TRUSTEE OF TUTUCURIN PORT TRUST N.NANDHIVARMAN SEEKS ENVIRONMENT REPORT

National Democratic Alliance came to power. and Comrade George Fernandes was kind enough to recommend to the Union Surface Transport Minister Nitish Kumar on his own the need to appoint Nandhivarman as one of the Trustees of Tuticorin Port Trust. Participating the in 4 th ordinary meeting of the Board of Trustees for the year 2000-2001 held on 25 th August 2000 Nandhivarman's observations as per the agenda papers are as follows:

"Mr.Nandhivarman enquired about the stage at which the Sethu Samudram project stood. According to information available to him, a Belgian company was keen to take up the project on B.O.T.basis. The Chairman explained that the firms in Belgium and Holland were interested in the project because of the large dredging component. The operation and maintenance of the canal after its construction would be quite expensive and therefore, it is necessary to study the traffic and income potential in detail before venturing into it. Therefore all these aspects were being studied by the Government and once it is found to be commercially feasible project then the Government could take a decision on how to implement it"

Meanwhile in the Board the NEERI Report was tabled to inform the Board of Trustees of Tutucurin Port Trust : Initial Environmental Examination of Sethu Samudram Ship Canal Project prepared by National Environmental Engineering Institute - Nagpur  (December 1998).

The executive summary in verbatim is given below:

Preamble:

1. India does not have, within her own territorial waters, a continuous navigable route around the peninsula due to the presence of a shallow (3.5m) coral reef called “Adams Bridge" at Pamban near Rameshwaram between the south eastern coast of India and Talaimannar of Srilanka. Consequently the ships calling at Ports on the East Coast of India have to go around Sri Lanka entailing an additional distance of more than 400 nautical miles and 36 hours of ship time.

2. The Sethu Samudram Ship Canal Project, now under the consideration of the Ministry of Surface Transport, Government of India envisages construction of a ship canal of varying lengths to suit different drafts (30', 31' and 35') through dredging/excavation. The canal will originate from Tuticorin new harbour in the Gulf of Mannar extend north east in straight line up to Mansfield pitch south of Pamban island, then cut through the island east of the Kodandaramasamy temple and thereafter turning north east, proceed parallel to the International Medial line as the Bay of Bengal Channel.

3. Different alignments for the proposed canal were considered, and in the light of representations from the public, the fishermen and the pilgrims, the alignment through the island about 4 km east of Kodandaramasamy Temple has been proposed.

4. The Tuticorin Port Trust, the nodal agency identified for the implementation of the project, in pursuance of its decision to incorporate environmental considerations in the design phase of the project, retained, in March 1998, the National environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to conduct the Initial Environmental Examination of the project.

5. This report presents briefly the project setting, describes the baseline environmental status of the project area, identifies environmental issues, predicts and evaluates impacts due to the proposed canal project.

6. The Initial Environmental Examination has primarily drawn upon the available information on the proposed project., the hydrograph, marine water quality and ecological resources in the project area, and the primary data generated for one season during the course of the study. A comprehensive environmental impact study with intensive data collection covering all seasons of the year is essential for a fuller description and appreciation of the natural processes occurring in the study area, and to delineate the environmental consequences including the ecological risk associated with the proposed project.

Project Setting

7. The proposed Sethusamudram Ship canal will have two legs; one near the Point Calimere called the Bay of Bengal channel and the other across the narrow Dhanushkody Peninsula near Kodandaramasamy temple. The canal will cut the existing road connecting Rameswaram and Danushkody. The Bay of Bengal channel traverses the Palk bay wherein the sea bed is mostly soft to hard clayey stand in nature. The entire coast of Danushkody peninsula on the North and South is all sandy.

8. In addition to the construction of the proposed ship canal, a number of infra-structural facilities is envisaged under the project. These include the construction of a lock rubble mound breakwaters on either side of the land canal, navigational aids, flotilla, shore facilities and staff and administration buildings.

9. As per the study of Pallavan Transport Consultancy Services Ltd, the estimated cost (1994prices) of dredging various segments of the Channel for three different drafts viz 30', 31' and 35' is Rupees 478 crores, Rupees 549 crores and Rupees 965 crores respectively. The estimated cost of the entire project components including the navigational aids and floating crafts is Rupees 685 crores, Rupees 760 crores, and Rupees 1200 crores respectively.

The construction period will be about 4 to 6 years. Based on the Net Present Value (NPV) method of appraisal, with an interest rate of 9% per annum, an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 10 to 17% on the investment has been estimated. The project will start generating a surplus from the 16 th to 17 th year of its operation.

EA Requirements

10. In keeping with the nature and magnitude of the investment programme, the proposed Sethusamudram Ship Canal project would fall under category A of the World Bank classification and hence would require full EA.

11. At the national level the environmental clearance to the project is subject to compliance with the stipulated safeguards under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act 1986, Forest( Conservation) Act 1980, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974,The Water ( Prevention and Control of Pollution) Rules 1975, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act 1977, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Rule 1978, The Water( Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, and other rules and regulations in force. Land Use on the coastline will be subject to regulation as per Coastal Regulation Zone Notification issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India under the Environment Protection Act 1986. This notification is administered by the State Pollution Control Board.

12. The Wild Life (Protection) Act of India (1972) provides legal protection to many marine animals including reef associated orgasms. Chapter IV of this Act dealing with sanctuaries, National Parks, Game Reserves and Closed Areas is equally applicable to marine reserves and marine parks and biospheres.

13. The Tamil Nadu Pearl and Chunk Fisheries Rules 1978 of the Indian Fisheries Act 1897 prohibits harvesting of pearl oysters and chunks in specified areas except under a license granted under the rules.

14.Under Section 5 of the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act 1983 the State government can regulate, restrict or prohibit fishing in any specified area, the type of fishing gear that can be used, and also the class of fishing vessels that can operate in any area.

15. The Tamil Nadu State environmental Committee is the apex advisory body constituted by the Government (G.O Ms.No.10 dated December 12, 1983) in the matter of protection of environment in the state. Development projects costing over Rupees 50 million are subject to review and clearance by this committee (GTN G.O Ms.No.161 dated September 26, 1988).

16. Through an executive communication from the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of environment and Forests to the Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, the Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve has been notified in 1989. There is however no legislation as yet on the biosphere reserves either at the national or at state level.

17. Acquisition of private lands for the project will be governed by the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act of 1894/The Tamil Nadu Requisitioning and acquisitioning of Immovable property Act of 1956.

18. Resettlement and Rehabilitation, if any, due to the project has to be addressed within the broad framework of the World Bank Operational Directive O.D 4.30 or as per existing provisions of the Tamil Nadu Government whichever is applicable.

19. As per the MEF, Government of India notification dated April 10, 1997, Public Hearing is mandatory for environmental clearance of projects. The notification has also laid down the procedure for Public Hearing.

20.During the operational phase of the project, the most important instrument to be complied with relates to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from ships 1973 as modified by the Protocol of 1978 to which India is a signatory.

ENVIRONMENT SETTING

21. Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar covering an area of 10,500 kms in which the proposed ship canal is to be constructed are biologically rich and rated among the highly productive seas of the world. Its diversity is considered globally significant. In the Gulf of Mannar between the coastline and the proposed alignment there are 21 islands which have been declared as National Marine Parks by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and the MEF, Government of India. Van tivu is the nearest island about 6 kms from the proposed canal alignment in the Tuticorin area and Shingle is the nearest about 12 Kms Island in the Rameshwaram area.

22. As for hydrograph, there are two circulations of water masses in the Bay of Bengal in the clockwise circulation of the south-west monsoon and the counter clockwise circulation of the north-east monsoon. The reported current velocities in the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar are as mild as 0.2 m-0.4m/sec except on few days during south-west monsoon when it rises up to 0.7 m/sec. The directions of the currents follow the direction of prominent winds. The analysis of current data shows no potential threats to siltation of the canal.

23. Primary data on physic-chemical characteristics and marine biological resources was collected from April 29- May 10, 1998 from 10 sampling stations along the 50 kilometer long alignment and 20 stations, 5 km on either side of each of the aforementioned 10 stations. Data on hydrodynamics was generated on July 10-11of 1998 at 10 locations in the study domain with the assistance of the Staff of the Chief Hydrographic Surveyor of India, Dehradun. The present bathymetry is assumed to be not significantly different from the bathymetry data depicted in Naval Chart 317.

24. Primary data on physical-chemical characteristics of marine water shows no significant variation in alkalinity (102-106 mg/L) and pH (8.0-8.2) along the proposed canal alignment. The DO values varied from 3.2 to 5.7 mg/Ll and the silicates from 0.003 mg/L to 0.017 mg/L. No significant variation in salinity was observed between surface and bottom samples. An inverse relationship between salinity and silicates was observed. The concentrations of heavy metals except iron, boron, and arsenic were below detectable limits.

25. The gross primary productivity values along the proposed canal alignment varied from 142 to 472 mg C/m3/day indicating that Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Straits are a biologically productive region. The zooplankton was dominated by copepod. Macro benthos was represented by 78 varieties exhibiting fairly good diversity. The meiofauna comprised larval polychaetes, nematodes, worms and shrunken bodies of a few forms.

26. Sediment samples collected along the proposed canal alignment showed the presence of organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorous and sulphates in concentrations adequate for biological growth. Almost all the sediment samples had oil and grease. The concentration of heavy metals was high in some of the sediment samples from the Palk Bay as compared to the samples from other locations.

27. The presence of corals along the proposed ship canal alignment is negligible. Occurrence of major group of biological resources like sea fan, sponges, pearl, oysters, chunks, and holothurians at various sampling points has been recorded. In general, the density of economically/ecologically important species along the proposed alignment is not significant.

28. All the three group of prochordata organisms considered as the connecting link between invertebrates and vertebrates via, hermichordata, cephalochordata and unorchordata comprising 1, 6 and 59 species respectively were recorded mostly around the islands of Gulf of Mannar.

29. There are 87 fish landing stations between the South of Point Calimere and Pamban in the Palk Bay and 40 stations in the Gulf of Mannar between Pamban and Tuticorin. Out of 600 varieties of fishes recorded in this area, 72 are commercially important. During 1992-1996, the fish production has increased gradually from 55325 tones in 1992 to 102897 tones in 1996.

30. Non conventional fishing in the region is represented by pearl, chunk, sea weeds, ornamental shells and holothurians. There has been a declining trend in the production of these organisms as evidenced by the revenue received by MPEDA.

31. Rare and endangered species of sea turtle, dolphin, sea cow, and whale are recorded in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. The sea cow inhabitants the shallow shore regions where grass occurs, while endangered animals mostly prefer deep sea far away from the proposed alignment.

32. Several species of green algae (32), red algae (59) blue-green algae (3) and sea grasses are recorded in the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay. A few of the 21 islands are reported to possess patches of mangroves predominated by avicennia sp. and Rhizophora sp.

33. Most of the habitats of the sensitive biota viz corals, pearls, oysters, chunks, dugong, holothurians, and marine algae are along the coast and around the 21 islands and mostly away from the proposed canal alignment.

34. Based on an analysis and interpretation of IRS IC LISS-III satellite data (Path 102 and Row 67 dated 19.05.1998 in CD ROM about 20 square kilometers of Pamban island, barren sandy areas (35 sq, kms) between Pamban island and coastal wedge of Mandapam and an area (329 sq.kms) close to the National Highway (NH 49) from Rameshwaram to Madurai have been identified as potential sites for disposal of dredged material.

35. There are no archaeologically significant structures along the proposed canal alignment. However there exists a probability of cultural/archaeological artifacts being encountered during the excavation of the canal.

36. Along the coast of Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay there are 138 villages and towns spread over 5 districts. The socio-economic profile of the fisherman in the villages of Gulf of Mannar coast is low and more than 40 % of families are in debt. While the local population welcomes the project, they have an apprehension that the construction of the canal might result in reduction in their fishery income.