Summary Environmental Impact Assessment Report (English ... · Chandrakala Farm Products Pvt. Ltd....

Chandrakala Farm Products Pvt. Ltd.

Mining of Rare Minerals Azhagappapuram Village, Agastheeswaram Taluk,

Kanniyakumari District, Tamil Nadu

Manual Mining with a Production of 15 Tons/day

Over an Extent of 2.135 Ha

Environmental Clearance under EIA Notification 2006

Summary Environmental Impact Assessment Report

(English & Tamil)

Environmental System Consultants Ensyscon Environmental Laboratory

Old 7, New 14, Shanmuga Naicker Street, K K Nagar West, Chennai-600 078.

Ph : 044-2364 3663; Fax-044-2364 2663 e-mail : [email protected]

Chandrakala Farm Products Pvt. Ltd. Manual Mining of Rare Minerals in Azhagappapuram, Kanyakumari

Ensyscon, Chennai-78.

Summary Environmental Impact Assessment

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Project Proponent

M/s. Chandrakala Farm Products Private Limited (CFPPL), Chennai are a Registered

Company and are carrying out various business activities like agricultural farming,

developing wastelands, maintaining nurseries, sheep farming, share markets, real estates,

tourist resorts, Mining of Rare Minerals, etc. The Registered Office is located in Chennai at

the following communication Address :

The Director, Chandrakala Farm products Private Limited, No. 167, Thambu Chetty Street, Chennai-600 001. Telephone : (044) 25342855; 25340120 Fax : 044-25340533. e-mail : [email protected]

CFPPL and its sister concerns have about 25 acres of lands in Azhagappapuram Village of

Kanyakumari District and in adjoining Levinjipuram Village of Tirunelveli District of Tamil

Nadu State. Out of 21 acres available with them at Azhagappapuram Village, an extent of

2.135 Ha has the Rare Minerals Sand Deposits (Placer Deposits). Garnet, Ilmenite and

Rutile are the main fractions of the beach sands that formed mostly by the action of

waves and wind.

1.2 Mining Site

The deposit area of 2.135 Ha under the possession of CFPPL falls in Azhagappapuram

Village, Agastheeswaram Taluk of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu State (Fig. 1.1).

The land details are as follows :

SF No. Extent, Ha 1098/4 0.745 1125/3 0.200 1125/4 0.915 1124/4 0.275 -------- Total 2.135 --------

CFPPL has the surface rights of the deposits and they have applied to the State

Government on 16.06.2003 for Grant of Mining Lease under the Mineral Concession Rules

to mine out Garnet, Ilmenite and Rutile and is under active consideration of the State

Government.



The site lies between 08°07’57”-08°08’03” N Latitude and 77°34’18”-77°34’28” E

Longitude and forms part of the Survey of India Topo Sheet Nos. 58 H/12. There is no eco

sensitive area within 10-km radius from the site other than the Terkumalai Reserved

Forest at a distance of 5.5 km in northwest.

The Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai has surveyed the area and

demarcated the High Tide Line/CRZ area (FMB Sketch & CRZ Map as Fig. 1.2). The site

falls in Costal Regulation Zone (CRZ)–III except a small portion in the Inter Tidal Zone.

CFPPL has applied to the Tamil Nadu State Coastal Zone Management Authority

(TNSCZMA) for CRZ Clearance. The Tamil Nadu SCZMA in its 34th Meeting held on

17.10.2005 resolved to forward the proposal of CFPPL for mining of Rare Minerals to MoEF

and the State Government recommended it to the National Coastal Zone Management

Authority at MoEF vide its Letter No. 30830/EC3/2005-1 dated 17.11.2006.

1.3 Proposal

CFPPL has proposed to mine out manually 15 Tons per day of beach sand containing the

rare minerals with an ultimate pit depth of 2.5 m below ground level. The estimated

Geological Reserves over the Extent of 2.135 Ha is about 97,000 tons and the Mineable

Reserves is 87,300 tons. For the proposed annual production of 3000 tons, anticipated life

of the mine would be 29 years.

In the annual production of 3000 tons, the Heavy Minerals content is about 1590

tons/annum and tailings/rejects/Lights would be 1410 tons/annum. The recovery per

annum would be : 900 tons of Garnet, 510 tons of Ilmenite, 60 tons of Rutile and 120

tons Sillimenite & others, etc. Tailings containing Zircon, Monozite, etc. (if exist) would be

handed over to M/s. Indian Rare Earths Ltd. (IREL), as per the mandatory Regulations.

No pre-mining operations are involved except removal of some scanty vegetation and

extraneous materials followed by slight surface scraping and leveling. No overburden

removal is needed as sand is exposed almost at the surface.

The mining will be undertaken by opening convenient blocks of 6 m width and 12 m length

after leaving 7.5 m safety distance. A constant single bench formation of 2.5 m depth will

be maintained. The rate of movement or progress of the mine will be 200 m per annum

which will ensure the production of 3000 tons of raw sand per year.

Mining operations will be totally manual using spades and shovels. The excavated raw

material will be removed by means of baskets, manually carried and heaped on a nearby

wooden platform. From there, the material will be transported by trucks/tippers of 15

Tons capacity to the pre-concentration/processing plant.



The proposed Mineral Separation Plant will be located away from CRZ area in one acre of

land it owns in Levinjipuram Village (SF Nos. 717/2, 718/1A, 718/1C, 720/2 and 721/1;

total extent 8.89 acres), 3 km away from the site. The tails/rejects @ 7.05 Tons/day

(1410 Tons/annum) will be transported back to the mine by trucks/tippers for refilling the

excavated pits and reclaiming it to the original state. Green belt/coconut plantation will be

developed on the refilled/reclaimed areas.

No mining machinery is proposed for mining. About 5-7 local unskilled workers will be

engaged for mining. Water requirement @ 200 lits./day is for domestic purpose only

which will be met out from existing own dugwell near the site (out of CRZ area). No drawl

of electricity is envisaged. No Building is proposed at the mine/CRZ area. The project cost

is Rs.15.00 lakhs towards Land Cost (Rs.10.00 lakhs) and Preoperative Expenses (Rs.5.00

lakhs).

1.4 Environmental Setting

The map showing the environmental setting of the Project is given as Fig. 1.3. Proposed

mining site is located near the Rastagad Hamlet in Alagappapuram Revenue Village in

Anjugramam Panchayat Union. The site is accessible from the National Highway-7

Junction at Anjugramam via Mettukudiyiruppu Hamlet. It is located at a distance of 1.1

km from Tirunelveli-Kanyakumari Section of National Highways-7.

The major town in the area is Kanyakumari (at 6 km in southwest). There are several

tourist places in and around Kanyakumari. District Headquarters Nagercoil is about 15 km

in the west and State Headquarters Chennai is about 680 km in the northeast.

The site is well connected by Road (NH-7, Trivandrum-Nagercoil-Kanyakumari Section of

NH-47 at 6 km away and State Highway, SH-176 connecting Kanyakumari-Tiruchendur-

Tuticorin at 2.5 km away) and Rail networks (Southern Railway BG Line; Chennai-

Madurai-Kanyakumari Section; 6 km away). Trivandrum is the nearest Airport at about 90

km from site.

Vattakottai, an Archeological Site of Tamil Nadu State is in the south at about 1.1 km

from site. M/s. VV Minerals are mining the rare minerals at nearby Kanakappapuram

Village. There are number of Wind Mills put up by many major industries in the area as

well as nearby Aralvaimozhi areas. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project is about 15 km

away in northeast and its Anu Vijay Township is about 10 km near Chettikulam.

The climate of the area is semi-arid. The area receives rainfall from both Northeast and

Southwest Monsoons. The general elevation of the study area ranges from 1 m to 80 m

above MSL. River Uppar River and Hanuman Nadi are the major (non perennial) river

courses in the study area. There are number of irrigational canal (Pazhayar River

Irrigational Schemes) run in all parts of the study area.



1.5 EIA Study

The proposed Mining of Rare Minerals attracts both EIA Notification 2006 and CRZ

Notification 1991 and requires the Clearance from the Central Authority at Ministry of

Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, New Delhi.

CFPPL has also applied to MoEF on 25.09.2007 for the Environmental Clearance under EIA

Notification 2006. The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for environmental appraisal of

Infrastructure Development and Miscellaneous Projects considered the Project in its 60th

meeting during 27-28.12.2007 and awarded the Additional Terms of References

(Additional TORs) for preparing Draft Environmental Impact Assessment Report (Draft EIA

Report) for Public Consultation & Public Hearing vide its Letter No. 11-88/2007-IA-III

dated 08.01.2008. The following Additional Terms of Reference awarded by the

Honourable Committee are included in the EIA Report and submitted for the Public

Consultation/Public Hearing and for the Clearance of the Project.:

1. Details of the survey numbers and the area of mining. 2. Details of Environmental Management Plan proposed for the Project. 3. Details of the green belt development. 4. Details of the solid waste management and backfilling of the mining area.

2.0 Project Profile 2.1 Reserves

Geologically, the coastal zone exposes rocks of Archaeans to recent ages. Prominent

Archaean rocks being Khondalites, Pyroxene granulites, Leptynites & Charnockites of the

Quarternary and recent formations of beach placers, the laterites and the alluvium are the

resultant weathered and sub tropical climatic conditions. This has resulted in the

enrichment of the sand deposits locally in heavy minerals. These deposits occupy vast

stretches along the coast and have been responsible to some of the largest ‘Placer’

Mineral deposits.

Tests conducted on bulk samples of Beach sands have indicated Heavy Minerals (Heavies)

to the extend of 53% and light fractions (Lights) to 47%. The expected percentage of

individual minerals in the ‘Heavies’ encountered are : Garnet-30%, Ilmenite-17%, Rutile-

2% and Others-4%. The maximum thickness of the deposits varies from 2 m to 3 m with

an average depth of 2.5 m and are normally overlain by brown wind blown sand.

The mineable quantity will be only 90% of the geological reserves considering the loses in

the formation of mine benches, pathways, storage yards, etc. Based on these factors,

mineable reserves will be 87,300 tons. Lights/Tails are made up of Silica sand, shell

fragments, roots, silt, etc.



2.2 Method of Mining

The mining will be undertaken by opening convenient blocks of 6 m width and 12 m length.

A constant single bench formation of 2.5 m depth will be maintained. Mining operations

will be totally manual using spades and shovels. The excavated raw material @ 15

Tons/day will be removed by means of baskets, manually carried and heaped on a nearby

wooden platform. From there, the material will be transported by trucks/tippers (15 Tons

capacity) to the pre-concentration/processing plant.

The Process Flow Sheet with Material Balance is given below :

Process Flow Sheet & Material Balance

120 TPA 900 TPA 510 TPA 60 TPA

Transport to Mineral Separation Plant at Levinjipuram

Tailings

Transport back to Excavated Mine Pits for Reclamation & Restoration with

Green Belt

Garnet Ilmenite Rutile

3000 TPA

1590 TPA 1410 TPA

Drying in Open Area

Others

Mineral Separation by Magnetic and Electrical means

Manual Mining of Sand



3.0 Baseline Environmental Status

Kanyakumari District has almost all ecosystems viz. forests, wetlands, freshwater

resources, marine, etc. Among all these, coastal environment plays very important role in

determining the local and regional economy of the District. Since this District is situated at

the extreme south of the Indian Subcontinent, the coastline is formed nearly by three

seas viz. Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. The 68 km long coast has a heavy

concentration of fisher-folk, almost one village per 1.5 km. The people are with different

culture, religion, aptitude, habits, beliefs, talents, etc. Tamil and Malayalam are the main

languages of this district.

In the study area of 10 km radius, about 50% of the area falls in sea/water bodies.

Ambient air quality and noise levels were monitored at 10 locations (Fig. 3.1). As a part of

the study, the micrometeorology and microclimatic parameters were recorded by installing

a weather monitoring station (Envirotech WM 200) at Project Site at 5 m height. Water

samples of both surface (6 locations) and ground waters (8 locations) were collected and

analysed. Soil samples were collected from 5 locations to assess the soil quality. An

ecological survey was conducted with reference to Flora, Terrestrial Fauna & Avian Fauna.

Socio-Economic profile of the population living in study area has been prepared (Census

2001) for : Total Population & Household, Gender distribution, SC/ST profile, Literacy

level, Occupational structure, etc. The data on Radiation Survey for Vattakottai Region

was also referred. The findings of baseline environmental status of the study area are

summarized below :

The collected meteorological data represented the local weather phenomena.

The monitored ambient air quality in the study area was found to be in compliance

with the National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) Norms for Residential, Rural and other

areas.

Ambient equivalent noise levels (Leq) during day and night times were found to be

well within the MoEF Norms.

The ground water quality was found to be in compliance with the IS:10500 Norms.

Soil in the study area would very well support vegetation after amending it suitably.

Presence of number of phanerophytes (shrubs and trees) and therophytes (annuals)

indicates semiarid vegetation structure in the study area.

Domesticated animals and common fauna only exist in the study area.

There is no Wild Life Sanctuary or National Park or Biosphere or Hotspots within the

study area of 10 km.

All the villages are electrified, road connected and provided with water supply. The

basic amenities are there almost at all villages.

Thus, adequate buffer exists for the proposed activity in the physical, biological and

edaphic environments of the study area.



4.0 Anticipated Impacts

The impact due to mining activity will have both positive and negative effects on the

surroundings/environment. The basic environmental components that likely to be affected

due to any mining activity are : Land Environment, Water Environment, Air Environment,

Noise, Biological Environment and Socio-Economic Environment.

4.1 Land Environment : The Mining of Rare Minerals is proposed in an extent of

2.135 Ha of own patta land (coastal sandy land unfit for agricultural activities). No

forest/government land is envisaged for the mining and also no R&R issue is involved. No

change to the shoreline is anticipated due to the Project. No pre-mining operations are

involved except removal of some scanty vegetation.

The proposed manual mining does not involve drilling, blasting, excavation and handling,

etc. The mining depth is only 2.5 m (bgl) and the sand removal is by manual. No

overburden removal/dump is needed as sand is exposed almost at the surface. No

blasting and also no mining machinery are proposed. No Hazardous Wastes generation,

treatment, disposal, etc. due to the Project. Thus, there will not be any significant impact

on the Land Environment due to the Project.

The tails/rejects @ 7.05 Tons/day (1410 Tons/annum) will be transported back to the mine

by trucks/tippers for refilling the excavated pits/blocks and thus reclaiming it to the

original state. Green belt/coconut plantation will be developed on the refilled/reclaimed

areas. The Post Land Use Pattern would be as follows :

Activities Post Mining Land Use, Ha

Mining pit Nil

Back filled area 2.135

Waste dump Nil

Green belt (in backfilled areas) 2.135 (in the entire reclaimed area)

Haul road and allied services Nil

4.2 Water Environment

The ground water in the study area occurs in two different geological formations viz.

crystalline rocks and River Alluvium. In the river alluvium the ground water occurs under

water table condition. In the crystalline formations, the ground water occurs in water table

conditions. In the Project area, the elevation of water-table contour ranges from 4 to 34

m above msl. The proposed mining depth is only 2.5 m and thus the mining activity will

not intersect the ground water-table. There will not be any seepage/sea water intrusion

into the mine pit.



The mining does not involve any water usage. Water @ 200 litres per day is required for

drinking/washing purpose of 10 local persons @ 80 lits./day and for Green Belt @ 120

lits./day. This raw water requirement would be met out from the nearby own dugwell (out

of CRZ area). No workshop is proposed. There is no trade effluent is anticipated from the

Mines. Only, domestic sewage of 50 lits/day is generated.

4.3 Air Environment : In open-cast mining, various mining activities viz. drilling,

blasting, loading, transportation and unloading operations is quite significant and may

cause deterioration in air quality. However, these impacts are not anticipated in the

proposed Manual Mining operations that too using spades and shovels. The excavated raw

beach sand will be removed by means of baskets, manually carried and heaped on a

nearby wooden platform. The material will be transported by trucks (15 Tons capacity) to

the processing plant at Levinjipuram, 3 km away. There will be only one trip in a day for

the transportation. The truck/tippler will bring the tailings from MSP for backfilling the

mine pits.

SPM emission from various mining activities are estimated and were found to be in

insignificant levels and also well within the permissible NAAQ Norms for Residential, Rural

and other Areas. Thus, there will not be any significant impact on the air environment due

to the mining activities.

4.4 Noise Levels : Only transportation of rare minerals (@ 1 trip/day) and tailings

from MSP back to the mine pit (@ 1 trip in 2 days) are the sources of noise. In general,

noise generated by this sources will be within the limit of 90 dB(a) prescribed by Director

General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Dhanbad.

4.5 Biological Environment : No forest land is involved. There is no Wild Life

Sanctuary or National Park or Biosphere or Hotspots within the study area of 10 km. There

is no significant impact anticipated due to the mining project on the biological

environment. No impact, in any form, to the marine flora-fauna due to the mining

activities.

4.6 Socioeconomic Environment : No major industry in the region. Operations of

mining and associated activities will result in positive socio-economic impacts.

Employment opportunities will be provided. The social status of the people will improve

due to increased income for workers. There will be occupational health problems due to

the mining activity (radiation, etc.). Local and Regional Economy will be improved due to

foreign exchange, royalty, taxes, etc.

4.7 Occupational Health : The mining of rare minerals does not involve any

drilling/blasting and thus no hazard to dust/noise exposure, etc. However, the Heavy

Beach Minerals are inherently associated with radioactive monazite. Hence, the mineral

separation would result in enhancement of the monazite content in the left-over sands



(wastes/tailings). Thus, tailings from MSP is going to be refilled in the mined out pits

which will have more radiation than the existing baseline status. The Radiation Field at

Vattakottai Region is in the range 2.0-4.0 uGy/hr. Accordingly, the Radiation Field in the

backfilled areas may reach 5-7 uGy/hr.

If a person is working in a radiation area of 10 uGy/h for 8-hours exposure in a day for

250 days in a year, he will get 20 milli Sievert (Sv) i.e. 20 mSv/annum; 100 milli Sv/5

years per person is allowed as per Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) Guidelines.

Thus, the proposed mining activity will have insignificant Radiation field only.

5.0 Environmental Management Plan

The Environmental Management Plan for this mining project has been proposed to take

suitable measures for mitigating the adverse impacts as identified/predicted and enhance

the positive impacts.

5.1 Ambient Air Quality

Surfacing of internal road shall be done.

Dust suppression by water sprays along the haul roads shall be undertaken.

Development of green barriers along the roads, mine periphery, refilled areas, etc.

shall be undertaken.

Tarpaulin coverage of trucks/tippers on transportation or raw material and tailings

shall be enforced.

Regular maintenance of transport vehicles shall be carried out.

Pollution under Control Certificate for the transport vehicles shall be made mandatory.

Periodical monitoring of Ambient Air Quality in the mine vicinity as per NAAQ Norms

shall be carried out and Survey Reports shall be submitted to TNPCB & MoEF

periodically.

5.2 Noise Levels

Ambient Leq noise levels shall comply with MoEF Norm of 55 dB(A) during day times

and 45 dB(A) during night times for Residential areas.

Green belt shall be developed on the periphery of Mine Pit, Haul Road, etc.

Regular maintenance of transport vehicles shall be undertaken.

5.3 Water Environment

The proposed mining depth shall be restricted to 2.5 m and thus the mining activity

shall not intersect the ground water-table.

Adequate width/bank shall be maintained to prevent any seepage/sea water intrusion

into the mine pit.



Ground water shall not be tapped from CRZ area.

No trade effluent generation or discharge into the environment shall be ensured.

The domestic sewage of 50 lits./day will be biologically treated in the existing Septic

Tank (2 x 12 x 0.5 m) followed by Dispersion Trench (1 x 1 x 1.5 m).

Periodical monitoring of ground water quality in the mine vicinity shall be undertaken.

Periodical monitoring of nearby Dugwells for Radioactivity shall be carried out.

5.4 Solid Waste Management

Disposal of radioactive wastes should require licensing by AERB under the Atomic

Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules, 2004.

Authorisation under the Atomic Energy (Safe Disposal of Radioactive Wastes) Rules,

1987 shall be obtained.

The tails/rejects @ 7.05 Tons/day (1410 Tons/annum) shall be used for refilling of the

excavated mine pits and thus reclaiming it to the original state.

The mining progress shall be planned in such a way that early commencement of

simultaneous backfilling can be undertaken to restore the land.

Green belt/coconut plantation will be developed on the refilled/reclaimed areas.

No Hazardous Wastes generation, treatment, disposal, etc. due to the Project.

5.5 Biological Environment

No change to the shoreline shall be ensured.

No impact on the marine flora-fauna due to the mining activities shall be ensured.

An effective green belt shall be developed.

5.6 Green Belt

An effective green belt in an area of 0.7 Ha shall be undertaken on the periphery of

Mine Pit, Haul Road, reclaimed/refilled areas, etc.

Green belt shall be developed in the First Year onwards @ 1500-2000 saplings per

Hectare per annum.

Green belt shall be developed in consultation with the local forest authorities regarding

the selection of site specific species, seedling management, plantation techniques and

their upkeep by deseeding, manuring and regular watering.

With suitable amendment of soil, native species plants/fruit bearing plants shall also

be planted and maintained in the reclaimed areas.

Maintenance of Green Belt may be given to the local Panchayat/Women Self Help

Groups of the area.



5.7 Occupation Health

Transportation of tailings shall be in accordance with relevant safety regulations.

Radioactive tailings shall be disposed off in a safe manner and fenced fully.

All the workers shall be provided with Internal Dosimetry and Medical Surveillance.

All the workers shall be trained and instructed in radiation safety.

Duly qualified Radiological Safety Officer (RSO) shall be appointed.

External Radiation Monitoring (by BARC) shall be carried out periodically.

All recommendations by AERB shall be duly implemented.

5.8 Socioeconomics

The Project Proponent shall have the social responsibility for development of the villages in the region.

The local populations will be given preference in employment. Contract jobs like green belt maintenance, etc. shall be given to local Women Self Help

Groups. Training in self employment schemes shall be extended. Providing better infrastructure and welfare facilities for the region shall be undertaken. Providing medical facilities, conducting medical camps, drinking water supply,

scholarships & uniforms to school children, self employment, aid for disabled persons, etc. shall be extended.

A budgetary allotment for CSR activities shall be earmarked.

5.9 Post Project Monitoring

The quality of air, noise, water, soil quality, radiation, etc. shall be monitored at mines as

per specified norms through the approved Laboratory for the purpose and the reports

shall be submitted to TNPCB and MoEF on regular basis.

The management of environment shall be made an integral part of the major activities of

mining. Mines manager shall be incharge of the Environment Cell. The monitoring shall be

done by the supervisory officers of the mine in co ordination with the state officials.

5.10 EMP Budget

The Project Cost is Rs. 15.00 lakhs.

A budget of Rs.1.00 Lakh per Annum is earmarked for EMP and Environmental

Monitoring Works.

For Social Measures an amount of Rs.1.00 Lakh per Annum is earmarked.

Rs.0.50 Lakh per Annum is earmarked for Occupational Health & Safety Measures.

***

Summary Environmental Impact Assessment Report (English ... · Chandrakala Farm Products Pvt. Ltd....

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