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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OF
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN
FOR
PROPOSED PATAN LIMESTONE MINE
(EXTENT: 911.4145 Ha.)
AT
VILLAGE PATAN, TALUKA-JAM JODHPUR,
DISTRICT JAMNAGAR (GUJARAT)
NOVEMBER, 2008
Prepared by:
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This Group came in existence in the year 1980 and since then continuously
expanding its wings for increase in production capacities and diversification.
It has about 14,000 employee-base and annual turnover of around Rs. 3500
crores.
Drilling was done at 100 m interval along N-S and E-W grids. A total 234
bore holes were drilled during prospection with an aggregate meterage of
2205.50 m. From the nature & extent of the deposit, and the quantum and
intensity of mining already carried out in the area shows that chemical grade
limestone has been worked out up to full depth and below chemical grade,
cement grade limestone has been exposed on pit floor. No additional
exploration for chemical grade limestone, therefore, is considered
necessary in the area.
Taking into consideration shape and nature of deposit and the targeted
production, the mine will be worked by manual opencast method of mining.
Chemical grade limestone occurring as compact layer, will be worked in
benches. Individual bench height not exceeding 3 m. The drilling will be
done by drill machine. The blasting will be done mainly with ANFO & slurry
explosives. The sizing (30-120 mm) of chemical grade limestone will be
done manually at mine site and loading of sized limestone will be done
manually by labors into trucks & transported to Soda Ash plant regularly,
therefore no stacking for material is required. There is neither any topsoil
nor any overlying waste rocks strata as O/B to be removed as development
work.
The mine is designed and planned to handle about 3,60,000 tonnes of ROM
so as to produce about 3,06,000 tonnes of usable sized limestone for
making Soda Ash by the first year. Proposed production is targeted such as
to get 3,06,000 tonnes of usable sized limestone. The limestone production
targets (in tonnes) for the next five years from this applied lease area have
been fixed as given in Table 1:
TABLE 1
YEAR WISE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MINE (IN TONNES)
Year Target Sized (85%) Under sized Mining
(ROM) limestone (10%) losses (05%)
First 3,60,000 3,06,000 36,000 18,000
Second 3,60,000 3,06,000 36,000 18,000
Third 3,60,000 3,06,000 36,000 18,000
Fourth 3,60,000 3,06,000 36,000 18,000
Fifth 3,60,000 3,06,000 36,000 18,000
Total 1,800,000 1,530,000 180,000 90,000
The applicant has office cum store available at the mine site. A first aid box
will be available and maintained in the lease area. Rest shelter along with
first aid station complying with all the provisions of Mines Rules will be
constructed in the applied lease area itself.
Water required for mining and allied activities is about 87.5 KLD. No water
supply system exists in the area. Drinking water and water required for
other purposes will be brought from dug well / bore well situated within the
mine area. Drinking water will be stored in clean covered earthen pots and
kept near working places.
2.13 Transportation
The Mine Lease area forms the core zone and the study area within 10 km
radius from the core zone forms buffer zone. The two together forms study
area.
The applied lease area is all through hilly terrain. The highest point 280
MRL towards northern side of Tapkeshwar temple and the lowest elevation
125 MRL near mine office on low lying ridges. The project site is about 68
km from the sea coast and elevation of the area is about 140 to 235 m
above mean sea level.
3.2 Climate
The climate of the region is semiarid. Due to the coastal effect of the
Arabian Sea, climate of Patan area can be experienced as mild and
pleasant and categorised under warm temperature climatic region. The
coldest month is January and the hottest being the month of May. The
climate is moderate and temperature ranges from 38°C during summer to
about 12°C during winter. The average annual rainfall is 500 to 600 mm,
which is experienced during monsoon season from June to September.
Predominant wind direction is SW-NE. Generally wind velocity is of 10-12
km / hr in all seasons.
In order to establish the baseline status with respect to ambient air quality,
five air sampling stations were established in the study area during post
monsoon season from December 2007 to February 2008, one adjacent to
the mine area and the remaining four in the study area at Dhoriyoness,
Malvada, Khageshri and Paradva. The concentration of RPM was found
between 19 to 83 µg/m3, SPM between 76 to 197 µg/m3, SO2 is found to be
between 4.0 to 13.9 µg/m3, NOX between 5.1 to 15.9 µg/m3 and CO less
than 1000 µg/m3.
The rivers Venu, Kalendri and Dai are the only source of surface water in
the study area and surroundings. No water supply system exists in the area.
Drinking water and water for other purposes will be brought from dug well /
borewell situated within the Mine office premises. These rivers are though
seasonal but carry large volume of monsoon run-off. Though the rainfall
over the area is low to moderate, the rainwater storage in dugwells /
borewells, trenches is in practice over the area. The stored water acts as
source of fresh water for couple of months after rainy season. The overland
monsoon season runoff is intercepted and chanelised to local open wells to
a great extent by local villagers with a view to recharge the subsurface
aquifer. The effort has proved a great success.
Ambient noise levels were measured at 10 locations in and around the site
using a sound level meter along with filter. The noise level was found to be
between 46.5 dB[A] to 55.6 dB[A] during day time and 38.2 dB[A] to 43.6
dB[A] during night. Based on the observations made during the studies, it is
concluded that the noise levels observed at all the locations are within the
limits specified for residential and rural area category.
Core zone: Total ML area is 911.4145 Ha. Out of this 46.14 Ha. is covered
under old mining pits, 13.76 Ha. is covered under Roads and Buildings and
rest 851.51 Ha. is virgin Government wasteland.
Buffer zone: Land use pattern of the study area has been assessed on the
basis of 2001 Census data. It is found that about 31.27 % of the total area is
occupied by unirrigated agricultural land while irrigated agricultural land is
only 11.75 %. Out of the total area, 12.04 % area is forest. The area not
available for cultivation is 33.26 % and culturable waste land 11.67 %.
There is very little or no topsoil cover present in the ML area. Soil cover
present in that study area consisting of major Alluvial Soil and Black-brown
soil. Major portion of the study area is covered by a capping of topsoil of
average 0.5 meter thickness. This soil is fertile. Soil pH is observed
between 7 and 8. The soils are rich in nutrients like potash, phosphorous,
nitrogen and organic matter.
The entire study area falls within Jamnagar, Porbandar and Rajkot District
of Gujarat. Total population is 70321 with 36260 males & 34061 females.
58.78% of total population is literate. The composition of SC and ST in the
study area is 9.17% and 1.83% respectively. The average family size is
3.11 Ecology
The applied lease area is a waste land of Patan village. The applied area is
almost hilly covered with exposed limestone. The area is mostly covered
with bushes, scanty of trees within applied area but where mineralized
found no single tree exist except bushes.
No large sized fauna is found in the applied area. As such, the applied area,
lack of dense vegetation cover, does not support wildlife of any sort. No wild
animals except reptiles, fox, hares & some birds are seen in the area.
Impact : The mine elevation varies between 125 to 280 mRL. . At the end
of mine life, with respect to the ground levels, the ultimate working depth
correspondingly will be 23.9 m bgl.
There are number of seasonal nallahs present within the applied lease area.
Therefore, their diversion is not proposed since the water accumulated
during rains due to their absence in the mine pits will recharge the ground
water.
Management : The mining activity will not affect the topology of the study
area, but will affect the core zone by creation of voids. It is suggested that
since no OB is available for backfilling of excavated pits, plantation will be
done along the mine boundary. Also the slope of the pit will be made gentle.
The pits, thus, will be act as water harvesting structure and also do help in
ground water recharge to increase the water level under the ground.
Provision for garland drains has been made. The quantity of wastewater
generated after human use will be treated in soak pit- septic tank systems,
thereby not requiring any drainage or mitigation.
4.2 Climate
Impact : The climatic conditions are governed by regional factors and the
monsoons. As such the mining and other allied activities will not tend to
influence the climate. Further, fossil fuel in the form of diesel will be used to
operate the trucks, which is a necessity and will lead to carbon dioxide
emission.
ensured that the trucks are having their “Pollution Under Check” (PUC)
certificates.
Impact : In this type of mining, the impact on ambient air shall be very
minimal. Mining operations has been proposed by means of manual
opencast mining method. It involves shattering of limestone by blasting and
thereafter breaking of the limestone manually to the required size. Hence,
dust generation is minimum.
Impact : There is no perennial surface water body within the mine lease
area, and hence there will not be any impact on surface water. The mining
excavation will not touch the ground water table. Hence no question of
ground water pollution arises There is no OB or top soil dumping, hence,
the chances of water contamination, especially during rainfall (by increase
of suspended solids) are low. Mining activities will generally increase the
suspended solids in water. Besides, water from precipitation, while entering
Executive Summary of Patan Limestone Mine of M/s Nirma Ltd. 9
Min Mec Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
into the pit area, can also carry suspensions. Minor leakage of oil / grease
from trucks also gets carried along with water.
Impact : During the proposed mining the noise pollution can take place due
to external transport machinery as dumper / trucks etc. and by blasting
operation. Noise levels / pollution caused by above source will not be above
the recommended noise standards of Directorate General of Mine Safety.
Noise levels of the area will be within the tolerance limit of 85 dB (A). During
blasting low Velocity of Detonation (VOD) explosive, plain detonators and
safety fuse will be used. Therefore, the intensity of blasting shall not be
much to cause of ground vibration.
Management : With the limited drilling and blasting operations, higher noise
levels are not expected. The following measures will further tend to abate
the noise levels:
i. Tree plantation
ii. Regular preventive maintenance of machinery and the transport
vehicles
iii. Provision of silencers on machinery
iv. Ground vibration / air blast will be controlled / reduced by use of plain
detonators and safety fuse, use of low Velocity of Detonation (VOD)
explosive and burden of the holes shall be most judicious.
Impact: At the end of mine life, damage to the landscape in the form of pit
& road will be degraded. Since, proposed Mining Lease area falls in Govt.
waste land and mining activities will be confined in waste land, so no impact
on land uses such as agriculture or gaucher will take place. There is no O/B
or waste material available in the lease or nearby areas. Hence, backfilling
is not possible. At the end of mine life when pit will reach ultimate depth and
whole usable mineral is taken out, rehabilitation will be done by way of
plantation along lease boundary and mined out area
green belt. At the end of mine life, about 460.28 Ha. (Mined out area) and
75.00 Ha. (Virgin land) will be developed as green belt / afforestation.
Impact : Mining activity will not cause any major impact on the flora and
fauna in this area. The proposed mining area is almost free from any type of
vegetation. Dust produced from mining activities will not be affecting the
agricultural lands or gaucher lands.
Management : The applied lease area is a waste land of Patan village. The
applied area is almost hilly covered with exposed limestone. The area is
mostly covered with bushes. At its level, the mine operators shall ensure a
green belt plantation programme wherein the trees are planted, the losses
replaced and the live trees maintained in a healthy condition. The lessee
proposes a total no. 5000 trees per year to be planted on the non-
mineralized area. The total proposed area for afforestation is 5.00 Ha. and
expected survival rate is 80%, therefore 20% more plant, if required, will be
planted next year. Species suiting to this area of climate conditions like
Neem, Sagwan, Banyan, Babool etc will be planted.
Management : There will be overall positive effect on social life of the local
people as they will get job opportunities both direct and indirect.
The company will also provide the helping hand in the development of the
nearby villages by following ways:
o There will not be any displacement of people from the proposed site.
o Employment opportunities for local people.
o Development of facilities within the villages like roads etc.
o Arrangement of regular free of cost of medical check up camp for the
employees which will be also extended for the villagers.
o Supply of drinking water in the period of scarcity to the nearby villages.
o Upgradation of primary school in nearby villages.
o The company will also provide some funds for the various development
activities of the neighbouring villages.
Conclusion:
In view of the present status of the environment established through field studies
(primary data) and secondary sources, and the control / mitigation measures
proposed for environmental management during mining operation phases, the
limestone mining activity for proposed production capacity will have lower negative
impact on environment, especially since the manual mining procedure is being
followed. Further, in view of creation of additional job opportunities during mining
activity for proposed production, the project will have positive impact on the economy
of the area, the state, the nation and the company.