first output of the SEIA study. The following sections describe SEIA study brief, overall approach and methodology, basin understanding, application of methodology, tools and techniques used for basin level critical environmental resources study and format of the report.

2.0 Study Brief, approach and methodology

The current study is being conducted as per following activities as identified in TOR: Section A

I. A basin level Critical Environmental Resources Study II. A cumulative Impact Analysis Study III. EIA & EMP study for for Local interventions IV. EIA & EMP study for for barrages & Locks V. Revised & Updated Cumulative Impact Analysis Study VI. Preparation of stand Alone EMP Document



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VII. Institutional and Implementation Arrangements Section B

I. Social impact Assessment Study II. Preparation of Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) including institutional and

implementation arrangement. III. Stakeholder consultation at strategic locations and state.

A very comprehensive approach and methodology (A&M) has been adopted to carry all the activities/ components identified in Section A and Section B. This A& M is based on the combination of individual level A&M applied for different activities and integrated to achieve desired outcomes. A schematic diagram showing summary of overall A&M is given in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.0: Summary of Overall Approach & Methodology for SEIA/EIA/EMP for NW 1



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Figure 1.0 indicates that “Basin Level Critical Resources Study” is the first major activity of the current study. Therefore, it is important to have a basic understanding of the Ganga basin.

c. Basin Understanding A river drainage basin is an area drained by a river and all of its tributaries. A river basin is made up of many different watersheds. A watershed is a small version of a river basin. Every stream and tributary has its own watershed, which drains to a larger stream or wetland. These streams, ponds, wetlands, and lakes are part of a river basin. Ganga River: National River Ganga originates in the Himalayas with several major head-

streams – Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Bhilangana, Dhauliganga, Mandakini, Nandakini and Pindar, which progressively join together on or before Devaprayag. Descending in the plains, the river flows approximately southeast and is joined by several large streams such as Ramganga, Yamuna, Kosi, Gandak, Gomti, Sone, Karamnasa and Ghaghra to become an immense river in the plains below Allahabad. The river then flows through the Rajmahal hills and divides into two streams. The eastern branch – River Padma – flows southeast through Bangladesh to join the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers before flowing into the sea. The south-flowing branch – River Hooghly – is joined by Rivers Damodar and Mayurakshi before reaching the sea. Map showing major River Basin in India is provided in Figure 1.1. The combined outfall of the two branches together forms the world’s largest delta (Sundervan Delta covering about 60,000 sq.km.) stretching Bangladesh and West Bengal. Overall, River Ganga is more than 2500 km long. Line diagram of river Ganga is given in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.1 Main River Basin’s of India (Ganga River basin is Yellow marked as 2a) (Source: India-WARIS-2012)



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Figure 1.2: Line diagram for River Ganga and Its Major tributaries (Source: MoWR 2014) Ganga River Basin: The Ganga River flows through the five states of Uttarakhand, Uttar

Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The extent of the entire Ganga basin is, however, spread over six more states (Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan) in addition to the aforementioned five. The extent of river Ganga within these states is given in Table 1.0 and Figure 1.3. In the entire basin, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand together share the maximum basin area of 34%, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.



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Figure 1.3: Ganga River Basin Map (Source: Status paper on river Ganga, NRCD, MoEF, 2009) Table 1.0: State wise Distribution of Ganga River

Sr. No.

State

Total

Geographical Area (Sq Km)

Per Cent of Total Geographical Area

1 Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand 294364 34.2

2 Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh 198962 23.1

3 Bihar & Jharkhand 143961 16.7

4 Rajasthan 112490 13.1

5 West Bengal 71485 8.3

6 Haryana 34341 4.0

7 Himachal Pradesh 4317 0.5

8 Delhi 1484 0.2

Ganga Basin (Total) 861404 100.0

(Source: Status paper on river Ganga, NRCD, MoEF, 2009)

The main objective of critical environmental resources study is to identify the environmentally sensitive areas within the Basin where the project footprints should be avoided and the areas where project will have negligible effect. This has been supported by ground truthing to firm up resource mapping. The findings and mapping inputs would be useful to the feasibility preparation and ensure that the recommendations of this output are duly incorporated. This will help in environmentally feasible development of the project.



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This study has been carried out using secondary data and GIS platform for inventorying Critical Environment Resources (CERs) and generating maps. Spatial and non-spatial datasets include inventory of CERs, Satellite imageries, toposheets and secondary data collected from published studies and other sources. Main sources of include Basin level studies undertaken by IIT consortium, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, National Mission on Clean Ganga National Ganga River Basin Authority, secondary data from ENVIS centers, notifications of on Eco-sensitive zones, Protected areas. National Wetland Inventory and Assessment, MoEFCC, Archaeological Survey of India, etc.

Further, ground truthing and primary data collection have been done for proposed sites of IWAI’s intervention to identify, map and delineate critical environmental features / resources. An exercise for stakeholder’s consultation has been initiated to collect baseline secondary data on existing and planned projects/ schemes in the basin, and to understand and examine critical issues and concerns to build them into the early stages of Cumulative Impact Assessment. These stakeholders include central and state government and various other organizations namely the State Industrial Development Corporations, National and State Highway Authority of India, PWDs, Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, CPCB, State Forest Department. Environment Departments, other concerned line departments, select NGOs in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Methodology used for GIS: The methodology adopted for mapping using GIS includes

following:

Inventory and maps of Critical Environmental Resources (CERs) as per Scope of Works namely National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Wetlands, Reserved forests, Biosphere Reserve, known breeding and nesting grounds for aquatic species (as per Schedule I of Indian Wildlife Act), Fish habitats, fish range, Heritage sites, etc in Ganga Basin using GIS platform have been prepared, Critically Polluted Areas as identified by CPCB have also been marked in project area keeping in mind the potential of growth in industries and allied sectors in immediate hinterland of NW-1. The proposed capacity augmentation of NW-1 and connection with other mode of transportation (with existing and new road/rail network) is likely to spur industrial growth, supply chains and other logistical requirements which may be needed/developed in the immediate hinterland.



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CERs have been identified and mapped with following steps:

Inventorying of CERs in Ganga Basin as per Scope of Works. In addition, Tiger Reserves and Biosphere reserves have been inventoried and mapped.

Marking locations of critical environment resources at the Ganga Basin level and Project intervention (NW -1) level.

Delineation of rregulated buffer areas of each of the above CERs. Ten (10) kms have been taken as buffer zone of Protected Area (PA) or distance as specified in the notification of Eco sensitive Zone of the PA.

Marking location of proposed and existing locations of IWAI interventions in Ganga Basin/project intervention (NW-1) level and CERs located within 10 kms for each proposed locations.

Detailed maps of each of the proposed locations and CERs located in 10 kms.

Based on the above said steps, no go areas and restricted areas from environmental view point have been identified for the purposes of feasibility of the proposed project locations and interventions. This has been discussed in Analysis and Recommendations and Conclusions sections of this report.

3.0 Format of the Report

This report has been presented in four chapters. The first chapter describes the introduction, approach and methodology, basin understanding and approach and methodology for critical environmental resources study. The second chapter describes the IWAI project and interventions. The third chapter describes the inventory of resources. The fourth Chapter describes the inventory of Environment Resources (ER). Chapter 5 describes the applicable standards. Chapter 6 describes the analysis, conclusions and recommendations.



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Chapter 2: Overview of National Waterway (NW) -1 Project

2.0 Introduction

This chapter provides introduction to the NW-1 project, need for the project, proposed development in NW-1 including terminals and navigation lock and priority interventions. It also provides site description and various features of the planned development in NW-1. Each of these items is described in the following sections.

2.1 Brief Description of NW 1

NW-1 is a waterway of national significance passing through four states and potentially serving the major cities of Haldia, Howrah, Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Patna, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Allahabad, their industrial hinterlands, and several industries located along the Ganga basin (Figure 2.1). The waterway, opened on 27th October, 1986 covers a distance of 1620 Km

between Allahabad and Haldia making it the longest waterway.

Figure 2.1: The Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system comprising National Waterway –

1 (Haldia to Allahabad)2

Currently, NW 1 is catering to the requirements for the thermal power plants, cement companies, fertiliser factories, oil refineries, the Food Corporation of India. It carries products like the coal, fly-ash, cement and clinker, stone chips, edible oils, petroleum products, food grains and other cargos. IWT terminals (25) of NW-1 have comparatively good connectivity to the road as well as the railway network. Current major IWT Terminals of NW-1 and their nearest existing rail and road links are shown in Table 2.1.

2 http://www.iwai.nic.in/index1.php?n=1&lang=1&level=2&sublinkid=145&lid=164



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Table 2.1: Current major IWT Terminals/Jetty of NW-1 and their nearest existing rail and road links (as per the information available from IWAI)

S. No.

Name IWT

Terminal Nearest

Neares t NH/SH

Railhe ad Nearest

Gauge Land area Berth Size Type of terminal

1. Haldia NH-41 Haldia BG 10930 Sq. m 70 m berth

& 200 m water front

Floating

Terminal

2. Botanical

Garden Jetty

NH-34 Shamilar No data

available

996 Sq. m 35 m berth

& 50 m water front

Floating

Terminal

3. BISN Jetty & GR Jetty -1

No data available

Shamilar No data available

30409.64 Sq. m

70 m berth & 100 m water front

Floating Terminal

4. Tribeni SH-6 Tribeni No data available

Pontoon placed on water front

35 m Floating Terminal

5. Shantipur NH-34 No data available

No data available

8000 Sq. m 35 m berth & 100 m water front

Floating Terminal

6. Swaroopganj No data available

No data available

No data available

2337 Sq. m 35 m Floating Terminal

7. Katwa NH-6 Katwa BG Pontoon placed on

water front


8. Hazardwari SH Murshidabad BG Pontoon placed on water front


9. D/s Farakka NH-34 Farakka BG Pontoon placed on water front


10. U/s Farakka NH-34 Farakka BG 4800 Sq m 35 m Floating Terminal

11. Farakka RCC Jetty

NH-34 Farakka BG No data available

115 m Fixed RCC

Jetty (Farakka Barrage

Project)

12. Pakur RCC Jetty

NH-80 Farakka BG No data available

60 m Fixed RCC Jetty

(Farakka Barrage



15

S. No.

Name IWT Terminal Nearest

Neares t NH/SH

Railhe ad Nearest

Gauge Land area Berth Size Type of terminal

Project)

13. Manglahat (Rajmahal)

NH80 Rajmahal No data available

Pontoon placed on waterfront


14. Sahebganj

(Samdaghat)

NH-80 Sahibganj BG Pontoon

placed on water front

35 m Floating

Terminal

15. Bateshwarst

han

NH80 Vikram Shila No data

available

Pontoon


35 m Floating

Terminal

16. Bhagalpur NH-80 Bhagalpur BG 1000 Sq. m 35 m Floating

Terminal

17. Munger NH 80 No data

available

No data

available

3.40 acre 35 m Floating

Terminal

18. Semaria NH 31 No data

available

No data

available

Pontoon


35 m Floating

Terminal

19. Barh NH-30A Barh BG No data

available

27 m Floating

Terminal

20. Buxar NH84 Misraulia No data

available

Pontoon


35 m Floating

Terminal

21. Ghazipur NH19 Ghazipur No data

available

Pontoon


35 m Floating

Terminal

22. Rajghat

(Varanasi)

NH-7 Mugalsarai BG Pontoon


35 m Floating

Terminal

23. G.R.Jetty-2

(Kolkata)

SH Kidderpore BG 14606 Sq. m 216 m Fixed

RCC Jetty

24. Patna (Gaighat)

NH-19 Gulzarbagh BG 3.24 Acre 46.6 m Fixed RCC

Jetty

25. Allahabad NH-35 Karchhana BG 8.759 Hectare


2.2 Need for the Project

Though, currently the above mentioned items are being transported in some stretches of NW 1, its potential need to be fully realized. In the recent past, a substantial demand for waterway transportation has emerged which includes coal, fly-ash, food grains, cement, stone chips,



16

edible oil and over dimensional cargo. These are some of the cargos which can be transported on NW-1 in large quantities. Details of origin and nature of cargo, distance form nearest terminal3 is given in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Origin and nature of cargo, distance form nearest terminal

Origin and nature of cargo Nearest terminal location Distance in kms

Haldia (Coal) Kolaghat 60 kms

Sagardighi (Coal) River front 18 kms

Pakur (Stone) Pakur Terminal 12 kms

Barauni (Fertilizer, POL) Semaria 15 kms

Semaria (Coal) Barauni 15 kms

Patna (Coal) Muzzafarpur 60 kms

Phulpur (Fertilizer) Allahabad 60 kms

Chunar (Coal) Rihand 135 kms

Chunar (Coal) Vindyachal / Singrauli 135 kms

Chunar (Coal) Renu Sagar / Anpara 112 kms

Chunar (Coal) Obra 67 kms

Robertsganj/Churk/Dala (Cement) Chunar 67 kms

Phulpur (Fertilizer) Allahabad 50 kms

Rewa (Cement) Allahabad 119 kms

Satna (Cement) Allahabad 166 kms

Sidhi (Cement) Allahabad 211 kms

Jagdishpur (Fertilizer) Allahabad / Varanasi 138/187 kms

Shahjahanpur (Fertilizer) Allahabad / Varanasi 380/429 kms

Raniganj Coalfield Shantipur 205 kms

Presently, this waterway is being used by cargo vessels, ODC carriers, tourist vessels and IWAI vessels etc. Under the project of transportation of 3 MTPA of imported coal from Haldia/Sand-heads to NTPC’s power plant at Farakka through NW-1 by M/s Jindal ITF Ltd., about 20 barges of 2000 DWT capacity each started moving between Haldia / Sand-heads and Farakka since October 2013 and about 0.26 MT coal has reached Farakka up to May 2014. Several power companies are planning to setup thermal power plants along NW-1 and extensive movement of Over Dimensional Cargo (ODC), imported coal for NTPC projects is expected on NW-1 during the next 4 - 5 years. The trial movements of 2600 tonnes fertilizer of M/s Tata Chemicals from Haldia to Fatuha (Patna) and another 2500 tonnes of M/s IFFCO Phulpur from Fatuha (Patna) to Kolkata respectively was done successfully during 2013-14. Further, Inland tourist vessel RV Bengal Ganga of M/s Heritage River Cruise Pvt. Ltd. and ABN Sukhapha of M/s Assam Bengal Navigation Co. Pvt. Ltd. made their voyages successfully on NW-1 in Kolkata - Semaria - Kolkata and Kolkata - Patna - Kolkata respectively during 2013-14. There is an urgent demand for operationalization of the entire NW-1 right upto Allahabad as many potential shippers (thermal power plants, cement companies, fertilizer companies, edible oil companies, Food Corporation of India) have evinced interest to use NW-1, if it is developed with adequate infrastructure to facilitate navigation by bigger vessels of 1200-1500-2000 Dead Weight Tonnage (DWT). Hence, it is necessary that NW-1 should be developed with IWT infrastructure of a level on which navigation by relatively bigger vessels is facilitated.

3 Inland Waterways Authority of India



17

The development of infrastructure on NW-1 would lead to increased cargo traffic on large vessels between Haldia and Farakka, also reduce transport cost for shippers, reduces congestion and accidents on highways and provide savings in carbon emissions for traffic on NW-1. Since the rail and road corridors of this region are already saturated, the development of NW-1 would result in a viable supplementary mode of transport for huge quantities of bulk cargo. It is cost effective and provides a drainage channel. In addition, Inland waterway transport is expected benefit the air quality and decrease traffic congestion on the roads. Depth on the navigational channel is the foremost requirement for making a waterway navigable and commercially viable. Large alluvial Himalayan rivers like Ganga typically have more depth in their lower reaches compared to upper reaches since these are joined by tributaries carrying discharge from their own catchment areas. Therefore, lower reaches of NW-1 naturally have more depth than the upper reaches. During the year of 2013-14, IWAI had been targeting a Least Available Depth (LAD) of 3.0 meters between Haldia (Sagar) & Farakka (560 km), 2.5 meters in Farakka - Barh (400 km), 2.0 meters in Barh - Ghazipur (290 km) and 1.2 to 1.5 meters in Chunar - Allahabad sector (370 km). Currently, large fluctuation of the water level in National Waterway-1 during summer to monsoon months have been observed. River Ganga carries heavy silt load. It becomes difficult to navigate for the barges and bigger vessels. Year round navigation possibility in the National Waterway No-1 faces major challenges like inadequate depth and width required for free movement of IWT Vessels of reasonable size, inadequate terminals for loading and unloading of the Cargo, inadequate connectivity with road and rail network, shortage of IWT vessels and inadequate navigational aids for safe navigation during day and night. Due to the unavailability of adequate depth and width and navigational infrastructure facilities, navigation of the large cargos is becoming a problem area. Considering the traffic potential of NW-1 with many thermal power plants and other big industries planned along the river Ganga, IWAI plans to improve its navigability by increasing Least Available Depth (LAD) as well as width of navigable channel and development of IWT terminals along the NW-1.

Further, the IWAI has plans to augment their dredging fleet in the coming years. With the deployment of additional dredgers along with bandalling, IWAI is planning to provide an enhanced minimum depth of 2.5 meters in Farakka - Buxar stretch instead of Farakka - Barh i.e. about 235 km stretch with enhanced target of 2.5 meters depth against 2.0 meters. Further, IWAI has plans to develop 2.0 meters LAD up to Varanasi in place of Ghazipur i.e. about 133 km stretch with enhanced target of 2.0 meters depth against 1.5 meters. It is estimated that the proposed project would require an expenditure of Rs.4200 crore (US$ 700 million) for developing NW-1 from Haldia to Allahabad. IWAI approached World Bank for Technical Assistance and Investment Support for the project. In July 2014, World Bank indicated their support for the programmatic approach with an initial loan assistance of US$ 50 million including Technical Assistance. The project envisages the mitigation measures for the environmental and social impacts associated with the project development.



18

Basin level study is aimed to identify the critical resources to avoid potential damage to these critical resources from such a large water based development activities.

2.3 IWAI’s Proposed Priority Interventions / Development in NW-1

To achieve adequate navigability standards on NW-1, a substantial capital expenditure is involved. The expenditure would cover strengthening of open river navigation techniques, river training and conservancy, structural improvement and hardware which includes, dredging, modern river information system (RIS), Digital Global Positioning System (DGPS), night navigation facilities and modern methods of channel marking. Construction of terminals at Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, Sahibganj in Jharkhand and Haldia in West Bengal are proposed to facilitate transhipment and movement of bulk cargo on NW-1. A navigational lock at Farakka is also proposed. Description of proposed priority interventions / development include IWAI terminals at Varanasi, Sahebganj and Haldia and a navigation lock at Farakka



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Chapter 3: Legislative, Regulation and Policy Consideration

3.0 Introduction

The GOI has detailed legislative framework imposing various restrictions for developments of inland & water areas. The attempt has been made to summarize the legislations which will determine the No Go/restriction areas for project foot prints. The key legislations are

1. Wildlife Protection Act 2. Forest Conservation Act 3. Environmental Protection Act 4. Archeological Act

Various national parks & sanctuaries are notified under above acts which imposes ban of any activities without following a defined clearance process going up to Supreme Court level. Such areas have been considered as no go areas wherever applicable in the basin and project intervention areas. Other areas identified like reserve forest, Hilsa sanctuaries are also notified but with much lesser degree of restrictions, and these has been identified & presented in the Chapter 4. For quick reference purposes, various legislations and the requirement with stage of activities are given in the following sections.

3.1 Regulatory Requirements

Various laws and regulation are framed by Government of India for protection and conservation of natural environment. These legislations with requirements and likely applicability to this project are summarized at table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Key Environmental Legislation at a Glance Name Key Requirement Likely Applicability Controlling

Authorities

Acts/Rules

Environment Protection Act-1986 and

Rules 1987-2006 various

To protect and improve overall environment

Applicable at stage of full terminal development.

MoEFCC

Environment Notification, 2006

and amendments4

To protect the environment from the

impacts of new , modernization and

Separate environment clearance should be taken for

borrow areas and quarries as applicable

MoEFCC/SEIAA

4 As per EIA notification Inland Water Ways project does not attract Environmental Clearance. As per MoEF

manual for Ports and Harbours, EIA notification for such terminal are applicable only in coastal front. As per

experts assessment, EIA notification may not be applicable for such terminal construction on river front. However

this is suggested to be confirmed from MoEF&CC.



20

Name Key Requirement Likely Applicability Controlling Authorities

expansion projects listed in schedule 1 of

EIA report, 2006

The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and

amendments The Forest (conversion) Rules

1981 and amendments

To protect forest by restricting conversion of forested areas into non-

forested areas and deforestation

Applicable if forest land is diverted or tree cutting is involved.

Forest Department, MoEFCC

Wild Life

Protection Act, 1972

To protect wildlife

through notifying National Parks and Sanctuaries and buffer

areas around these zones

Applicable, project passes

through the sanctuary area or its eco sensitive zone.

Sate Wild Life

Departments and MoEFCC

Air (Prevention and Control of

Pollution) Act, 1981

To control air pollution Pollutants from the

construction and operation activities

Applicable for construction activities like setting up hot

mix plants, batching plants

SPCB

Water Prevention and Control of

Pollution) Act, 1974

To control water pollution Pollutants from

the construction and operation activities

Applicable for construction activities for setting up

construction camps involving discharges of liquid waste

SPCB

Noise Pollution (Regulation and

Control Act) 2000 and amendment till date

The standards for noise for day and night have

been promulgated by the MoEFCC for various land uses.

Applicable for all construction and operation phase activities

SPCB/MoEFCC

Hazardous Wastes

(Management Handling and Trans-boundary)

Rules, 2008 .

The rules prescribe the

details of management of hazardous industrial solid wastes from its

generation to final disposal (cradle to grave) and fixes

responsibilities on the generator, the transporter and the

disposal agent.

Applicable for managing

hazardous waste that can be generated during construction & operation phase

SPCB

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological

Sites and Remains Act, 1958

Conservation of cultural and historical remains found in India

Applicable for river stretches located within 300 m of such monument

Archaeological Dept.

Explosive Act 1984 Safe transportation, storage and use of

explosive material

Applicable only if large quantity of fuel is stored.

Chief Controller of Explosives

Central Motor Vehicle Act 1988

To check vehicular air and noise pollution.

Applicable, for construction vehicles

Motor Vehicle Department



21

Name Key Requirement Likely Applicability Controlling Authorities

Central Motor Vehicle Rules,

1989 and amendments till date

Prevention of

Collision on national Waterways

Regulations, 2002

Regard to precautions

required by the ordinary practice of Seamen and limitation of the vessel

Applicable for development of

the terminal for all the vessel plying in National Waterway

IWAI

National Waterways, Safety of Navigation and

Shipping Regulations, 2002

ensuring safety of navigation and shipping on the national

waterways

Applicable for development of the terminal for all the vessel plying in National Waterway

IWAI

The National Waterway-1 Act,

1982

Provision for regulation and development of that

river for purpose of shipping and navigation on the NW-1 and for the

matters connected therewith or incidental thereto

Applicable for development of the terminal for all the vessel

plying in National Waterway

IWAI

New Inland Vessel

Act, 2015 & Rules Under IV Act

Economical and safe

transportation through inland waters

Applicable for development of

all the vessel plying in National Waterway

IWAI

3.3 International Conventions, Protocols and Agreements

International Maritime Organization Conventions: India is member state of the International

Maritime Organization (IMO). Therefore, all activities relating to shipment through the port shall have to be done strictly in compliance with the standards set by the IMO, particularly the conventions, protocols and agreements. IMO Conventions/ Protocols related to environment & pollution are given in Table 3.3 for reference purposes and inputs for design requirement.

The World Bank Operation Policies are also applicable to the project but are not summarized here as these would be followed while developing the mitigation measures in the EIA reports.



22

Table 3.3 International Maritime Conventions, Protocols and Agreements

Sr. No. Issues International Maritime Conventions, Protocols

and Agreements

Remarks

1. Maritime safety SOLAS Convention,

1974

The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the

most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships. The 1974 version includes the tacit acceptance procedure - which provides that an amendment shall enter into force on a specified date unless,

before that date, objections to the amendment are received from an agreed number of Parties. The Convention came into force on May 25, 1980

2. Measurement of ships Load Lines Convention,1966

It has long been recognized that limitations on the draught to which a ship may be loaded make a significant contribution to her safety. These limits are given in

the form of freeboards, which constitute, besides external weather tight and watertight integrity, the main objective of the Convention.

3. Preventing collisions at sea

Convention on International Regulations

for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG), 1972

The 1972 Convention was designed to update and replace the Collision Regulations of 1960 which were adopted at the same time as the 1960 SOLAS

Convention. One of the most important innovations in the 1972 COLREGs was the recognition given to traffic separation schemes - Rule 10 gives guidance in determining safe speed, the risk of collision and the conduct of vessels operating

in or near traffic separation schemes.

4. Prevention of Pollution from Ships

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships

(MARPOL), 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto and by the Protocol of

1997( MARPOL)

The MARPOL Convention is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. It is a combination of two treaties adopted in 1973 and 1978

respectively and also includes the Protocol of 1997 (Annex VI). It has been updated by amendments through the years.

Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime

Traffic (FACILITATION), London, 1965

The Convention's main objectives are to prevent unnecessary delays in maritime traffic, to aid cooperation between Governments, and to secure the highest practicable degree of uniformity in formalities and other procedures. In particular,

the Convention reduces the number of declarations which can be required by public authorities.

5. Safety of maritime navigation

Convention for The Suppression of Unlawful

Acts of Violence Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA

convention), 1988

The main purpose of the convention is to ensure that appropriate action is taken against persons committing unlawful acts against ships. These include:

the seizure of ships by force;

acts of violence against persons on board ships; and

the placing of devices on board a ship which are likely to destroy or

damage it. The convention obliges Contracting Governments either to extradite or prosecute



23


and Agreements

Remarks

alleged offenders.

6. Environmental Safety Convention Relating to

Intervention on the High Seas, 1969

Contracting States are empowered to act against ships of other countries which

have been involved in an accident or have been damaged on the high seas if there is a grave risk of oil pollution occurring as a result.

7. Standards of Training, Certification and Watch

keeping for Seafarers

International Convention on Standards of Training,

Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers ( STCW ) as amended,

including the 1995 and 2010 Manila Amendments

The main purpose of the convention is to ensure the safety of seagoing personnel. Convention in explained in two codes A & B. Code A is mandatory

while Code B is recommendation. It intends to help parties implement the convention.

8. Safe containers International Convention

for Safe Containers (CSC) 72/77

The 1972 Convention for Safe Containers has two goals.

to maintain a high level of safety of human life in the transport and handling of containers by providing generally acceptable test procedures and related strength requirements

to facilitate the international transport of containers by providing uniform international safety regulations, equally applicable to all modes of surface transport to avoid proliferation of divergent national safety regulations

The requirements of the Convention apply to the great majority of freight containers used internationally, except those designed especially for carriage by air. As it was not intended that all containers or reusable packing boxes should

be affected, the scope of the Convention is limited to containers of a prescribed minimum size having corner fittings - devices which permit handling, securing or stacking.

9. Safety of Fishing vessel The Torremolinos

International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels (SFV),1977,

superseded by the The 1993 Torremolinos Protocol; Cape Town

Agreement of 2012 on the Implementation of the Provisions of the

1993 Protocol relating to

The Protocol applies to fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over including

those vessels also processing their catch. The general trend in modern designed fishing vessels, if they are to be economically profitable, must include improvements in machinery and fishing gear, improvements in safety features as

a whole and better working conditions for fishermen. The safety provisions include automatically controlled machinery spaces, improved life-saving appliances, immersion suits and thermal protective aids, satellite communication

systems and other components of the global maritime distress and safety system.

http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/The-Torremolinos-International-Convention-for-the-Safety-of-Fishing-Vessels.aspx



24


and Agreements

Remarks

the Torremolinos

International Convention for the Safety of Fishing Vessels

10. Standards of Training,

Certification and Watch keeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel

International Convention

on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Fishing

Vessel Personnel (STCW-F), 1995

General Provisions & certifications of Safety of Skippers, Officers, Engineer

Officers and Radio Operators.

11. Space Requirements for

Special Trade Passenger Ships, 1973

Special Trade Passenger

Ships Agreement (STP), 1971 and Protocol on Space Requirements for

Special Trade Passenger Ships, 1973

Following the International Conference on Special Trade Passenger Ships,

1971, IMO, in cooperation with other Organizations, particularly the World Health Organization (WHO), developed technical rules covering the safety aspects of carrying passengers on board in special trade passenger ships (ships carrying

large nos. of unberthed passengers such as in pilgrim area)

12. Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of

Wastes and Other Matter

Convention on the Prevention of Marine

Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (LC), 1972 (and

the 1996 London Protocol)

London Convention, one of the first international conventions for the protection of the marine environment from human activities, came into force on 30 August

1975. Since 1977, it has been administered by IMO. It contributes to the international control and prevention of marine pollution by prohibiting the dumping of certain hazardous materials. In addition, a special permit is required

prior to dumping of a number of other identified materials and a general permit for other wastes or matter.

13. Oil Pollution Preparedness,

Response and Co operation

International Convention on Oil Pollution

Preparedness, Response and Co-operation (OPRC), 1990

As per convention, Ships are required to carry a shipboard oil pollution emergency plan. Operators of offshore units under the jurisdiction of Parties are

also required to have oil pollution emergency plans or similar arrangements which must be coordinated with national systems for responding promptly and effectively to oil pollution incidents.

Ships are required to report incidents of pollution to coastal authorities and the convention details the actions that are then to be taken. The Convention calls for the establishment of stockpiles of oil spill combating equipment, the holding of oil

spill combating exercises and the development of detailed plans for dealing with pollution incidents. Parties to the convention are required to provide assistance to others in the

event of a pollution emergency and provision is made for the reimbursement of any assistance provided.

http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/Convention-on-the-Prevention-of-Marine-Pollution-by-Dumping-of-Wastes-and-Other-Matter.aspx



25


and Agreements

Remarks

14. Preparedness,

Response and Co-operation to pollution Incidents by Hazardous

and Noxious Substances

Protocol on

Preparedness, Response and Co-operation to pollution

Incidents by Hazardous and Noxious Substances, 2000

(OPRC-HNS Protocol)

Convention aims to establish national systems for preparedness and response

and to provide a global framework for international co-operation in combating major incidents or threats of marine pollution. Parties to the OPRC-HNS Protocol are required to establish measures for dealing with pollution incidents, either

nationally or in co-operation with other countries. Ships are required to carry a shipboard pollution emergency plan to deal specifically with incidents involving hazardous and noxious substances.

The OPRC-HNS Protocol ensures that ships carrying hazardous and noxious substances are covered by preparedness and response regimes similar to those

already in existence for oil incidents.

15. Control of Harmful Anti-fouling Systems

International Convention on the Control of Harmful Anti-fouling

Systems on Ships (AFS), 2001

Under the terms of the AFS Convention, Parties to the Convention are required to prohibit and/or restrict the use of harmful anti-fouling systems on ships flying their flag, as well as ships not entitled to fly their flag but which operate under

their authority and all ships that enter a port, shipyard or offshore terminal of a Party. Anti-fouling paints are used to coat the bottoms of ships to prevent sealife such as algae and molluscs attaching themselves to the hull – thereby slowing

down the ship and increasing fuel consumption. n the early days of sailing ships, lime and later arsenic were used to coat ships' hulls, until the modern chemicals industry developed effective anti-fouling paints using metallic compounds. These

compounds slowly "leach" into the sea water, killing barnacles and other marine life that have attached to the ship. But studies have shown that these compounds persist in the water, killing sea-life, harming the environment and

possibly entering the food chain. One of the most effective anti-fouling paints, developed in the 1960s, contains the organotin tributyltin (TBT), which has been proven to cause deformations in oysters and sex changes in whelks.

16. Safe and

Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships

The Hong Kong

International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally

Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009

Convention aimed at ensuring that ships, when being recycled after reaching the

end of their operational lives, do not pose any unnecessary risk to human health and safety or to the environment. It intends to address all the issues around ship recycling, including the fact that

ships sold for scrapping may contain environmentally hazardous substances such as asbestos, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, ozone depleting substances and others. It will address concerns about working and environmental conditions in

many of the world's ship recycling facilities. Regulations in the new Convention cover: the design, construction, operation and preparation of ships so as to facilitate safe and environmentally sound

recycling, without compromising the safety and operational efficiency of ships; the operation of ship recycling facilities in a safe and environmentally sound



26


and Agreements

Remarks

manner; and the establishment of an appropriate enforcement mechanism for

ship recycling, incorporating certification and reporting requirements. Ships to be sent for recycling will be required to carry an inventory of hazardous materials, which will be specific to each ship.

17. Control and

Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments

International Convention

for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and

Sediments, 2004

Convention aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one

region to another, by establishing standards and procedures for the management and control of ships' ballast water and sediment. Under the Convention, all ships in international traffic are required to manage

their ballast water and sediments to a certain standard, according to a ship-specific ballast water management plan. All ships will also have to carry a ballast water record book and an international ballast water management certificate.

The ballast water management standards will be phased in over a period of time. As an intermediate solution, ships should exchange ballast water mid-ocean. However, eventually most ships will need to install an on-board ballast water

treatment system

18. Salvage Convention, 1989

International Convention on Salvage (SALVAGE), 1989

As per convention, "special compensation" to be paid to salvors who have failed to earn a reward in the normal way (i.e. by salving the ship and cargo). The compensation consists of the salvor's expenses, plus up to 30% of these

expenses if, thanks to the efforts of the salvor, environmental damage has been minimized or prevented. The salvor's expenses are defined as "out-of-pocket expenses reasonably incurred by the salvor in the salvage operation and a fair

rate for equipment and personnel actually and reasonably used".

19. The United Provinces Fisheries Act, 1948

The Fisheries Act provides for the prohibition and licensing

of fishing in selected waters.

Definition of fish is a broad one under the Act and includes a wide gamut of aquatic biodiversity including “turtles, dolphins, aquatic plants, fisheries, whale and fish in all states in its life history”.

For the purposes of regulating fishing, the rules made under this Act provides for selected waters where there is prohibition for fishing. However, this excludes

‘private waters’ 5and ‘religious waters’6. The authority constituted under this Act has been vested with power of arrest without warrant, compound certain offences as well as prohibit the sale of fish in

such area as may be specified.

5 Private waters are exclusive property of any person or religious body or institution where such persons or institution has exclusive right of fishery. 6 Religious water means water belonging to a religious body or institutions and which have never been fished before on account of any restrictions on religious grounds.

http://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-Convention-for-the-Control-and-Management-of-Ships'-Ballast-Water-and-Sediments-(BWM).aspx



3.4 Other Convention and Policies

International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG-code): The IMDG code relates to

methods of safe transport of dangerous cargoes and related activities. It sets out procedures for documentation, storage, segregation, packing, marking and labelling of dangerous goods



28

Chapter 4: Inventory of Critical Environment Resources (CERs)

4.1 Introduction

During the early phases of developing and evaluating transportation projects and their alternatives, environmental resources are identified, assessed, and evaluated for the potential impacts of the project. Critical Environmental resources (CERs) can be defined as elements of the human environment, and include both natural and built resources. Three major categories of resources are socioeconomic, cultural and natural7. CERs are sensitive features of the natural environment. Criteria for CER’s is based on significant historical, cultural, or scenic value or sensitive archeological resources and religious or cultural resources important and Wildlife resource (including habitat for endangered, threatened, or sensitive species, or habitat essential for maintaining species diversity). The chapter provides inventory and mapping of CERs in Ganga basin and National Waterway -1. Further, based on inventory and mapping of CERs in Ganga basin, proposed project specific map and CERs in 10 kms of the proposed site has been prepared. The project has been screened versus applicable policy, Act, Rules on navigation, Waterway, Dam and Diversions and Biodiversity as described in Chapter 3.

4.2 Environmental Resources in Ganga River Basin

At first CERs along the Ganga river basin have been identified and mapped followed by CERs identification in the context of NW 1. These are Biosphere Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks, wetlands, Tiger Reserves, Reserved Forests, Breeding and nesting grounds for aquatic species (Schedule-I species), fish habitats and fish range, Heritage sites and regulated buffer area of above as applicable. CERs in Ganga Basin are located in ecologically fragile zones which need to be protected on account of their importance for providing suitable habitats for forests and wildlife, humans, and their role in sustaining ecological functions. About 22 percent of the National Parks in India are located in Ganga Basin along with 12 percent of Wildlife Sanctuaries protecting some of the endangered species like Bengal Tiger, Ganga Dolphin, and Turtles etc. Mangroves which are more resilient and very unique ecosystem are also located in the Ganga basin at Sundarbans (West Bengal). The CERs within the Ganga basin are briefly summarized in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1: ERs within the Ganga Basin

Environmental Resources

i. Hydrological interventions within the basin; ii. Biosphere Reserve; iii. National Parks; iv. Tiger Reserves; v. Wildlife Sanctuaries; vi. Wetlands; vii. Reserved forest; viii. Aquatic Biodiversity; ix. Breeding and Nesting grounds of aquatic Species

(Schedule-I species);

7 http://250interchange.org/index.php/2013-03-20-13-49-38/10-environmental/16-environmental-resources



29

x. Fish Habitats and Fish Range xi. Heritage Sites.

I. Biosphere Reserves

The Government of India has established 18 Biosphere Reserves of India, (categories roughly correspond to IUCN Category V protected areas), which protect larger areas of natural habitat (i.e. more than a National Park or Animal Sanctuary) and often include one or more National Park and / or Reserves, along buffer zones that are open to some economic uses. Protection is granted not only to the flora and fauna of the protected region, but also to the human communities which inhabit these regions and their ways of life. The Ganga basin has two Biosphere reserves, namely the Nanda Devi Biosphere and the Sundarbans National Park, which are also a part of the World Network of Biosphere reserves. The details of these biosphere reserves are given below in Table 4.2. Map showing biosphere Reserves in GRB is given in Figure 4.1.

Table 4.2: Biosphere Reserves located in the Ganga Basin8

Name Location details

Nearest Tributary

Type Date of

Notification Area in Sq. Km

Co-ordinates

Distance from

NW-1 (in km)

Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (West Bengal)

Part of delta of Ganges and Brahmaputra river system

Ganga Gangetic Delta

29/03/1989 9630 22002’17.34”N 88051’03.59”E

70

Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (Uttrakhand)

Part of Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Almora Districts

Ramganga West Himalayas

18/01/1988 5860.69 30°25′07″ N 79°50′59″ E

600

II. National Parks

A National Park is a reserve of natural or semi-natural land, declared or owned by the Government of India and set aside for human recreation, animal and environmental protection and is restricted from most development. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and its World Commission on Protected Areas has classified National Parks under its Category II type of protected areas. At present India has 94 National Parks, spread all across the country, out of which 21 National Parks are within the Ganga basin. The total area cover of National Parks in the Ganga Basin is a little over 15,858 km2, with only a little less than half coming from Uttarakhand. A list of national parks within the Ganga basin, including district, adjacent tributary co-ordinates and settlement information is given below in Table 4.3. Map showing National Parks in GRB is given in Figure 4.2.

8Forest and Wildlife Statistics, India, 2014, MoEFCC



Figure 4.1: Location of Biosphere Reserves in Ganga River Basin



31

Figure 4.2: Location of National Parks in Ganga River Basin



32

Table 4.3: National Parks in Ganga River Basin9

Sr. No National Park State Location (District)

Nearest tributary

Nearest Settlement

Coordinates Area

(Sq.Km.)

Distance from NW-

1

(in km)

Regulated

buffer Zone Km radius

0 Valmiki National

Park Bihar

West Champaran

Koshi Narkatigang Bagha 27°23'7.55"N 84°8'33.66"E

335.65 195 10

1 Kalesar National

Park Haryana Yamuna nagar Yamuna JagadhriYamunanagar

30°20'14.31"N 77°33'24.73"E

46.82 703 5

2 Sultanpur

National Park Haryana Gurgaon Yamuna Gurgaon

28°27'50.08"N

76°53'28.63"E 1.43 592 5

3 Betla National

Park Jharkhand Palamau Koel Daltongani

23°52'23.72"N 84°11'17.77"E

231.67 196 10

4 Sanjay National

Park Madhya Pradesh

Sidhi/Sarguja Son Sidhi 23°55'36.72"N 81°48'36.59"E

1938 148 10

5 Panna National

Park

Madhya

Pradesh

Panna,

Chatarpur Son Satna

24°35'40.26"N

80°1'4.71"E 543 208 10

6 Bandhavgarh National Park

Madhya Pradesh

Shandol Son Katni 23°37'55.31"N 81°0'19.69"E

105.4 213 10

7 Madhav National

Park Madhya Pradesh

Shivpuri Chambal Shivpuri 25°26'53.15"N 77°42'59.33"E

337 428 10

8 Van Vihar

National Park

Madhya

Pradesh Bhopal Narmada Bhopal

23°14'4.93"N

77°22'1.04"E 4.45 519 10

9 Fossil National

Park Madhya Pradesh

Mandla Son Katni 23°5'2.84"N

80°42'56.58"E 0.27 283 10

10 Ranthambore National Park

Rajasthan SwaiMadhopur Chambal SawaiMadhopur 26°1'39.46"N

76°28'11.70"E 392 549 10

11 Sariska National

Park Rajasthan Alwar Banas Alwar

27°22'0.33"N

76°26'20.51"E 273.8 594 10

12 Keoladeo

National Park Rajasthan Bharatpur Yamuna Agra

27°9'53.85"N 77°31'5.63"E

28.73 483 10

13 Dudhwa National

Park Uttar

Pradesh Lakhimpur-

Kheri Ganga, Sarda

Dhangadhi 28°31'45.42"N 80°39'4.79"E

490.29 375 10

14 Nanda Devi

Biosphere Uttarakhand Pithoragrh Ramganga Vishnuprayag

30°20'19.46"N

79°57'30.18"E 5860.69 124 10

9 Source: NGRB Report (ESA volume-I), Forest Statistics India 2010. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Respective State Forest Department Webs ites, Respective National Park Official Website



33

Sr. No National Park State Location (District)

Nearest tributary

Nearest Settlement

Coordinates Area

(Sq.Km.)

Distance from NW-

1

(in km)

Regulated

buffer Zone Km radius

Reserve

15 Gangotri National

Park Uttarakhand Uttarkashi Ganga Gangi

31°12'38.65"N 79°3'40.79"E

1552.73 600 10

16 Rajaji National

Park Uttarakhand

Haridwar, Dehradun, and

PauriGarhwal

Ganga Rishikesh 30°0'25.12"N 78°3'26.84"E

820.42 648 10

17 Corbett National

Park Uttarakhand

Nainital and PauriGarhwal

Yamuna Yamunanagar 29°35'8.00"N

78°51'43.00"E 521 552 10

18 Govind Pashu

Vihar Uttarakhand Uttarkashi Bhagirathi Uttarkashi

31°8'39.07"N 78°15'21.83"E

957.97 719 10

19 Valley of Flowers

National Park Uttarakhand Pithoragrh Ramganga Joshimath

30°44'22.33"N

79°37'31.62"E 87.5 630 10

20 Sundarbans

National Park

West

Bengal

North and South

Paraganas Ganga Haldia

22°2'17.34"N

88°51'3.59"E 1330.1 70 10

Note: Default area of 10 km from the boundary of PA will be the Eco-sensitive zone of such protected area whose ESZ have not been notified.



III Tiger Reserves

Among the 510 wildlife sanctuaries across India, 28 have special significance for the conservation of the Bengal Tiger and therefore designated as Tiger Reserves. Project Tiger, a wildlife conservation program initiated in India in 1972 to protect the Bengal Tigers, governs these reserves, which are meant to be representative of various regions throughout India. The programme strives to maintain a viable population of this conservation-reliant species in their natural environment. Out of the 28 designated tiger reserves, 7 Tiger reserve are located near the project area in the Ganga Basin, and comprise a total core area of over 7138 km2; core area refers to the primary protected area of the reserve, in contrast to the so-called buffer area in which some development activities are allowed. The list of tiger reserves in Ganga basin, with associated district and adjacent tributary information, are given in Table 4.4. Map showing locations of Tiger Reserves in Ganga basin is provided in Figure 4.3.



35

Figure 4.3: Location of Tiger Reserves in Ganga River Basin



36

Table 4.4: Tiger Reserves located within the Ganga Basin10

Sr. No.

Name State Location (District)

Nearest Tributary

Nearest Settlement

Latitude Core Area

(Sq.Km.)

Distance from NW-1

(in km)

Regulated buffer Zone Km

radius

1 Valmiki Bihar West Champaran

Koshi NarkatigangBagha 27°23'7.55"N 84°8'33.66"E

880.76 188 10

2 Bandhavgarh Madhya Pradesh

Shahdol and Jabalpur

Johilla and Son

Katni 23°37'55.31"N 81°0'19.69"E

716.9 214 10

3 Panna Madhya Pradesh

Ken Panna and Chhatarpur

Son 24°35'40.26"N 80°1'4.71"E

576.13 208 10

4 Ranthambhore Rajasthan SawaiMadhopur and Karauli

Chambal SawaiMadhopur 26°1'39.46"N 76°28'11.70"E

1113.36 541 10

5 Sariska Rajasthan Alwar Chambal Alwar 27°22'0.33"N 76°26'20.51"E

681.11 594 10

6 Dudhwa-Katerniaghat

Uttar Pradesh

Lakhimpur-Kheri

Ganga, Sarda

Dhangadhi 28°31'45.42"N 80°39'4.79"E

648 372 10

7 Corbett Uttarakhand Nainital and PauriGarhwal

Yamuna Yamunanagar 29°35'8.00"N 78°51'43.00"E

821.99 551 10

8 Sunderbans West Bengal

North and South 24-Paraganas

Ganga Haldia 22°2'17.34"N 88°51'3.59"E

1699.92 70 10

Note: Default area of 10 km from the boundary of PA will be the Eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of such Protected area whose ESZ have not been notified.

10Source: NGRB Report (ESA volume-I), Forest Statistics India 2010. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Respective State Forest Department Webs ites, Respective National Park Official Website



IV Wildlife Sanctuaries

Any area comprised within any reserve forest or any part of the territorial waters, which is considered by the State Government to be of adequate ecological, faunal, geo morphological, natural or zoological significance for the purpose of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment, is to be included in a sanctuary. India has 510 animal sanctuaries, commonly referred to as Wildlife Sanctuaries (IUCN Category IV protected area). Wildlife sanctuaries are designated as a National Wildlife Sanctuary when they are deemed of national importance to conservation, usually due to some flagship faunal species. Out of this 510 wild life sanctuary, 63 are located in the Ganga basin, spread across Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The total area set aside for these sanctuaries is 12,334 Sq.km. An exhaustive list of wildlife sanctuaries within the Ganga basin by state is given Table 4.5. Map showing locations of the Wildlife Sanctuaries is given in Figure 4.4.



38

Figure 4.4 Location of Wildlife Sanctuaries in Ganga River Basin



39

Table 4.5: Wildlife Sanctuaries in Ganga River Basin11

Sr. No. State Wildlife Sanctuary District Coordinates Area

(Sq.Km.)

Distance from NW-1

(In Km.)

Regulated buffer Zone (Km radius)

0 Bihar Bhimbandh Munger 25°4'31.50"N 86°21'57.93"E 681.99 22 10 1 Bihar Kanwarjheel Begusarai 25°36'55.05"N 86°8'43.84"E 63.11 27 10

2 Bihar Valmiki Pashchim

Champaran 27°23'7.55"N 84°8'33.66"E 544.67 191 10

3 Bihar VikramshilaGangetic

Dolphin Bhagalpur

25°15'7.44"N 86°44'14.08"E to

25°16'55.20"N 87°13'44.40"E

0.5 00 10

4 Delhi Indira Priyadarshani

(Asola) Delhi 28°27'29.98"N 77°15'9.88"E 13.2 574 10

5 Haryana Bhindawas Rohtak 28°31'59.79"N 76°32'57.82"E

4.12 642 5

6 Haryana Kalesar Yamuna Nagar 30°22'5.25"N 77°28'4.24"E 100.28 639 5

7 Haryana Khaparwas Jhajjar 28°33'50.86"N 76°31'39.80"E

0.83 647 5

8 Haryana Nahar Rewari 28°24'43.61"N 76°24'53.42"E

2.11 638 5

9 HP Churdhar Sirmaur 30°52'1.69"N 77°27'45.90"E 56.15 747 10

10 HP Renuka Sirmour 30°36'34.06"N 77°27'22.75"E

4.02 750 10

11 HP Simbalbara Sirmour 30°29'29.95"N 77°36'54.43"E

19.03 720 10

12 HP Talra Shimla 31°1'48.13"N 77°47'8.01"E 26 741 10

13 Jharkhand Udhwa Lake Bird

Sanctuary Sahebganj

24°58'23.02"N 87°49'20.30"E

0.57 9 10

14 MP Bagdara Sidhi 24°47'5.55"N 81°55'52.36"E 478 62 10 15 MP Gandhi Sagar Mandsaur 24°38'46.89"N 368.62 644 10

11Source:NGRB Report (ESA volume-I), Forest Statistics India 2010. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Respective State Forest Department Websites, Respective National Park Official Website



40


(Sq.Km.)

Distance from NW-1

(In Km.)


75°30'41.81"E

16 MP Ghatigaon Gwalior 26°16'23.91"N 77°54'39.34"E

511 407 10

17 MP Karera Shivpuri 25°46'47.67"N 77°49'33.21"E

202.21 411 10

18 MP Ken Gharial Panna, Chhatarpur 24°35'40.26"N 80°1'4.71"E 45.2 215 10

19 MP National Chambal Morena, Bhind 26°40'58.41"N 78°5'45.51"E 435 408 10 20 MP Narsinhgarh Raigarh 23°39'21.03"N 77°6'31.01"E 59.19 520 10

21 MP Nauradehi Damoh, Sagar, Narsimhapur

23°10'41.31"N 79°12'6.79"E 1194.67 365 10

22 MP Orcha Tikamgarh 25°19'40.65"N 78°38'36.80"E

44.91 330 10

23 MP Palpur-Kuno Morena 25°42'8.04"N 77°16'23.38"E 344.68 474 10 24 MP Panna (Gangau) Panna 24°38'8.19"N 79°38'34.67"E 68.14 256 10

25 MP Panpatha Shahdol 23°52'41.63"N 81°3'51.01"E 245.84 186 10

26 MP Ralamandal Indore 22°38'53.34"N; 75°55'20.87"E

2.34 688 10

27 MP Sailana Ratlam 23°25'48.75"N 74°54'44.48"E

12.96 737 10

28 MP Sanjay Dubri Sidhi 23°35'29.39"N 81°31'42.77"E

364.59 210 10

29 MP Son Gharial Sidhi,

Shahdol,Satna 24°28'40.82"N 81°57'50.43"E

41.8 65 10

30 MP Veerangna Durgawati Damoh 23°31'55.35"N 79°43'46.80"E

23.97 301 10

31 Rajasthan Bandh Baratha Bharatpur 26°53'15.48"N 77°22'5.99"E 192.76 482 10

32 Rajasthan Bassi Chittaurgarh 24°59'30.45"N 74°49'19.24"E

152.9 717 10

33 Rajasthan Bhensrodgarh Chittaurgarh 24°51'57.90"N 75°33'39.92"E

229.14 633 10

34 Rajasthan Darrah Kota 24°47'17.76"N 76°5'15.28"E 265.8 587 10



41


(Sq.Km.)

Distance from NW-1

(In Km.)


35 Rajasthan Jamwa Ramgarh Kaipur 27°4'7.10"N 76°2'30.15"E 300 624 10 36 Rajasthan Jawahar Sagar Kota 25°2'37.58"N 75°40'13.11"E 100 625 10

37 Rajasthan Kela Devi SawaiMadhopur 26°17'55.89"N 76°53'58.45"E

676.38 515 10

38 Rajasthan Kumbhalgarh Udaipur, Plai 25°8'39.60"N 73°33'12.47"E 578.25 842 10

39 Rajasthan Nahargarh Jaipur 27°0'3.96"N 75°50'37.75"E 50 635 10 40 Rajasthan National Chambal Kota 26°10'42.06"N 77°3'49.88"E 280 508 10

41 Rajasthan Ramgarh Vishdhari Bundi 25°30'28.83"N 75°43'7.64"E 301 623 10

42 Rajasthan Ramsagar Dholpur 26°34'42.59"N 77°36'21.92"E

34.4 483 10

43 Rajasthan Sajjangarh Udaipur 24°36'23.38"N 73°37'31.20"E

5.19 837 10

44 Rajasthan Sariska Alwar 27°22'0.33"N 76°26'20.51"E 492 582 10

45 Rajasthan Sawai Man Singh SawaiMadhopur 25°55'31.12"N 76°22'0.94"E 103.25 556 10

46 Rajasthan Shergarh Kota 24°41'14.35"N 76°30'49.18"E

98.71 552 10

47 Rajasthan Sitamata Chittaurgarh,

Udaipur 24°14'17.90"N 74°32'51.28"E

422.94 755 10

48 Rajasthan TadgarhRaoli Ajmer, Rajsaman,

Plai 25°41'39.55"N 73°54'3.53"E 495.27 801 10

49 Rajasthan Van Vihar Dhaulpur 26°36'46.21"N 77°46'1.61"E 59.93 414 10

50 /Bihar Kaimur Mirzapur,

Sonbhadra 24°30'54.78"N 83°15'54.26"E

500.73 80 2

51 UP Lakh Bahosi Farrukhabad 26°54'47.50"N 79°39'19.20"E

80.24 281 10

52 UP Samaspur Rae Bareli 26°0'24.73"N 81°23'18.12"E 7.99 89 10

53 UP Surha Tal Ballia 25°50'38.51"N 84°10'31.92"E

34.32 12 10

54 UP Turtle Varanasi 25°18'32.04"N 83°0'54.62"E 7 00 10

(Recomonded 0 Km by UP



42


(Sq.Km.)

Distance from NW-1

(In Km.)


state authority)

55 Uttarakhand Govind PashuVihar Uttarkashi 31°8'7.53"N 78°25'36.45"E 481 723 10

56 WB Bihutibhusan North 24-Paraganas 23°6'20.86"N 88°46'7.56"E 0.64 27 10

57 WB Haliday Island South 24-Paraganas

21°39'50.24"N 88°37'56.64"E

5.95 72 10

58 WB Lothian Island South 24-Paraganas

21°39'37.89"N 88°19'53.83"E

38 50 10

59 WB Chintamani Kar Bird

Sanctuary South 24-Paraganas

22°25'41.01"N 88°24'7.10"E 0.1 (6.9

ha) 14 10

60 WB Sajnekhali South 24-Paraganas

22°7'27.89"N 88°49'51.18"E 362.4 76 10

Note: Default area of 10 km from the boundary of PA will be the Eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of such Protected area whose ESZ have not been

notified.



V Important Bird Areas The purpose of identifying the “Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) under IBA Programme” is to protect and manage a network of sites that are significant for the long-term viability of naturally occurring bird populations, across the geographical range of those bird species for which a site-based approach is appropriate. The IBA Programme is global in scale and, to date, over 10,000 sites have been identified world-wide, using standard, internationally recognized criteria for selection. The sites are identified on the basis of the bird numbers and species' complements that they hold, and are selected such that, taken together, they form a network throughout the species' bio-geographic distributions. This network may be considered as a minimum essential to ensure the survival of these species across their ranges, should there occur a net loss of remaining habitat elsewhere through human, or other, modification. Therefore, the consequences of the loss of any one of these sites may be disproportionately large. The IBA programme aims to guide the implementation of national conservation strategies, through the promotion and development of national protected-area programmes. It is also intended to assist the conservation activities of international organizations and to promote the implementation of global agreements and regional measures. Identification of important bird area is based on following criteria:

Places of international significance for the conservation of birds and other biodiversity.

Recognized world-wide as practical tools for conservation

Distinct areas amenable to practical conservation action

Identified using standardized, agreed criteria

Sites that together form part of a wider, integrated approach to the conservation and sustainable use of the natural environment

There are about 95 Important Bird areas falls in Ganga River Basin. The list of Important Bird areas in Ganga Basin is given in Table 4.6 and Figure 4.5.



Figure 4.5 Location of Important Bird Area in Ganga Basin



45

Table 4.6 List of Important Bird Areas in Ganga Basin

Sl. No. Name of State Important Bird Area in Ganga Basin Coordinates Distance(km)

1

Himachal Pradesh

Chail Wildlife Sanctuary 30°58’N 77°14’E 775

2 Churdhar Wildlife Sanctuary 30°51’N 77°28’E 750

3 Sangla (Raksham Chitkul) Wildlife Sanctuary 31°20’N 78°39’E 742

4 Talra Wildlife Sanctuary 31°2’N 77°47’E 749

5

Haryana

Basai wetlands 28°29’N 76°59’E 575

6 Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary 28°37’N 76°41’E 628

7 Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary 30°22’N 77°33’E 695

8 Sultanpur National Park 28°28’N 76°55’E 592

9 Wetlands of Yamuna River 28°52’N 77°11’E 609

10 Delhi Okhla Bird Sanctuary 28°33’N 77°18’E 600

11

Rajasthan

Alniya Dam 25°0’N 75°52’E 613

12 Bardha Dam 25°27’N 75°39’E 640

13 Gawana Arain, Mangaliyawas, Ramsar, Goyal, Ratakot, Badar 26°26’N 74°37’E

752

14 Keoladeo National Park and Ajan Bande 27°10’N 77°31’E 473

15 Kumbalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary 24°33’N 73°54’E 809

16 National Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary 26°40’N 78°5’E 408

17 Ramsagar Lake 25°36’N 75°3’E 692

18 Ranthambore National Park and Tiger Reserve 26°2’N 76°29’E 548

19 Sajjangarh Wildlife Sanctuary 24°38’N 73°39’E 841

20 Sambhar Lake 26°57’N 75°4’E 701

21 Sareri Bandh 25°42’N 75°38’E 629

22 Sariska Tiger Reserve 27°26’N 76°28’E 590

23 Sei Dam reservoir and surrounding environs 24°46’N 73°12’E 879

24 Sonkhaliya Closed Area 26°18’N 74°46’E 726

25 Udaipur Lakes Complex 24°35’N 73°49’E 828



46

26 Bagdarrah Closed Area 24°28’N 73°52’E 816

27

Uttaranchal

Asan Barrage 30°26’N 77°42’E 692

28 Askot Wildlife Sanctuary and Goriganga Basin 29°41’N 80°16’E 500

29 Binog Sanctuary – Bhadraj – Jharipani 30°28’N 78°4’E 653

30 Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary 29°40’N 79°45’E 524

31 Corbett Tiger Reserve 29°35’N 78°55’E 548

32 Govind National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Sandra, Kotinad and Singtur ranges (Tons forest division) 31°10’N 78°20’E

734

33 Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary and surrounding Reserve Forests 30°43’N 79°19’E

633

34 Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve 30°21’N 79°58’E 600

35 New Forest Campus 30°20’N 78°0’E 683

36 Rajaji National Park 30°3’N 78°4’E 659

37 Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary 29°38’N 78°41’E 581

38 Upper Pindar Catchment in East Almora Forest Division 30°15’N 80°3’E 540

39 Valley of Flowers National Park 30°46’N 79°40’E 649

40 Gangotri National Park 31°19’N 79°6’E 723

41

Uttar Pradesh

Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary 26°35’N 83°0’E 114

42 Dudwa National Park 28°29’N 80°42’E 365

43 Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary 29°32’N 78°9’E 591

44 Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary and Girijapur Barrage 28°15’N 81°11’E 320

45 Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary 28°24’N 80°22’E 368

46 Kudaiyya marshland 27°0’N 78°59’E 330

47 Kurra Jheel 27°1’N 79°6’E 349

48 Lagga-Bagga Reserve Forest 28°37’N 79°48’E 416

49 Lakh-Bahosi Bird Sanctuary 27°30’N 79°30’E 332

50 Narora 28°13’N 78°33’E 453

51 National Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary 26°43’N 78°43’E 339



47

52 Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary 26°35’N 80°40’E 185

53 Parvati Aranga Wildlife Sanctuary 27°25’N 82°20’E 226

54 Patna Bird Sanctuary 27°35’N 78°45’E 400

55 Pyagpur and Sitadwar Jheel 27°31’N 81°54’E 234

56 Saman Bird Sanctuary 27°5’N 79°0’E 343

57 Samaspur Bird Sanctuary 26°0’N 81°25’E 84

58 Sandi Wildlife Sanctuary 27°15’N 79°55’E 282

59 Sarsai Nawar Lake 26°58’N 79°15’E 315

60 Sauj Lake 27°1’N 79°11’E 330

61 Sheikha Jheel 27°49’N 78°10’E 461

62 Sohangibarwa Wildlife Sanctuary 27°18’N 83°44’E 183

63 Soheldev Wildlife Sanctuary 27°44’N 82°9’E 266

64 Sur Sarovar Bird Sanctuary 27°0’N 77°45’E 450

65 Surha Tal Wildlife Sanctuary 25°45’N 84°20’E 0.10

66

Madhya Pradesh

Bandhavgarh National Park 23°36’N 81°14’E 207

67 Bhoj wetland 23°14’N 77°22’E 493

68 Dihaila Jheel and other wetlands 25°42’N 78°10’E 374

69 Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary and reservoir 24°36’N 75°41’E 631

70 Ghatigaon Bustard Sanctuary 26°2’N 77°52’E 413

71 Halali Reservoir 23°30’N 77°30’E 490

72 Madhav National Park 25°29’N 77°41’E 425

73 Panna National Park 24°26’N 80°5’E 214

74 Rangawa Reservoir 24°42’N 79°51’E 221

75 Sailana Kharmor Sanctuary 23°24’N 74°58’E 728

76 Sardarpur Wildlife Sanctuary 22°36’N 75°12’E 742

77 Yeshwantsagar Reservoir 22°49’N 75°41’E 695

78 Bihar

Chaurs of North Bihar 26°8’N 86°10’E 67

79 Danapur cantonment area 25°39’N 85°2’E 7.12



48

80 Gogabil Pakshi Vihar, Baghar Beel and Baldia Chaur 25°24’N 87°45’E 11

81 Kawar or Kabar Lake Wildlife Sanctuary 25°41’N 86°5’E 33

82 Kurseala River Course and Diyara Flood Plains 25°27’N 87°15’E 6

83 Kusheshwarsthan 26°10’N 86°3’E 68

84 Mokama Taal (Barah) Wetlands 25°28’N 85°42’E 2

85 Nagi Dam and Nakti Dam Bird Sanctuary 24°49’N 86°25’E 53

86 Reservoirs of Chotanagpur Plateau 24°10’N 84°31’E 160

87 Valmiki Tiger Reserve and Saraiyaman Lake 27°19’N 84°9’E 186

88 Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary 25°17’N 86°56’E 00

89

Jharkhand Hazaribagh Wildlife Sanctuary and North Karanpur Valley 24°8’N 85°20’E 153

90 Palamau Tiger Reserve 23°40’N 84°10’E 209

91 Udhwa Lake Bird Sanctuary 25°0’N 87°49’E 9.00

92

West Bengal

Farakka Barrage and adjoining area 25°6’N 87°48’E 00

93 Kulik (Raiganj) Bird Sanctuary 25°58’N 87°53’E 77

94 Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary 26°52’N 88°25’E 190

95 Naya Bandh Wetland Complex 24°55’N 88°20’E 37

96 Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (National Park) 22°11’N 88°58’E 80 (Source: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/site)



VI Wetlands Wetlands are areas transitional between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem where water table is usually at or near the surface. Ramsar convention (1971) has defined wetlands as areas of marsh, fen, peat land or water whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary with static or flowing water, fresh, brackish or salt including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed 6 m. Wetlands are repository of vital information and services. They provide maintenance of food web, habitat to aquatic flora and fauna, as well as to numerous birds, filtering of sediments and nutrients from surface water, controlling floods, recharging ground water, provide drinking water, fish, fodder, fuel and provide source of livelihood and recreation to local populace. India has 58.2 million hectares of land including areas under cultivation for paddy. Fresh water wetlands alone support 20% of biodiversity in India. There are many lakes, tanks and marshes in Ganga Basin (GB) . Table 4.7 shows many surface water bodies of GB including manmade reservoirs. There are many lakes and wetlands spread across the basin – in the mountainous Himalayan region, Himalayan terai region, Gangetic plains, and in coastal deltaic region – which together support a large and diverse ecological system in different geophysical settings. Several of GB’s wetlands are home to specialized flora and fauna as well as migratory species, which fulfill crucial ecological and social functions such as nutrient recycling, water purification, flood attenuation, ground water recharge, and buffering of shorelines against erosion, besides providing water, fish, fodder and recreation to society. State wise list of important wetland along the GB is given Table 4.7 and Figure 4.6.



Figure 4.6: Location of Important Wetlands in Ganga Basin



51

Table 4.7: Important Wetlands in Ganga Basin 12

Sr. No.

Wetland name Type Area State Latitude Longitude Regulated buffer Zone

Km radius Distance from NW-

1, (in km)

0 Khabartal Natural lake 2680 ha Begusarai,

Bihar 25º 37’ 00” N 86º 08’ 00”E 10 29

1 Mora Mahananda Tal

(Mahananda Dhar)

Riverine

wetland 68 ha Katihar, Bihar 25º 26’ 54” N, 87º 44’ 36” E 10 19

2 Bawlee Chaur Natural

waterlogged 68 ha Bihar 26º 32’ 15” N 84º 54’ 16” E 10 88

3 Kosi/Belasi Dam Reservoir 520 ha Banka, Bihar 24º 56’ 54” N 86º 49’ 15” E 10 37

4 Getulsud Reservoir 2302 ha Jharkhand 23°26'38.601"N 85°31'17.874"E 10 215

5 Konar Reservoir 2149 ha Jharkhand 23°55’50.85”N 85°45’50.731”E 10 180

6 Tenughat Reservoir 3814 ha Jharkhand 23°43'51.677"N 85°50'1.091"E 10 202

7 Massanjore Reservoir 5027 ha Jharkhand 24°6’29.9”N 87°18’39.3”E 10 92

8 Tilaiya Reservoir 4865 ha Jharkhand 24°20'38.8"N 85°25'56.201"E 10 128

9 Udhwa Lake 1605 ha Jharkhand 24° 58' 6.400" N 87° 48' 55.500" E 10 9.29

10 East Kolkata Wetlands Lake 12512 ha West Bengal 20˚25′00”N to 22˚35′00”N;

88˚20′00” E to 88˚35′00” E.

10 14

11 Sundarbans Mangroves 209330

ha West Bengal 21˚56′00’’ N 88˚51′00’’ E. 10 70

12 Surha Tal Lake 2357 ha Uttar Pradesh 25˚48′ 58’’and 25˚52′ 13’ N;

84˚08′15’’ and 84˚08′15’’ E.

10 14

13 Baghettal Lake 1432 ha Uttar Pradesh 27˚22′ 44’’and 27˚25′ 36’ N;

81˚42′15’’ and 81˚46′16’’ E.

10 218

14 Bakhira Wildlife

Sanctuary Lake 3905 ha Uttar Pradesh

26˚52′ 10’’and

26˚56′ 38’ N;

83˚05′16’’ and

83˚12′18’’ E. 10 154

15 Ghaghar Reservoir Reservoir 2165 ha Uttar Pradesh 24˚36′ 01’’and 24˚38′ 56’ N

83˚09′33’’ and 83˚15′03’’ E.

10 63

16 Samaspur Wildlife

Sanctuary Sanctuary 791 ha Uttar Pradesh

25˚55′ 40’’and 26˚03′ 47’ N

81˚18′33’’ and 81˚27′51’’ E

10 80

17 Dahar Lake (Sandi

Wildlife Sanctuary) Sanctuary 309 ha Uttar Pradesh

27˚17′ 57’’and

27˚19′ 42’ N

79˚57′47’’ and

79˚59′10’’ E 10 290

18 Keetham Reservoir Reservoir

403 ha Uttar Pradesh

27˚14′ 25’’and 27˚15′ 57’ N

77˚49′41’’ and 77˚51′37’’ E.

10 447

12Source: MOEF National Wetland Atlas: Prepared by Space Applications Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabadand Institute of Environmental Studies & Wetland

Management (IESWM), Kolkata)



52

Sr. No.

Wetland name Type Area State Latitude Longitude Regulated buffer Zone

Km radius Distance from NW-

1, (in km)

19 BaghulDhora Lake 2278 ha Uttarakhand 28˚52′ 56’’and 28˚56′ 20’ N;

79˚35′46’’ and 79˚40′55’’ E.

10 446

20 Bour dam Reservoir 2612 ha Uttarakhand 29˚06′ 26’’and

29˚09′ 41’ N;

79˚15′12’’ and

79˚22′22’’ E. 10 492

21 Nanaksagar Reservoir 3330 ha Uttarakhand 28˚56′ 13’’and 28˚59′ 54’ N

79˚47′28’’ and 79˚53′09’’ E

10 449

22 Tehri dam Reservoir 1245 ha Uttarakhand 30˚21′ 54’’and 30˚26′ 45’ N;

78˚25′44’’ and 78˚33′08’’ E.

10 674

23 Tumaria Lake 2094 ha Uttarakhand 29˚18′ 08’’and

29˚21′ 05’ N;

78˚52′59’’ and

78˚57′39’’ E. 10 522

24 Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary Lake 145 ha Haryana 28o 28 ’ 15” N &

28o 27’ 14” N 76o 52’ 50” E &

76o 54‘ 2” E 5 636

25 Bhindawas Bird

Sanctuary Lake 435 ha Haryana

28o 32 ’ 47” N & 28o 31’ 57” N,

76o 31’ 54” E & 76o 34‘ 10” E

5 613

26 Damdama lake Lake 43 ha Haryana 28o 18’ 50” N &

28o 17’ 54” N

77o 07’ 37” E &

77o 08‘ 09” E 10 573

27 MinimataBango Reservoir Chhattisgarh 22° 41' 00" N 22° 41' 00" N 10 283

28 Renuka Lake Lake 29 ha Himachal Pradesh

30036’ 44” N & 30036’ 42” N

77026‘ 59” E & 77027‘ 58” E

10 733

29 Sambhar Lake Lake 24294 ha Rajasthan 26052’ 31” to 270 01’ 57”N

740 53‘47” to 75013’ 41”E

10 717

30 Keoladeo Ghana National

Park Lake 2912 ha Rajasthan

270 07’ 34” N &

27012’ 16”

77029‘ 28” E &

77033‘ 40” E 10 577

31 Jaisamund Lake Lake 512 ha Rajasthan 270 28’ 45” N & 270 30’ 24” N

760 32‘ 36” E & 760 35‘ 19” E

10 585

32 Dhebar Lake Lake 5985 ha Rajasthan 240 13’ 08” N &

24018’ 52” N 730 54‘ 57” E & 740 02‘ 53” E

10 808

33 Jawai reservoir Reservoir 3027 ha Rajasthan 250 00’ 48” N &

250 05’ 57” N

730 08‘ 47” E &

730 12‘ 59” E 10 883

34 Annasagar lake Lake 155 ha Rajasthan 260 28’ 00” N & 260 29’ 01” N

740 36‘ 59” E & 740 37‘ 58” E

10 703

35 Udaisagar Reservoir Reservoir 719 ha Rajasthan 240 32’ 45” N & 240 35’ 19” N

730 47‘ 09” E & 730 49‘ 33” E

10 836

36 Bhoj wetland Reservoir 31 km2 Madhya

Pradesh 23o14’ 46” N 77o20’ 31” E 10 532

Note: Default area of 10 km from the boundary of PA will be the Eco-sensitive zone of such Protected area whose ESZ have not been notified.



53

VII Reserved Forest

The vegetation type of the Ganga basin is largely tropical moist and dry deciduous types of forest, but also includes sub-tropical coniferous, Himalayan dry temperate and Himalayan moist temperate forests types. The extent of forest cover among the various states within Ganga basin is given in Table 4.8. The reserved forest location map is shown in Figure 4.7.



54

Figure 4.7: Reserved Forests in Ganga River Basin



55

Table 4.8: State-wise Forest and Tree Cover in Ganga Basin States

State Geographical Area

(Sq. km)

Forest and Tree Cover

% of Geographical Area of the State

Very Dense

Forest (Sq. km)

Moderately Dense Forest

Cover

(Sq. km)

Open

Forest (Sq. km)

Tree Cover (Sq. km)

Total (Sq. km)

Bihar 94,163 247 3380 3664 2164 9455 10.04

Delhi 1,483 6.76 49.38 123.67 118 297.81 20.08

Haryana 44,212 27 453 1106 1282 2868 6.49

Himachal Pradesh 55,673 3224 6381 5078 697 15380 27.63

Jharkhand 79,714 2587 9667 11,219 2629 26,102 32.74

Madhya Pradesh 308,245 6632 34,921 35,969 7087 84609 27.45

Rajasthan 342,239 72 4424 11,590 7,860 23,946 7

Uttar Pradesh 240,928 1623 4550 8176 6895 21,244 8.82

Uttarakhand 53,483 4785 14,111 5612 703 25211 47.14

West Bengal 88,752 2971 4146 9688 2144 18949 21.35

Chhattisgarh 135191 4153 34865 16603 3463 59, 084 43.7

Ganga Basin (Total) 1,444,083 26,328 116,947 108,829 35,042 228,062 19.5882 Source: (State of Forest Report, 2013)



56

VIII Aquatic Biodiversity Breeding and Nesting grounds of threatened aquatic species (Schedule-I species)

The main stem of Ganga can be categorised into three stretches and sub-stretches based on habitat, substrate and ecology. The upper stretch is mountainous with cold water, high velocities and low nutrient concentration. The middle and lower reaches are in plains with river meandering, floodplains, comparatively moderate water temperatures, reduced velocity and increased sediment load with nutrients presenting sufficient quantities due to large human interventions13. The three stretches are Upper Ganga (Gangotri to Haridwar covering 294 km), Middle Ganga (Haridwar-Varanasi covering 1082 km) and Lower Ganga (Varanasi to Ganga Sagar covering 1134 km). Zoological Survey of India has documented 27 species of reptiles from the river. Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), Muggar (Crocodylus palustris) Aspideretes gangeticus, a soft shell turtle, are some reptilian species of the river. One of the most rare, endemic and endangered mammals of the Ganga is the Ganga river dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica. Smooth coated Otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) a vulnerable species is also reported.

a. Breeding and Nesting grounds of aquatic Species (Schedule-I species)

1. Dolphin

Two species of Ganga river dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) and Indus river dolphin (P. gangetica minor) are found in the Indian subcontinent. The Ganga river dolphin, locally known as Susu, is restricted to the Ganga, Brahamputra, Karnaphuli- Sangu, and Meghna river systems and their tributaries, from the foot hills of the Himalaya to the limits of the tidal zone in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. In Ganga river, Dolphins are also present in its tributaries like Yamuna, Chambal, Ghaghra, Gandak, Rapti, Narayani and Kosi rivers. Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista gangetica gangetica) has been included in Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and declared as national aquatic animal in 2009. The species is endangered as per IUCN threatened categories (2014.3). The population status of dolphins in the Ganga river and its tributaries are given in Table 4.9.

Table 4.9: Population Status of Dolphins in the Ganga river and its tributaries

Name of the River Length of the

River Surveyed Dolphin Number

Source

The Ganga main stem

The Ganga (Haridwar to

Bijnor Barrage)

100 km Nil Behera, 1995, Sinha et al.

(2000)

The Ganga (Bijnor Barrage to Narora Barrage)

169 km 56 WWF-India Survey Report (pers. comm. S. Behera (2010)

The Ganga (Narora to

Kanpur)

300 km 03 WWF-India Survey Report

(pers. comm. S. Behera (2010)

Kanpur to Allahabad Survey Report

200 km 78 WWF-India Survey Report (pers. comm. S. Behera

(2010)

The Ganga (Allahabad to Buxar)

425 km 172 (d/s survey)

Sinha et al. (2000)

13GRB EMP: Ganga River Basin Management Plan



57

Name of the River Length of the

River Surveyed Dolphin Number

Source

The Ganga (Buxar to Maniharighat)

500 km 808 (u/s survey)

Sinha et al. (2000)

The Ganga (Maniharighat to

Farakka)

100 km 24 (d/s

survey)

unpublished data of Dec.

2004 (Sinha, 2004)

The Farakka Feeder canal 38 km 21 (d/s survey)

Sinha et al. (2000)

The Bhagirathi (Jangipur Barrage to Triveni)


Sinha et al. (2000)

The Hooghli (Triveni Ganga

Sagar)

190 km 97 (d/s

survey)

(pers. comm. G. Sharma

2008)

Tributaries of the Ganga

The Yamuna (from Confluence of Chambal to Hamirpur)


WWF-India Survey Report (pers. comm. S. Behera 2010) Sinha et al. (2000)

The Kosi (Kosi Barrage to

Kursela)

200 km 85 (discrete

survey)

Sinha and Sharma (2003)

The Gandak (Gandak Barrage to confluence with Ganga at Patna)


multi-organizational survey 2010

The Gherua (India-Nepal

border to Girijapuri

Barrage)

20 km 23 (d/s

survey)

Smith et al. (1994)

The Sarda (Sarda Barrage to Palya)

100 km Nil Sinha and Sharma (2003)

The Chambal (Pali to Pachhnada)

425 km 79 Singh (2010)

The Ken (from confluence of

Yamuna at Chilla to Sindhan Kala village)

30 km 08 (d/s

survey)

Sinha et al. (2000)

The Kumari (from confluence of Sind River)

100 km Nil Sinha et al. (2000)

The Betwa (from confluence

of the Yamuna at Hamirpur to Orai

84 km 06 (d/s

survey)

Sinha et al. (2000)

The Sind (from confluence with the Yamuna)


Sinha et al. (2000)

The Son 130 km 10 (d/s

survey)

Sinha et al. (2000)

The Brahmaputra 600 km 856 km

400 (1996) 197 (2004-05)

Mohan (1997) pers. comm. A. Wakid

The Barak river 17 km 02 (1999),

08 (2004), 06 (2006)

Pers. comm. Paulan Singh

The river Subansiri 99 km 26 Wakid (2009)

The river Kulsi 76 km 27 Wakid (2009)

2. Crocodiles (Gharial and Mugger)

Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), mugger (Crocodylus sp.) and salt water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) are reported in Ganga Basin. The early records reveal that these aquatic reptiles at one time were very abundant throughout their distribution range. However due to commercial exploitation and habitat destruction populations of



58

crocodile species were reduced to near extinction. In many of the habitats the crocodile populations were totally wiped out. Considering their vulnerability, the Government of India enforced protective legislation through the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 which prohibits its killing. Adult Gharials from Anupsahar in district Bulandshahar were reported in 1995. In 1994, three Gharials were reported in the river Ganga downstream of Narora barrage. There is record of mugger from many places of the Ganga river at Narora especially downstream of barrage. Since there is a heavy human activity along the river Ganga, it was observed that mugger prefer living in the lower Ganga river canal. Present population of Gharial in Ganga River is estimated to be less than 200 (year 2006). The mating season is during November through December and well into January. The nesting and laying of eggs take place in the dry season of March, April and May. This is because during the dry season the rivers shrink a bit and the sandy river banks are available for nesting. Mugger: Mainly a freshwater species, the mugger crocodile is found in lakes, rivers

and marshes. Muggers prefer slow-moving, shallower bodies of water rather than, fast-flowing, deep areas. Also known to thrive in manmade reservoirs and irrigation canals. It is sympatric with the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) in some areas of India and with the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in other areas, but separated by habitat most of the time. It is known to be more mobile on land, can migrate considerable distances over land in search of a more suitable habitat. It can chase prey on land for short distances. They are also known to dig burrows as shelters during the dry season.

3. Turtles

In the middle Ganga (Haridwar- Allahabad) a total of 12 freshwater turtle species have been identified. The Kachuga sp. is dominated with 5 species (K. smithii, K. tecta, K. tentoria, K. dhongoka and K. kachuga) followed by two species of Aspideretes (A. gangeticus and A. hurum) and one each species of Chitra indica, Lissemys punctata, Hardella thurjii, Geoclemys hamiltoni and Melanochelys trijuga. Kachuga dhongoka was reported in river Ganga at Allahabad and in river Yamuna at Bateswar (U.P.). Occurrence of Kachuga dhongoka in Chambal has been reported. Distribution of common species of turtles in middle Ganga from Gangdaspur in Bijnor district is given in Table 4.10.

Table 4.10: Status and distribution and of freshwater Turtles in river Ganga Sr.

No. Common name Species

Threatened status

(IUCN) 1 Three striped roof turtle Batagur dhongoka Endangered

2 Red crowned roof turtle Batagur kachuga Critically Endangered

3 Narrow headed soft shell turtle Chitra indica Endangered

4 Spotted pond turtle Geoclemys hamiltonii Vulnerable

5 Crowned river turtle Hardella thurjii Vulnerable

6 Indian flap shell turtle Lissemys punctata Lower risk

7 Indian black turtle Melanochelys trijuga NT

8 Indian soft shell turtle Nilssonia gangeticus Vulnerable

9 Indian peacock soft shell turtle Nilssonia hurum Vulnerable

10 Brown roofed turtle Pangshura smithii NT (lower risk)



59

11 Indian roofed turtle Pangshura tecta Lower risk

12 Indian tent turtle Pangshura tentoria Lower risk

The nesting and breeding status of different turtle species occurring in the Ganga river are shown in Table 4.11 and Table 4.12.

Table 4.11: Nesting sites of turtles between Bijnor to Kanpur

Sr. No. Place Latitude Latitude

1 Bijnor 29°34´214 78°05´971

2 Maqdoompur 29°08´743 78°04´546

3 Tighri ghat 28°79´329 (28.822482) 78°14´148 (78.157875)

4 Garh 28°74´214 (26.81019) 78°17´678 (80.11266)

5 Pooth 28°69´419 28.69352 78°18´50178.19308

6 Awantika Devi 28°40´066( 28.450510) 78°28´274 (78.279008)

7 Anoopshehar 28°32´633 (28.354112) 78°29´149 78.267427

8 Rajghat 28°21´067 (28.240950) 78°19´228 (78.358984)

Table 4.12: Breeding status of fresh water Turtles occurs in the Ganga river

between Rishikesh and Kanpur

S. No. Species Nesting season Hatching season 1 Geoclemys hamiltoni - -

2 Melanochelys trijuga - -

3 Batagur dhongoka December-February-April May

4 Batagur kachuga December-February-April May

5 Pangshura smithii October-December May

6 Pangshura tentoria September-February May

7 Pangshura tecta October-December May

8 Lissemys punctata July-October July

9 Chitra indica September October

10 Nilssonia gangeticus August-October June/July

11 Nilssonia hurum - -

12 Hardella thurjii -

Characteristic vertebrate taxa (Turtles, Gharials and Dolphin of Middle Ganga (Haridwar to Varanasi) is given in Table 4.13. Table 4.13: Characteristic vertebrate taxa (Turtles, Gharials and Dolphin) of Middle

Ganga stretch

Characteristic Taxa

Dwelling Habitat

Feeding Habits

Breeding Ground

Turtles: Kachuga and Aspideretes

sp.

Shallow waters on sandy banks

Adult turtles feed mainly on insect larvae and

decomposing organic materials (Scavengers)

Breed on sand beds Nesting in Dec- Feb

hatching in May

Gharials: Gavialis gangeticus

Less interrupted basking sites, prefer clayey

islands from sand of banks

Juveniles feed on small crustaceans insects, frogs. Adults feed on

small fish

Nesting in dry season preferred riverine

sand banks

Dolphin Platanista

gangetica gangetica

Mid channel depth approx 2- 4.5 m

with bank depth greater than 1.5 m. Rocky and muddy

Catfish, Small carps, Prawns, molluscs and

turtles preferred food small fish.

No specific birth period move in pairs and give

birth from Oct- March on sand bars



60

Characteristic Taxa

Dwelling Habitat

Feeding Habits

Breeding Ground

substrates velocity 5-30 cm/sec.

IX Fish Habitats and Fish Range

The river Ganga supports a large number of indigenous and exotic species of fishes. The compilation of records from other reports, research papers, dissertations and thesis of academic institutes add up to 294. These fishes are grouped under 81 families and 167 genera as given in Table 4.14.

Table 4.14: Total number of fishes (taxa) in river Ganga

Categories Species Genus Families (a) Number of fish from fresh water 178 89 37 (b) Number of fish from brackish waters 103+72* 69 37 (c ) Common cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes) 13 9 7 Total 294 167 81

* Common in fresh water zone Out of 294 species recorded from Ganga river, more than 100 species are reported to have commercial importance. Migratory Fish (Hilsa)

The Tenualosa ilisha, is largely an anadromous species. It is capable of withstanding a wide range of salinity and travels great distances up-stream up to 1,200 km in inland water for breeding. The largest yield of the Hilsa fishery comes from the deltaic region of the Gangetic system of India and Bangladesh. The species is mainly heterosexual. The breeding of Hilsa in the Ganga appears to be with the onset of the monsoon in July; with peak breeding from September-December. The peak periods were found to be co-related with the flooding of the rivers owing to the south-west monsoon. The upstream migration during the main breeding season depends vitally on the commencement of the south-west monsoons. The variations in the intensity of the monsoon during the breeding season appear to cause considerable fluctuations of the fish catches in different places. Ganges Shark (Glyphis gangeticus),

Ganges Shark, a critically endangered species is known only from the lower reaches of the Ganges-Hooghli river system, West Bengal, India. It possibly occurs in other river systems in the area. It could also occur in shallow marine estuaries although there are no verified marine records of this species to date. Protected Breeding and nesting habitats for aquatic species in Ganga Basin

Ganga Basin is characterized by presence of wetlands which provide habitats for breeding and nesting grounds of aquatic species. Certain habitats in the Ganga Basin (NW-1 section) are protected under Wildlife Protection Act (1972) notably Turtle WLS (Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh) and Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (Bhagalpur,



61

Bihar) and three Hilsa Sanctuaries (West Bengal). These have been described briefly below: 1. Ramsar Site1415. Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch): it is located between Brijghat 28º46”0.7’N and 78º8” 16.0’E and Narora 28º21’’N and 78º17’E. The

site has elevation of 204.7 to 183 m asl and area is 26,590 ha. Nearest town along the 85 km. river stretch from Brijghat to Narora are Ghaziabad, Bulandsahar, Badayun and Moradabad. The approximate length of the stretch from Narora to Brijghat is 82 km. 2. Wildlife Sanctuary

Kachua Vanyajeev Vihar (Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary): To conserve and

manage the released turtles and their natural habitat Kachua Vanyajeev Vihar (Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary) is notified under Wildlife Protection Act (1972) no.53, section 18 (vide letter no. 4170, 14-3- 62/89 dated 21st December, 1989). The area of the mid section of the Ganga flowing through Varanasi city measuring 7 kms was notified as Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS). The TWS include the river stretch between Ramnagar Fort to Malviya Rail/Road bridge (Rajghat Bridge).

Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary: In August 1991, the Government of

Bihar, designated a 50 km segment of the Ganges River between Sultanganj to Kahalgaon as the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.16.

Dolphin Movement: Critical stretches for Gangetic Dolphin movement have been identified17 in Ganga Basin falling in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, in Table 4.15 and Figure 4.7.

14 http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/9281/0.

15 Upper Ganga River, Information Sheet of Ramsar Wetland. 16 Sunil K. Choudhary, Brian D. Smith, Subhasis Dey, Sushant Dey and Satya Prakash (2006) Conservation and biomonitoring in the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, Bihar, India, Oryx Vol 40 No 2 April 2006. 17 Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin (2010-2020), NGRBA, MoEFCC



62

Figure 4.8: Critical Stretches of Dolphin Movement in Ganga River Basin



63

Table 4.15: Critical Dolphin Stretches along Ganga River Basin

Sr. No.

State Stretch S.N. State Stretch

1 Uttar Pradesh

Middle Ganga Barrage at Bijnore to Lower Ganga Barrage at Narora (165 km)

4 Bihar

Gangi-Ganga Confluence near Sinha Ghat, Ara 20km upstream Ghaghara- Ganga confluence at Doriganj, Chhapra) to Fatuha (confluence of Ganga and Punpun (80 km).

2 Fatatehpur to Mirzapur (150 km)

5 Barh to Mokama to Maniharighat (Katihar) (210 km). This stretch includes the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (about 50 km)

3 Chambal-Yamuna confluence near Etawah to Ganga-Yamuna confluence at Allahabad

6 5.River Gandak from Triveni Barrage at Indo-Nepal border to Ganga – Gandak confluence at Patna (332 km)

Hilsa sanctuaries

In order to facilitate spawning, all types of fish catching are banned in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year18. Fishing of Hilsa is prohibited within 5 square kilometer of the Farakka Barrage round the year to protect the hilsa species and facilitate breeding spawning in the area as given in Table 4.16 and Figure 4.9.

18 Notification of Fisheries Department, Government of West Bengal dated Tuesday, April 09, 2013

published in The Kolkata Gazette.



64

Figure 4.9: Location of Hilsa Sanctuaries



65

Table 4.16: Location of Hilsa Sanctuaries (Protected area for Hilsa) in River Bhagirathi, West Bengal

Sr. No. Location of the Hilsa Sanctuaries and their stretches

1 Diamond Harbour to

Nishchintapur Godakhali

2 Katwa to Hooghly Ghat, part of Burdwan and Hooghly District)

3 Between Lalbagh in Farakka, Murshidabad district

4 5 square kilometers area around Farakka Barrage

X Archeologically Protected Monuments, Heritage and Cultural sites Archeological Survey of India has notified many monuments as archeologically protected. These

are in large number and identified with location and district. The monuments falling the districts through which NW-1 is passing is listed at Table 4.17. The important protected area/heritage sites in Basin area are also identified and shown at Figure 4.10 and Table 4.18.

Table 4.17: List of Archeologically Protected Monuments in the Districts located in NW-1 route

Sr.No West Bengal Districts

1 Abandoned Gopal temple at Amdpur Burdwan(WB)

2 Majlish Saheb or Id-Baqrid mosque at Kalna town Burdwan

3 Panchratna brick temple at Baidyapur Burdwan

4 Radha Gobunda temple at Jagadanandapur Burdwan

5 Three Siva temple at Sribati Burdwan

6 Badsahi or Hussain Shai mosque at Nutanhat Burdwan

7 Siva temple at Honpas – Kamarpura Burdwan

8 Hussain Shah mosque at Kulutia Burdwan

9 Excavated monument at Goswamikhanda Burdwan

10 Bijoy - Toran at Burdwan town Burdwan

11 Temple of Kashinath Siva at Ajhapur Burdwan

12 Temple of Madan Gopal at Kulingram Burdwan

13 South Park street Cemetery in Park street Calcutta

14 The tomb of Admiral Charles Watson, the Mausoleum of Job Charnak and The Tomb of BegunJohnson within the compound of St. John's Church at Council house street, Calcutta Calcutta

15 Henry martin's Pagoda at Serampore Hooghly

16 Raj Rajeswar temple at Dwarahatta Hooghly

17 Chandi temple at Deulpara Hooghly

18 Siva temple at Bakharpur Hooghly

19 Temple of Gour Chandra and Krishnachandra at Chatra Hooghly

20 Jorbangla temple at Parul Hooghly

21 Raghunandan temple at Parul Hooghly

22 Jorbangla temple of Durga with Navaratna tower at Bally dewangunj Hooghly

23 Mosque at Village bajua Hooghly

24 Radha Govinda temle at Satpur Hooghly

25 Siva temple at Harirampur Hooghly

26 Raj Rajeswar temple at Kotalpur Hooghly



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27 Temple of Sri Sri Nandadulal Jew at Gurap Hooghly

28 The mast of a Portuguese ship at bandal Hooghly

29 Kanakeswar Shiva temple, Byra Kanpur Hooghly

30 Temple of Dadhimadhab of the Roy family at Amraguri Howrah

31 Temple of Gopal Jew at Mellock Howrah

32 Jami mosque in Old Malda municipality Malda

33 Ruins of the fortified city of Pandua Malda

34 Ruins of Pathan palace at Adian Malda

35 Ancient ruins at Ratnagarh at Wari Malda

36 Ancient ruin site at Gagjibanpur Malda

37 Tomb of Nawab Sharfaraz Khan at Naginabagh Murshidabad

38 Temple of Gangeswar Siva at Baranagar Murshidabad

39 Siva temple at Yugwara Murshidabad

40 Ravratna temple at Sibarambati Murshidabad

41 Ratneshwar Siva temple at Bilbari Murshidabad

42 The house, temples and ruins associated with memory of Jagat Sett's house at Mahimapur Murshidabad

43 Temple of Raghabeswar Siva at Dignagar Nadia

44 Temple of Shyamchand at Santipur town Nadia

JharKhand

1 Ancient Fort and Sangeet Dalan

Shobhabgunj(Sahibganj)

Bihar

1 Archaeological Site, Kheri, Shahkund Bhagalpur

2 Tomb of Mahmudshah, Kahalgaon Bhagalpur

3 Fort of Munger Munger

4 Golghar Patna

5 Agamkuan Gulzarbagh, Patna City Patna

6 Beguhjam Masjid, Patna City Patna

7 Jain Temple, Kamaldah, Gulzarbagh Patna

8 Do Ruikhi Pratima, Kumrahar Patna

9 Choti Patandevi, Patna city Patna

10 Nepali Temple, Hazipur Vaishali

Uttar Pradesh

1 Ancient mound at Koldihwa Allahabad(36)

2 Ancient mound at Mahagara Allahabad

3 Ancient mound at Chopani Mando Allahabad

4 Purana Mandir Chandauli

5 Chunar firt Mirzapur

6 Ancient site of Bhuili Mirzapur

7 Sarnath Temple Mirzapur

8 Siddhanath ki Dari Mirzapur

9 Lekhnia Pahar Mirzapur



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10 Painted rockshelter Mirzapur

11 Megalithic Remains Mirzapur

12 Painted rockshelter at Lekhnia Pahar Mirzapur

13 Megalithic remains of Kotwar Pahar Mirzapur

14 Bhaldria Painted rockshelter Mirzapur

15 Lekhnia Painted Rockshelter Mirzapur

16 Samadhi and Mausoleum od Sant Kabirdas Sant Kabir Nagar

17 Ancient of Kopia or Anupia Sant Kabir Nagar

18 Battis Khamba Varanasi

19 Battis Khamba Varanasi

20 Lahartara Talab Varanasi

21 Kardmeshwar Mahadeva Mandir Varanasi

22 Guradham Mandir Varanasi

Figure 4.10: Important Protected /Heritage and cultural sites in Ganga Basin

Table 4.18: List of Archeologically Protected area/heritage sites in Basin Area

Sl. No. Name and Location of Protected Site Distance from NW-1

( in KM)

1 Agra - Fort- UP 434 2 Agra - Taj Mahal- UP 453

3 Fatehpur Sikri- UP 477 4 Khajuraho Group of Monuments- (MP) 202



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5 Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi- MP 481 6 Humayun's Tomb- DELHI 600

7 Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi 588 8 Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya

– BIHAR 102

9 Red Fort Complex, Delhi 585 10 The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur 635

11 Hill Forts of Rajasthan 641

4.3 Critical Environment Resources in NW-1

Based on the inventory and mapping of Environment Resources in Ganga basin, Critical Environment resources in the vicinity of proposed project sites and their regulated buffer area /Eco-sensitive area have been identified, mapped and described with reference to nearest identified interventions.

Proposed Ramnagar Terminal, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Kachua vanyajeev Vihar (Turtle wildlife Sanctuary), a notified protected area under Wildlife protected area is located about 2.27 km in north direction, downstream from the proposed Ramnagar terminal in NW-1 and shown in Figure 4.11.

Figure 4.11: Map of proposed site at Ramnagar Terminal and Turtle wildlife Sanctuary in

NW-1



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Ramnagar fort is located 2.0 km in North from the proposed Ramnagar terminal. Other environment resources in the vicinity of 10 kms of are shown in Figure 4.12.

Figure 4.12: Ramnagar fort and other environment features in 10 kms from the proposed

Ramnagar Terminal

Proposed Haldia Terminal, Haldia Dock Complex, East Medinipur District, West Bengal

Two Hilsa sanctuaries namely Diamond Harbour to Nishchintapur Godakhali and Katwa to Hooghly Ghat, part of Burdwan and Hooghly District are notified by Fisheries Department, Government of West Bengal which are located in NW-119. This is mapped and shown in Figure 4.13.

19 Notification of Fisheries Department, Government of West Bengal dated Tuesday, April 09, 2013 published in The Kolkata Gazette.



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Figure 4.13: Location of proposed terminal at Haldia and Hilsa Sanctuaries Proposed terminal at Sahebgunj, Sahebgunj district, Jharkhand and navigation lock at Farakka,

Murshidabad district, West Bengal.

Two notified protected areas namely Vikaramshila Gangetic Dolphin sanctuary and Udhwa lake Wildlife Sanctuary are identified. Vikaramshila Gangetic Dolphin sanctuary is located in NW -1 and Udhwa lake Wildlife Sanctuary is located with in 9 kms from NW-1. Two Hilsa Sanctuaries between Lalbagh in Farakka, Murshidabad district and 5 square kilometers area around Farakka Barrage are notified. These are shown in Figure 4.14.



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Figure 4.14: location of Vikaramshila Gangetic Dolphin sanctuary (NW-1). Udhwa lake

Wildlife Sanctuary around Sahebgunj and Hilsa sanctuaries in Farakka (NW-1)

4.6 Conclusions

Inventory and mapping of CERs in Ganga Basin and NW-1 indicates presence of critical environmental resources. This provides basis and data for analyzing and identifying exclusion (no go), restricted areas, planning interventions of IWAI and for making recommendations for taking environmental and social safeguards as described in Chapter 6.



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Chapter 5: Standards

5.1 Introduction

There are large number of standards defined by various international organisations. Many of these standards relates to environmental aspects as well which are largely followed by DPR consultants, ship manufacturers shipping organisations and other related organisations. Effort has been made to analyse Indian and international standards including UN and Japanese legislations. Those considered relevant to NW-1 development are summarised below at Table 5.1. These standards will be useful for construction and management planning of interventions along NW 1. Standards for Discharge of Effluents: Under EPA Act, 1986, standards are prescribed for discharge of effluents in inland water bodies and marine coastal area and are given in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1: Standards for Discharge of Effluents

Sr. No. Parameters Standards

Inland Surface Waters Marine Coastal Areas

1 Color & odour All efforts shall be made to remove colour and

unpleasant odour as far as practicable

All efforts shall be made to remove colour and unpleasant odour as far as practicable

2 Suspended solids mg/l, Max

100 1. For process wastewater-100 2. For cooling water effluent

10% above total suspended matter of influent

3 Particle size of suspended solids

Shall pass 850 Micron IS sieve

1. Floatable solids max. 3 mm 2. Settleable solids max. 850

microns

4 pH Value 5.5-9.0 5.5-9.0

5 Temperature Shall not exceed 50 C above the receiving water temperature

Shall not exceed 50 C above the receiving water temperature

6 Oil and grease mg/ l

Max.

10 20

7 Total residual chlorine mg/l Max.

1.0 1.0

8 Ammonical Nitrogen (as N), mg/l Max.

50 50

9 Total Kjeldahl nitrogen

(as NH3 ), mg/l Max.

100 100

10 Free ammonia (as NH3 ) mg/l Max.

5.0 5.0

11 Bio-chemical oxygen demand (3 days at 270

C), mg/l max.

30 100

12 Chemical oxygen demand, mg/l max

250 250

13 Arsenic (as As), mg/l max.

0.2 0.2

14 Mercury (as Hg), mg/l

max.

0.01 0.01

15 Lead (as Pb), mg/l max.

0.1 2.0

16 Cadmium (as Cd), mg/l 2.0 2.0



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Sr. No. Parameters Standards

Inland Surface Waters Marine Coastal Areas

max.

17 Hexavalent chromium (as Cr +6), mg/l max

0.1 1.0

18 Total chromium (as Cr) mg/l max

2.0 2.0

19 Copper (as Cu), mg/l

max.

2.0 3.0

20 Zinc (as Zn), mg/l max 5.0 15.0

21 Selenium (as Se), mg/l max.

0.05 0.05

22 Nickel (as Ni), mg/l max

3.0 5.0

23 Cyanide (as CN), mg/l

max.

0.2 0.2

24 Fluoride (as F), mg/l max.

2.0 15

25 Dissolved phosphates (as P), mg/l max.

5.0 --

26 Sulphide (as S), mg/l

max.

2.0 5.0

27 Phenolic compounds (as C6 H5OH), mg/l max.

1.0 5.0

28 Radioactive materials:

a. Alpha emitter micro curie/ml b. b. Beta emitter

micro curie/ml

10-7

10-6

10-7

10-6

29 Bio-assay test 90% survival of fish after 96 hours in

90% survival of fish after 96 hours in

30 Manganese (as Mn), mg/l

2 2

31 Iron (as Fe), mg/ 3 3

32 Vanadium (as V), mg/l 0.2 0.2

33 Nitrate nitrogen (mg/l) 10 20

Standards Classification of Inland Surface Water Bodies: Surface water bodies are classified on the basis of use by CPCB and the classification is given in Table 5.2.

Table 5.2: Surface Water Body Classification, CPCB

Designated – Best – Use

Class of Water

Criteria

Drinking Water Source

without conventional treatment but after disinfection

A 1. Total Coliforms Or Organism MPN / 100 ml shall

be 50 or less 2. pH between 6.5 and 8.5 3. Dissolved Oxygen 6mg/l or more

4. Biochemical Oxygen Demand 5 days 20ºC 2mg/l or less

Outdoor bathing (Organized)

B 1. Total Coliforms Organism MPN / 100 ml shall be 500 or les

2. pH between 6.5 and 8.5 3. Dissolved Oxygen 5 mg/l or more 4. Biochemical Oxygen Demand 5 days 20ºC 3 mg/l

or less

Drinking water source after conventional treatment and

C 1. Total Coliforms Organism MPN / 100 ml shall be 5000 or less 2. pH between 6 to 9



74

Designated – Best – Use

Class of Water

Criteria

disinfection 3. Dissolved Oxygen 4 mg / l or more

Propagation of Wild life and Fisheries

D 1. pH between 6.5 to 8.5 2. Dissolved Oxygen 4 mg / l or more

3. Free Ammonia (as N) 1.2 mg / l or less

Irrigation, Industrial Cooling, Controlled Waste Disposal

E 1. pH between 6.0 to 8.5 2. Electrical Conductivity at 25ºC micro mhos / cm Max. 2250

3. Boron Max. 2 mg/l

Criteria for Classification of water bodies on basis of level of Eutrophication: Standard for accessing Eutrophication level in the water bodies is assessed on the basis of water quality, bottom sediments and aquatic biota quality and nos. in Environment Impact Assessment Study of Port Development, UN, New York, 1992. Same can be refereed here to assess the level on Eutrophication in the river and tributaries.

Table 5.3: Criteria for Level of Eutrophication Pollution level Environmental Indicator

Seprotrophic water (extremely polluted)

Pertrophic water (severely polluted)

Eutrophic water (slightly polluted)

Ollgotrophic water (clean)

Deep water area (more than several metres)

Shallow water area (less than several metres)

Water Quality

Transparency (m) 3 3 3 – 10 10 Discolouration Blakish Yellow, Olive, Brownish, etc Temporal and

local colouring No colouring

COD (ppm) 10 3 – 10 1 – 3 1

BOD (ppm) 10 3 – 10 1 – 3 1DO saturation (%) (anaer

obic condition from surface layer to the sea bottom)

100 – 200% at surface layer (over saturated), 0 – 30% at the bottom layer

100 – 200% at surface layer (over saturated)

> 80% at surface and middle layer, 30 – 80% deeper layer than several metres

in all layers (saturated)

Hydrogen sulphide Detected at most layers

Detectable at the bottom layer

Not detectable

Not detectable Not detectable

Inorganic N

compounding (g at N/l)

10 10 – 100 2 – 10 2

Bottom Sediments

Colour of sediments

Black, Oxidation layer (brownish layer at the surface of the bottom) not found

Black, Oxidation layer not found

Blackish Oxidation layer not found

Occasionally blackish Oxidation layer found

Natural Oxidation layer found

COD (mg/g) - > 30 5 – 30 < 5

Sulphide (mg/g) > 10 0.3 – 3.0 0.03 – 0.3 < 0.03 Aquatic Biota

Bacteria (cell no. / ml)

105 102 - 105 102 – 104 102

Phytoplankton (cell no. / ml)

103 102 - 105 101 – 103 101

Chlorophyll (mg/m3)

10 – 200 1 – 10

Primary production (mgc/m2/hr)

10 – 200

1 – 10

< 1



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Pollution level Environmental Indicator

Seprotrophic water (extremely polluted)

Pertrophic water (severely polluted)

Eutrophic water (slightly polluted)

Ollgotrophic water (clean)

Deep water area (more than several metres)

Shallow water area (less than several metres)

(Gc/m2/day) 1 – 10 0.3 – 1.0 < 0.3

Protozoa Extremely abundant

Abundant Scarce Scarce

Crustacean zooplankton

- Scarce, little diversity Abundant, great diversity

Scarce, great diversity

Benthic polychaetes worm

Scarce, little diversity

Scarce, little diversity

Abundant, great diversity

Abundant, great diversity


Crustacean - Scarce, little diversity Abundant, great diversity


Typical water area Enclosed bays or ports with abundant discharge of pollutants

Bays and coastal zone

Offshore open water areas

Source: Assessment of the Environment Impact of Port Development, United Nations, New York, 1992

Standards for permissible level of water quality indicator: The permissible level of indicators for assessing water quality, in port development in India are given below in Table 5.4.

Table 5.4 Standard for Permissible Level of Water Quality Indicator

Country Purpose / Place

Indicator

Ph DO

(mg/l)

COD

(mg/l)

BOD

(mg/l)

Oil

(mg/l)

Coliform bacteria

(MPN / 100 ml)

India Polluted area o Recreation

o Harbour Non-polluted area o Bathing

o Aquatic biota

6.5 – 9.5

6.5 – 9.0 -

-

3

4

5

4

-

-

-

-

5

5

3

6

0.1

10

-

-

1000

500

500

500

Indonesia Coastal Water

o Bathing o Aquaculture o Marine Park

o Industry

6.0 – 9.0 6.0 – 9.0 6.0 – 9.0

6.0 – 9.0

5

4

4

-

40

80

80

40

20

45

45

20

3

5

5

2

1000

1000

1000

1000

Japan Sea o Bathing o Industry (B)

o Industry (B)

7.8 – 8.3 7.8 – 8.3

7.0 – 8.3

7.5

5

2

3

8

-

-

-

0.5

0.5

-

1000 -

-

Malaysia Sea o Natural o Aquatic biota

o Recreation o Common

6.5 – 8.5 6.0 – 9.0

6.0 – 9.0 6.0 – 9.0

75 - 7 5 - 7

3 - 7

10

25

25

25

1

3

3

6

ND - -

-

100

5000

5000

50,000

Philippines Sea o Recreation o Aquatic biota

o Industry o Navigation

6.5 – 8.5 6.5 – 8.5

6.5 – 8.5 6.0 – 9.0

5

5

3

2

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

2

5

5

10

1000

5000

Thailand Sea



76

o Swimming o Conservation

6.5 – 8.3 7.5 – 8.9

4

5

-

-

-

-

ND ND

1000 -

Criteria for Disposal of Harmful Bottom Sediments: No specific standards are defined in India

for disposal of dredged material. If dredged material is toxic / harmful then these sediments should either be disposed off in landfill or in Sea. Criteria followed in Japan is given in the Table 5.5.

Table 5.5: Criteria for Harmful Bottom Sediments, Japan (unit: mg/l)

Contaminated Material Dumping in Landfills (mg/l) Dumping at sea (mg/l)

Alkylmercuric compounds Not detectable Not detectable

Mercury and its compounds 0.005 0.005

Cadmium and its compounds 0.1 0.1

Lead and its compounds 1 1

Organophosphorus compounds 1 1

Chromium (VI) compounds 0.5 0.5

Arsenic and its compounds 0.5 0.5

Cyanogen compounds 1 1

PCB 0.003 0.003

Copper and its compounds - 3

Zinc and its compounds - 5

Fluoride - 15 Note: Criteria are based on the examination of dissolution of contaminated materials Source: Assessment of the Environment Impact of Port Development, United Nations, New York, 1992

Criteria for Off-shore dumping of Dredged material: No criteria is defined for off-shore disposal of dredged material in India, thus reference to the UN standards can be made and is given in Table 5.6.

Table 5.6: Criteria for Off-Shore Dumping of Dredged Material (unit: ppm or ppb)

Substance Canada USA

PCB (ppb) 100 380

Hg (ppm) 0.5 0.15

Cd (ppm) 0.60 0.7

Zn (ppm) 169 105

Cu (ppm) 45 68

As (ppm) (5 – 25) 12.5

Pb (ppm) 45 33

Organochlorine pesticide (ppb) 10 for any compound

5.0 Sum of DDT, DDE and DDD

Polyaromatic hydrocarbon (ppb) (1,000) Sum of 16 compounds 680 Sum of six low mol. Wt.

compounds 2,690 Sum of 10 high mol. Wt.

compounds Source: Assessment of the Environment Impact of Port Development, United Nations, New York, 1992

Estimated Suspended Sediments Generation Standards from Dredging and Dumping operations: Estimations had been made in Assessment Manual for dredging and Reclamation,

Ministry of Transport, Japan for suspended sediment generation from dredging and dumping operations is given in Table 5.7. These can be used for estimating the suspended sediments to be

generated from dredging for construction and operation of terminal.



77

Table 5.7: Approximate Suspended Sediment Generation from Dredging Operation

Activity / Type of the Bottom SS generated by dredging or dumping of one cubic metre of sandy material

SS generated by dredging or dumping of one cubic meter of silt / clay

Pump dredging Kg/m3 Kg/m3

Ordianry 4,000 PS1/ (2) 2.2 – 4.5 (2) 1.2 – 1.4

Ordinary 2,000 PS (3) 0.1 – 0.3 NA

Low – pollution type 1,600 PS NA (3) 1.2 – 1.6

Low – pollution type 800 PS NA (2) 1.5 – 3.5

Grab dredging

Ordinary 8m3 bucket NA (2) 10 – 89

Ordinary 3 m3 bucket (1) 8.4 (4) 12 – 84

Water – tight type 8 m3 bucket NA (1) 3.5

Bucket dredger (1) 17 (1) 56

Dumping

By grab bucket (11) 0.4 – 5.0 NA

From hopper barge (2) 2.4 – 5.2 (5) 12 – 203 Note: Parentheses are the number of times of observations NA: Not Available 1/: Capacity of pump in Horse Power Source: Assessment of the Environment Impact of Port Development, United Nations, New York, 1992



78

Chapter 6: Analysis, Conclusions & Recommendations

6.1 Introduction

This chapter is based on the inventory, mapping and analysis of environmental resources in Ganga basin, proposed locations of IWAI’s terminals and navigation lock in NW-1. Analysis, conclusions and recommendations with respect to Exclusion Areas (No go areas), Restricted Areas and areas having minimal impacts have been carried out. As per the Scope of Work, Basin Level Critical Environment Resources (CERs) have been identified, inventoried and mapped in Chapter 4. Criteria for identifying exclusion (No Go areas) and restricted areas is evolved based on identification of these CERs and provisions of related regulation to these CERs. These are listed in Table 6.1 & Table 6.2.

6.1.1 Criteria for Identification of NO Go and Restricted Areas:

The presence of Wildlife Protected areas (Biosphere Reserve, National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Tiger Reserve, Protected Wet Land) are considered as No Go activity area for project footprint. The buffer areas of above protected areas and other areas (like Reserved Forest, Critical stretches for Conservation of Dolphins (NGRBA), Hilsa Sanctuaries and 300m buffer of archeologically protected monuments) are considered as restricted area. The area other than No Go and restricted areas are considered as minimal impact areas.

6.2 Analysis

Based on the inventorying and mapping of environmental resources at Ganga basin level and project intervention level (NW-1) as described above, exclusion (No Go areas) and restricted areas have been identified and discussed below.

6.2.1 Exclusion (No Go) areas in Ganga Basin and NW-1 (With respect to

Wildlife protected Areas)

Exclusion (No Go areas) has been defined with respect to location of proposed project interventions of IWAI location of critical environment resources in Ganga Basin and along main stem of Ganga in NW-1. There are other areas in Ganga basin meeting the No Go areas identification criteria. However, these have not been listed in this section. In case any project activity/intervention to be undertaken beyond NW-1 or on river Ganga stem, then activity area specific eco-sensitivity analysis shall be reviewed as per the basin level eco-sensitivity detail given in chapter-4. No-Go Areas- Ganga Main Stem Other than NW-1 stretch

Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch) is declared as a Ramsar Site. Moreover, Ganges Dolphin Conservation Zone Garhmukteshwar – Narora Barrage has been recommended to be declared as “No Go area” for which detailed studies have been done by WWF- India. Given the recognition of Upper Ganga River as a Ramsar site and in line with finding of previous studies and recommendations, this



79

stretch is further recommended to be Exclusion (No go area). Since, this river stretch is outside the purview of NW-1, it would not be directly impacted by plying of IWAI’s vessels. However, hydrological interventions for augmenting flow in the NW-1 should avoid this area for planning any hydrological interventions. No-Go Areas- NW-1 stretch

Two notified wildlife sanctuaries are located within the main stem of river Ganga in NW-1 (Table 6.1) namely:

1. Turtle WLS, Varanasi 2. Vikaramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, Bhagalpur

The entire notified stretches of river are considered as No Go area. The Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary stretch (the 7 Km long river stretch) at Varanasi (Figure 6.1) and

the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary stretch located in Bihar State (starting from Sultanganj to Kahalgaon pahad, about 50 km stretch, Figure 6.2) is

recommended to be exclusion (No Go area) in NW-1 from the point of IWAI’s interventions. Table 6.1: No Go areas w.r.t Critical Environment Resource in NW-1 and Ganga

Main Stem Sr. No.

Location (name of place/chainage/coordinates in NW-1 )

No Go areas with respect to Critical Environment Resource (CER) & Nature of Restriction

Distance of NW-1 from CER & distance from nearest identified intervention

Remarks

In Ganga Main Stem (Upstream of Allahabad)

1. Garhmukteshwar – Narora Barrage Garhmukteshwar:

28°78’52.12” N

78°09’91.52” E

Narora: 28°19’73.95” N

78°38’92.92” E

Dolphin habitat No construction or developmental activity is permutable. Only virgin movement of vessels may be permissible (without impacting aquatic species and ecosystem), subject to approval of competent authorities of both Wildlife Sanctuaries

Outside NW-1 Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora Stretch) is declared as a Ramsar Site

Within NW-1 stretch 2. Sultanganj to Kahalgaon

Pahad20

25°15'7.44"N 86°44'14.08"E And 25°16'55.20"N 87° 13'44.40"E

Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary21 It’s a protected area under Wildlife Protection Act. No construction or developmental activity is permutable. Only virgin movement of vessels may be permissible (without

Within NW-1 Sahibganj terminal about 48 km downstream of sanctuary. Patna terminal about 165 km upstream of the sanctuary.

The dolphin movement though is reported in larger area (between Barh Maniharighat (Katihar stretch of about 210 km). The Vikramshila Gangetic

20 The coordinates given are corresponding toSultanpur and Kahalgaon location at the River. 21 Wildlife Protection Act (1972) as amended till date.



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impacting aquatic species and ecosystem), subject to approval of competent authorities of both Wildlife Sanctuaries

Dolphin Sanctuary area falls in between this stretch itself. The no Go area though will remain the Sanctuary stretch only.

3. Varanasi-Chunar (1311-1344) Between Ramnagar Fort to Malviya Rail/Road bridge (Rajghat Bridge)22

Turtle WLS include the 7 km river stretch It’s a protected area under Wildlife Protection Act. No construction or developmental activity is permutable. Only virgin movement of vessels may be permissible (without impacting aquatic species and ecosystem), subject to approval of competent authorities of both Wildlife Sanctuaries

Within NW-1 Varanasi Terminal about 2.1 km downstream of the sanctuary

The Exclusion (No Go area) of Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary and Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is shown in detail at Figure 6.1 and 6.2

22 Wildlife Protection Act (1972) as amended till date.



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Figure 6.1: Exclusion (No Go area) in Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) and 10 kms restricted area around TWS.

(though recomonded buffer area is Zero Km)



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Figure 6.2: Exclusion (No Go area) in Vikaramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS) and 10 kms restricted area around VGDS



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6.2.2 Restricted Areas

The restricted areas are identified as per the criteria defined under section 6.1.1. As per this criterion the buffer zone of two sanctuaries located in NW-1 (the No Go areas) and one sanctuary located about 9 Km away from NW-1 is identified as restricted areas. The restricted areas are shown in Figure 6.1, 6.2 & 6.3 and details of restrictions are detailed at Table 6.2.

. Table 6.2: Restricted areas w.r.t Critical Environment Resource in NW-1

Sr. No.

Location (name of place/chainage/coordinates in NW-1)

Restricted Areas Distance of NW-1 from CER&distance from nearest identified intervention

Nature of Restriction /Remarks

Restricted Area around Protected areas

1. Varanasi-Chunar (1311-1344) Between Ramnagar Fort to Malviya Rail/Road bridge (RajghatBridge)23

7 km area around Turtle WLS is eco-sensitive zone and is identified as restricted area. The 7 Km stretch downstream (from Malviya Rail/Road to Kundakala) and Upstream (from Ramnagar Fort to Wajidpatti) is identified as restricted area in NW-1 and 7 Km area around sanctuary stretch. ( Refer Figure 6.1 for restricted area)

Within NW-1 Varanasi Terminal located at about 2.1 Km from Sanctuary falls within Eco Sensitive Zone of the Sanctuary ( the restricted area )

Any developmental activity or construction of Terminal would require prior permission under Wild Life Protection Act. It may also require development of wild Life Conservation plan.

2. Sultanganj to Kahalgaon pahad

10 km area aroundVikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary24 , the eco-sensitive zoneof this sanctuary. Is identified as restricted area.. The 10 Km stretch downstream ( from Kahalgaon pahad to Nandgola) and Upstream ( from Sultangan to Madhopurpatpur) is identified as restricted

Within NW-1 Sahibganj Terminal located at about 43 Km from Sanctuary

Any developmental activity or construction of Terminal would require prior permission under Wild Life Protection Act. It may also require development of wild Life Conservation plan.

23 Wildlife Protection Act (1972) as amended till date. 24 Wildlife Protection Act (1972) as amended till date.



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area in NW-1 and 10 Km area around sanctuary stretch. ( Refer Figure 6.2 for restricted area)

3. Rajmahal- Begam Ganj

10 km area around Udhwa lake WLS25 (located in Sahebganj district) the eco-sensitive zoneof this sanctuary.. This sanctuary is located about 9 Km from NW1 and about 19 Km stretch ( between Rajmahal- Begam Ganj) of NW-1 falls in 10th Km zone of this sanctuary and identified as restricted stretch in NW-1 ( Refer Figure 6.3 for restricted area)

9.29 kms from NW-1 Frakkha Terminal at a distance of about 20 Km from Sanctuary Sahibganj Terminal about 33 Km from the sanctuary

Any developmental activity or construction of Terminal would require prior permission under Wild Life Protection Act. It may also require development of wild Life Conservation plan. No restriction of Farakka and Sahibganj terminals since both the terminals are located more than 10 Km away from this sanctuary.

Restricted Areas from Fish Conservation Perspectives

1. Tribeni-Balagarh (193-221) Under the chainage, stretch from DiamondHarbour to Nishchintapur Godakhali

Hilsa Sanctuary (Protected area for Hilsa) in River Bhagirathi26 .Sanctuary is created for facilitating spawning of fish and conservation of fishes.

Within NW-1 HaldiaTerminal located at a distance of 15 Km from sanctuary

No restriction for development activities of the NW-1 except that construction and operation activities should damage the fish propagation and conservation. Restriction under this sanctuary is in the form of ban on catching for all types of fish in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year

2. Balagarh-Kalna (221-245) Under the chainage, stretch from (Katwa to Hooghly Ghat, part of Burdwan and Hooghly District)

Hilsa Sanctuary As above

Within NW-1 HaldiaTerminal located at a distance of 97 Km from Sanctuary

No restriction for development activities of the NW-1 except that construction and operation activities should damage the fish propagation and conservation.

25 Wildlife Protection Act (1972) as amended till date. 26 Notification of Fisheries Department, Government of West Bengal dated Tuesday, April 09,

2013 published in The Kolkata Gazette.



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Restriction under this sanctuary is in the form of ban on catching for all types of fish in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year

3. Kalna-samudragarh (245-263)Under the chainage, stretch from Katwa to Hooghly Ghat, part of Burdwan and Hooghly District)

Hilsa Sanctuary To facilitate spawning, all types of fish catching are banned in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year.

Within NW-1 HaldiaTerminal located at a distance of 130 Km from sanctuary


4. Jangipur lock-Farraka lock (505-544)Under the chainage, stretch A. Between Lalbagh in Farakka, Murshidabad district B. 5 square kilometers area around Farakka Barrage is declared as Hilsa Sanctuary27

A. Hilsa Sanctuary To facilitate spawning, all types of fish catching are banned in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year. B. Hilsa Sanctuary To facilitate spawning, all types of fish catching are banned in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year

Within NW-1 Farakka Terminal is located about 79 km from Sanctuary


5. Farakka lock-Rajmahal (544-583) A. Between Lalbagh in Farakka, Murshidbad district B. 5 square kilometers area

A. Hilsa Sanctuary To facilitate spawning, all types of fish catching are banned in the Hilsa

Within NW-1 Farakka Barrage is located about 0.8 km from

No restriction for development activities of the NW-1 except that construction and operation activities should damage the fish

27 In order to facilitate spawning, all types of fish catching are banned in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year.

Fishing of Hilsa is prohibited with in 5 square k ilometer of the Farakka Barrage round the year to protect the hilsa species and facilitate brooders spawning in the area.



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around Farakka Barrage is declared as Hilsa Sanctuary

Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year. B. Hilsa Sanctuary To facilitate spawning, all types of fish catching are banned in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year Navigation lock at Farakka

Farakka Terminal.

propagation and conservation. Restriction under this sanctuary is in the form of ban on catching for all types of fish in the Hilsa Sanctuaries during June to August and October to December every year

6. Barh- Ballia (891-1063) and Sirsa-Allahabad (1506-1547)

Barh to Mokama to Maniharighat (Katihar) (210 km). This stretch includes The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (50 km)28. River Gandak from Triveni Barrage at Indo-Nepal border to Ganga – Gandak confluence at Patna (332 km)29 Gangi-Ganga Confluence near Sinha Ghat, Area 20km upstream Ghaghara- Ganga confluence at Doriganj, Chhapra) to Fatuha (confluence of Ganga and Punpun (80 km).30 Chambal-Yamuna confluence near Etawah to Ganga-Yamuna confluence at Allahabad is critical stretch for Dolphin31

Within NW-1 Sahibganj Terminal located at about 43 Km from Dolphin Sanctuary Not within NW-1 Confluence point Patna is located about 255 km from Sahibganj Terminal Not within NW-1 Confluence point Dirigang, Chhapra is about 186 km from Varanasi Terminal Not within NW-1 Confluence point at Allahabad is about 119 km from Varanasi

No restriction for NW-1 project activities. Only caution is to be exercised during construction and operation to prevent damage to Dolphin and its movement areas.

28 Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin (2010-2020), NGRBA, MoEFCC 29 Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin (2010-2020), NGRBA, MoEFCC 30 Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin (2010-2020), NGRBA, MoEFCC 31 Conservation Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin (2010-2020), NGRBA, MoEFCC



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Terminal

Figure 6.3: 10 kms Restricted area around Udhwa lake Wildlife Sanctuary

6.2.1 Exclusion (No Go/Restricted) areas in Ganga Basin and NW-1 (With respect

to Archeological Protected areas within 300 m radius of NW-1)

Further 300 m radius around any archeologically protected areas shall also be the restricted area. If any intervention or activity is to be undertaken within 300m radius of any archeologically protected monuments/heritage site than prior permission shall be obtain from Archeological Survey of India. There are certain culturally sensitive locations (like Ghat at Varanasi, Patna). The construction activity shall be planned such that these do not interfere with any such religious activities. The details of the restricted area within NW-1 is given in Table 6.3.



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Table 6.3: Restricted areas w.r.t archeologically Protected Areas in NW-1

Sl. No

Site Name Site Features Level of Site Protection

Category No Go/ Restricted

Latitude Longitude No Go Area with in NW-1

1 Nepali Temple Hazipur, District vaishaali ,Bhar Located about 70 m from NW-1

Monument protected by State Archeological Department of Bihar

Requires permission from state archeological department for any construction within 300 m from this monument

Restricted For taking prior permission perspective.

25°40'52.55"N 85°11'47.75"E Not Applicable ( NA)

2 Chunar Fort District Mirjapur , Uttar Pradesh located about 60 m from NW-1

Monument protected by State Archeological Department UP.

Requires permission from state archeological department for any construction within 300 m from site

Restricted for taking prior permission perspective.

25° 7'32.89"N 82°52'28.51"E Not Applicable ( NA)

3 Kardmeshwar Mahadeva Mandir ,District Varanasi ,Uttar Pradesh located about 240 m from NW-1



Restricted for taking prior permission perspective.

25°19'13.13"N 83° 1'20.91"E Not Applicable ( NA)

4 Ram Nagar Fort, Varanasi UttarPradesh located at Varanasi



Restricted For taking prior permission perspective.

25°16'9.17"N 83° 1'28.17"E Not Applicable ( NA)



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6.2.4 Determination of Areas Having Minimum Impacts

Areas other than those marked as exclusion (No Go area) and restricted areas shown in Figure 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 are of least environmental sensitivity and environmental impacts

6.3 Recommendations

IWAI and vessels plying in NW-1 through restricted and critical stretches as identified above should take adequate environment and social safeguards as described below.

1. Maintaining water depth of the navigation channel (at least 6 m)32. This measure may reduce the disturbance to the migrating Hilsa, benthic habitat, facilitate escapement of fishes and aquatic mammals from direct impact of the barge/vessels, considering that the fully loaded barge draft is 2.7 m. This will also help Hilsa, which prefers more than 5 m depth for their migration.

2. The spawning & breeding grounds are not identified in the entire NW-1 stretches. Spawning areas normally have enough sand depth and water depth in general. Normally the spawning activity occurs in the rainy season. These areas as identified during impact assessment shall be considered in the design and construction planning. All care shall be given during construction & dredging activities to avoid any damage to spawning, breeding and nesting habitat of threatened aquatic species like Dolphin, Turtle, Hilsa, during spawning season which is from May to August.

3. Measures would also be required from aquatic perspective in terms of vessel movement speed, material handling (like coal dust spillages to river, oil spillages to river) and other operational aspects may have impact on aquatic life. Necessary design features to be included based on intervention specific environmental impact assessment and capital dredging impact assessment as well as mitigation measures proposed.

.

32 Impact Analysis on “Ecology, Flora and Fauna including Fish and Fisheries due to Movement of Barges Carrying Coal through National Waterway No.1 (Sagar to Farakka) Final Report ICAR – Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute

(Indian Council of Agricultural Research) Barrackpore, West Bengal



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References

Secondary data for the Basin Level Critical Environmental study along the Ganga River Basin has been retrieved from following sources:

Source organisation Report/source Name Type of data

Forest Survey of India

-Forest Survey Report, 2007 Chapter 9, Forest and Tree Resources

in States and Union Territories, State of Forest Report, 2013

Forest data

Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education,

Official Website Coordinates of ER

Department Websites,

Respective National Park Official Website

Official Website Coordinates of ER

MOEF & CC Endangered Species Brochure,

2009 Endangered Species

National River Conservation

Directorate Ministry of Environment and Forests

Status Paper on Ganga River Basin level Information

MOEF & CC

National Wetland Atlas: of 11 States falls within NW-1 Prepared by Space Applications

Centre (ISRO), Ahmedabad and Institute of Environmental Studies & Wetland Management (IESWM),

Kolkata)

Wetland information

NGBRA Environment & Social Assessment

Framework Volume –I & II

Environment

Resources

NGBRA River Ganga at a Glance:

Identification of Issues and Priority

Actions for Restoration

Basin

NGBRA Mapping of Legislations Applicable

to the Ganga River Basin Basin Maps

NGBRA Environmental Flows: State-of-the-

Art with special reference to Rivers in the Ganga River Basin

Basin data

NGBRA Environment Management Plan

NGBR (By Consortium of India’s IIT Institutes)

Environment Resources Flora & Fauna details

NGBRA

Status of higher aquatic Vertebrates in Ganga river

By Consortium of India’s IIT

Institutes

Schedule-I species

Dolphin, Aquatic Fauna

NGBRA

Hilsa an assessment of in lower ganga basin (Ganga River Basin Management Plan) By Consortium

of India’s IIT Institutes

Fish

NGBRA

Status of fish and fisheries in Ganga river (Ganga River Basin Management Plan) By Consortium of India’s IIT Institutes

Fish

NGBRA Riparian Floral Diversity of Ganga

river ( By Consortium of India’s IIT Institutes)

Basic information



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Source organisation Report/source Name Type of data

NGBRA & MoEF The conservation Action Plan for

Ganatic Dolphin Dolphin

NGBRA Flora & faunal status of Ganga

river Fauna

NGBRA

Ganga River Basin Management Plan-2015

(By Consortium of India’s 7 IIT Institutes)

Basin Level information

NGBRA

Ganga River Basin Management Plan-2013, Interim Report

(By Consortium of India’s 7 IIT Institutes)


NGBRA

Ganga River Basin Management Plan-2015

(By Consortium of India’s 7 IIT

Institutes)


WWF For a Living Ganga “Working with

People and Aquatic Species Dolphin Movement

MoEFCC Respective National Park,

sanctuaries and reserves, Ecosensitive Zones

ER

Other

- India’s Notified Ecologically

Sensitive Areas (ESAs) Kalpavriksha

ESA along Basin

CPCB - Ganga Water Quality trends General information

CPCB - Pollution Assessment Ganga River General information

ICAR- National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources

(Paper/Gernal)

- River exploration and fish biodiversity in the Ganges basin

Fish

Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun (MOEF)

Government of India

- Forest Sector Report India 2010 Forest

Centre for Science and Environment (Briefing Paper)

- Ganga River, its Pollution and what we can do to clean it

General information

Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural

History

- Indian Flapshell Turtle (Paper) Turtle breeding

WARIS

- India-WRIS (MoWR, GOI), “River Basin Atlas of India – 2012”, RRSC-West, NRSC, ISRO,

Jodhpur, India, 2012.

Maps

Jain, SK, PK Agarwal and VP Singh,

- “Hydrology and Water Resources of India”

Basin Data

Central Water Commission - Ganga Basin Water Resources

Development – A Perspective

Plan”

Hydrology

Central Water Commission - Water and Related Statistics 2010. Hydrology

Prasad, S.N. - Conservation of Wetlands of India

– A Review, Tropical Ecology, Wetland

NGBRA - Wetlands Wetland

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