Green panel slaps fresh conditions on Posco

Rajaram Satapathy, TNN | Apr 16, 2013
BHUBANESWAR: A high-level committee set up by the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to review the mega Posco steel project in the state has spelled fresh trouble for the much-hyped project.

The committee headed by K Roy Paul was constituted as per the March 30, 2012 order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which had suspended the environment clearance granted to the project.

The Paul committee had submitted its report to the MoEF in October. Though the report has not yet been made public, information obtained through the RTI about its findings reveals that the project proposal may have to undergo a complete change in the coming days, including layout, study of its impact on the environment, livelihood of people, water requirement and waste disposal management.

The committee said during its visit, state authorities like the IDCO had informed that land requirement for the project had been reduced to 2,700 acres 'leaving out most of the private lands of Gobindapur and Dhinkia villages and a portion of the forest land where betel vines are grown by the villagers'. "This meant that the layout plan of the project would have to be altered substantially," the report said.

The state government has created an impression that the size of the mega steel plant had been reduced from 12 mtpa to 8 mtpa. Posco authorities, however, have denied such speculation. "Our first phase target capacity is 8 mtpa out of the total 12 mtpa capacity, hence we need reduced area," said Y W Yoon, chairman of Posco-India to a visiting media team at Pune recently.

The Paul committee, however, went by the statements made before it and said: "The project proponent should state unambiguously whether the reduced project area would be adequate to accommodate all plans of future expansion of the steel plant."

While obtaining special CRZ (coastal regulation zone) clearance for road and other infrastructures, 'environment impact should be reassessed for the revised layout plan with at least one month current baseline data for all the components of environment and submitted to the MoEF', the report suggested. The committee objected to any move to draw underground water and took note of the state water resources department's advice to Posco to seek alternate sources of water. "Water availability is a critical issue," the report observed, analyzing the inputs submitted by different government agencies.

The area being prone to cyclone, flood and sea erosion, the report also took note of concerns expressed over construction of a sea protection wall and said the issue must be 'seriously investigated' through nationally reputed agencies. "A long term study may be carried out on the impacts due to erosion of creeks, banks, deepening of the creek and widening of the river mouth (Jatadhari river mouth where Posco wants to set up its captive port)," the report said. "On assessing the documents submitted to the committee, which include the comprehensive EIA (environment impact assessment) for 4 mtpa steel plant, there is still no clarity as regards the scenario relating to future expansion of 12 mtpa capacity, especially about the availability of land, water, minerals and infrastructure," the report observed.

The committee said eight years after signing an MoU to start the project, the government and Posco have not yet carried out many basic studies on issues like actual water availability, the project's impact on fisheries, which support more than 20,000 people in the area, plan for management of oil spills, impact of dredging of material for the private port, impact on marine ecology and wildlife, etc.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Green-panel-slaps-fresh-conditions-on-Posco/articleshow/19569682.cms

Dams may dry up Ganga, warns ministerial group

Nitin Sethi, TNN | Apr 11, 2013

An inter-ministerial group has recommended that the
projects in Ganga basin be re-engineered to maintain
30-50% of water flow in the
lean period of December-March.

NEW DELHI: Recognizing that the plethora of dams built and planned in the Ganga basin could almost empty the river of its waters in the winter season, an inter-ministerial group has recommended that the projects be re-engineered to maintain 30-50% of water flow in the lean period of December-March.

The group headed by Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi also recommended that electricity production in the existing and upcoming dams on the river's tributaries in Uttarakhand be moderated marginally to ensure that water flow is maintained at 25% between April to October -- the period when the river has average or high water levels.

While keeping the ecological flow in the river at these levels, the government could permit the dams already working or in the pipeline to continue after re-designing to ensure the recommended flow of water in the river. The move would require adjusting the tariff and power production levels marginally. The committee has also recommended that 17 proposed projects adding up to 2,633 mw capacity be reviewed after the Ganga basin study by the IIT consortium.

Sixty-nine projects are proposed or running on Bhagirathi and Alaknanda -- the two main tributaries of the Ganga river basin. These add up to a capacity of 9,020.30 mw. Of these, 17 projects are operational at the moment and 26 are under construction.

If accepted by the government, the report could provide the UPA a route to blunt the BJP's shrill 'save the Ganga' campaign. At the moment, the standard prescription given to hydrolectric projects is to let through only 10% of the river water as ecological threat but environmentalists have warned that with the multiple dams proposed on the tributaries uphill, the river could go dry for large parts of the year.

Non-government members on board the inter-ministerial group, however, differed with the report. Sunita Narain, director general of Centre for Science and Environment, has asked for a minimum of 50% flow in all projects in the winter season between December-March. In an alternative view forming part of the report, she said the data used by the committee to limit winter flows to 30% in some projects was faulty and unverified. She contended that maintaining 50% flow in the river in winter would not lead to greater tariff for the projects or lower their power production abilities significantly.

Rajendra Singh, head of Tarun Bharat Sangh, also on board the committee, disagreed with the report demanding 75% flow in the river in winter and 50% in the summer season.

One of the key demands of protestors was met with the committee recommending that the flow of the river must not be intermittent but continuous.

While noting that the existing 21 hydroelectric projects would face an increase of tariff from 10-20% on Alaknanda and Bhagirathi basins, the committee noted that the dams could be optimized to produce more electricity in the high-flow seasons which they are not doing at the moment.

The group proposed that six tributaries -- Nayar, Bal Ganga, Rishi Ganga, Assi Ganga, upper reaches of Dhauli Ganga, Birahi Ganga and Bhyunder Ganga -- should be kept pristine in character. The Nayar river and the Ganga river stretches between Devprayag and Rishikesh as well as that between Balganga and Tehri reservoir be declared as fish conservation reserves.

For the controversial 330 mw Srinagar project, the committee left it to the environment ministry to decide.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/Dams-may-dry-up-Ganga-warns-ministerial-group/articleshow/19485134.cms

MoEF extends deadline for states to declare eco-sensitive zones around wildlife parks and sanctuaries

Kumar Sambhav S

It is the last opportunity for states, warns ministry official

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has extended the deadline for the states to declare eco-sensitive zones  around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries by three more months. The previous deadline expired on February 15.

Eco-sensitive zones are the ecologically important areas designated to be protected from industrial pollution and unregulated development under the Environment Protection Act of 1986. In 2002, MoEF had decided to declare an area of 10 km from the boundaries of protected areas as eco-sensitive zones to create a buffer around them. But many states opposed it, fearing it would hamper development. The decision was challenged in the Supreme Court. In 2005, MoEF, on the recommendation of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL), decided that states will declare eco-sensitive zones on site-specific, case-to-case basis, and that industrial activity in such zones would be regulated instead of being prohibited. Till the time these zones are not notified, all projects that require environmental clearance and fall within 10 km of the boundary of a protected area were to be placed before NBWL’s standing committee for approval.

The ministry has sent several reminders to states to propose eco-sensitive zones. It formulated guidelines to declare area-specific eco-sensitive zones in February 2011, but not many states forwarded proposals. India has 102 national parks and 515 wildlife sanctuaries, but till January this year, only seven eco-sensitive zones were notified around protected areas. In the meanwhile, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) that advises the Supreme Court on forest matters suggested that such zones should be limited to up to two kilometres from the boundary of the national parks. It said this would expedite the process of declaring the eco-sensitive zones. The ministry, however, did not buy this argument and advocated the existing mechanism of declaring site-specific safety zones around each protected area or restricting industrial activity within 10 km from its boundary in case such zones are not identified (see ‘Smaller eco zone irks ministry’).

Later, the ministry issued directions to the states on December 31, 2012, giving them the deadline of February 15 to send proposals for site-specific eco-sensitive zones around the protected areas. It said if the proposals were not sent for particular protected area by the deadline, the restrictions on industrial development will be imposed in an area of 10 km around that protected area. As the states panicked and started preparing the proposals, communities living around several protected areas in the country started protesting against the declaration of these zones. Reports from Maharashtra, Goa and Madhya Pradesh suggest people feared that notification of such zones would hamper their development.

While many states have formed committees of forest department and environmentalists to identify eco-sensitive zoones, it seems not many of them could comply with the deadline of February 15. “The states have requested for more time. Preparation of proposals has progressed well in several states but it is pending approval at the state governments' level. We have given them a last opportunity by extending the deadline for three more months,” said an official in the MoEF.

Source: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/moef-extends-deadline-states-declare-eco-sensitive-zones-around-wildlife-parks-and-sanctuari

Management plan for community reserve

JABIR MUSHTHARI

Conservation efforts:The plan focusses on the preservation
of 150 hectares of ecologically sensitive land spread across
the Kadalundi and Vallikkunnu panchayats in the districts
of Kozhikode and Malappuram.— Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

A revised draft of the management plan for the Kadalundi-Vallikkunnu Community Reserve has been handed over to the recently reconstituted management committee of the community reserve.

This was done during a meeting between the Forest Department officials and the committee members at the Mathottam Vanasree Forestry Complex here on Tuesday.

The new plan will focus on the preservation of 150 hectares of ecologically sensitive land spread across the Kadalundi and Vallikkunnu panchayats with the support and participation of the residents of the area.

The reconstituted reserve management committee, after consulting with various stakeholders of the reserve, could suggest any reasonable omissions or commissions to the draft plan, Kozhikode Divisional Forest Officer R. Adalarasan said.

According to him, the committee had been given a week’s time to collect various suggestions from the stakeholders before submitting the plan to the government.

“After making the required changes and incorporations, we are expecting to submit it to the government on February 15,” Dr. Adalarasan said.

Kadalundi panchayat is in Kozhikode district, and Vallikkunnu is part of the neighbouring Malappuram district. The community reserve is the first of its kind in the State, and was given the status more than five years ago.

But no major activities or developments took place in the area due to various reasons including protests from a section of residents and the differences between the members of the earlier management committee.

The earlier committee had submitted a management plan to the government but it was rejected citing environmental reasons.

The new management plan was drafted in compliance with the guidelines of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), and hence it might not face any major problems in getting the environmental clearance, said T.P. Vijayan, who was elected the chairman of the newly reconstituted reserve management committee.

The revised draft plan had also proposed different schemes and projects for about Rs.15 crore, including some tourism-related ventures, Mr. Vijayan said. “While preserving the ecosystem, we will also ensure that the concerns of the residents are completely taken care of,” he said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/management-plan-for-community-reserve/article4384659.ece

Formula to identify “inviolate” forest areas where mining will be banned

PRISCILLA JEBARAJ

Revival of “no-go” zone idea?

• “Identified pristine forest areas, where any mining activity would lead to irreversible damage, should be damaged from non-forest activity”
• India to be divided into grids of one square kilometre each, which will be scored using existing data

In what seems to be a successor to the controversial “no-go zone” concept, mining and other harmful non-forestry activities could soon be completely banned from forest areas identified as “inviolate”, using a formula created by a high-level Environment Ministry panel.

Wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves, national parks – as well as a buffer zone of one km around such protected areas – compact patches of very dense forest, the last remnant of a forest type and forests very near perennial rivers will all be automatically placed within the inviolate zone, according to a report of the Committee to Formulate Objective Parameters for Identification of Inviolate Forest Areas.

The panel was formed in the wake of the demise of the “no-go zone” approach, conceptualised by the former Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, which identified dense forest areas in nine major coal fields where forest clearances would be denied. Following intense pressure from the mining industry and the Coal Ministry, a ministerial group headed by then-Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee vetoed the idea.

However, in September 2011, the group of Ministers suggested that “identified pristine forest areas, where any mining activity would lead to irreversible damage, should be barred from any kind of non-forest activity.” Accordingly, the Environment Ministry, now headed by Jayanthi Natarajan, formed a panel to formulate parameters to identify such “inviolate” forest areas.

The panel submitted a report in July 2012, but the Ministry only made it public on Thursday. The next step is to actually prepare geo-referenced maps of inviolate areas using this formula. Apart from the automatic exclusions mentioned earlier, the formula calls for scoring of forest areas based on six principles: forest type, biological richness, wildlife value, forest cover, landscape integrity and hydrological value. The country will be divided into grids of one square kilometre each, which will be scored, mostly using existing data. An average score above 70, out of a possible 100, will also be declared inviolate.

As far as the fate of mining blocks are concerned, the report says that a block would be “considered inviolate if a majority of grids falling within a block have been labelled as inviolate.”

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/formula-to-identify-inviolate-forest-areas-where-mining-will-be-banned/article4346599.ece

PMO wants tribal's consent in giving forests for projects diluted

Nitin Sethi, TNN

NEW DELHI: The PMO has asked the environment and tribal affairs ministry to severely dilute the need for consent from tribals under the Forest Rights Act for diverting forests to projects.

The decision effectively rolls back UPA's flagship programme for tribals "the Forest Rights Act" and also runs contrary to the position taken by the government before the Supreme Court recently in the high profile Vedanta case. In the case, the government had said tribal forests cannot be diverted for projects at all.

At the moment, forest areas cannot be handed over to industry without the rights of tribals being settled in the impacted area and an explicit consent being secured from the affected gram sabha (village councils) after that.

Though this requirement has not been followed strictly, the industry as well as infrastructure ministries have been up in arms against it, repeatedly asking for doing away with the regulations.

Now, the PMO has asked the environment ministry, which gives forest clearances, and the tribal affairs ministry, the nodal point for the FRA, to dilute the regulations.

It has said that in cases where public consultations have occurred for other clearances, the consent of tribals should be done away with. This would make the affected tribals' consent irrelevant in most cases because public hearings are mandatory for almost all projects that undergo environment clearances. But the government does not review tribal rights under the FRA during assessing cases for environment clearances.

In the case of linear projects, the PMO has said just a certificate from the state government stating that processes under FRA have been completed would be adequate. This runs contrary to the position the UPA had taken in the Vedanta mining case in Odisha, a case that it is now being contested in the Supreme Court.

The PMO has said that in cases where there is significant impact on lives and livelihoods "the phrase left undefined" the gram sabha should be required to recommend the project. This again would remain contingent on whether public hearings have been held for environmental clearance or not.

In any other case, the PMO has asked the ministries to do away with the need for consent of the impacted tribals.

The PMO had given a December 31 deadline to the ministries to enact the changes. The ministries are yet to respond to the call.

Sources said the Forest Rights Act was UPA's flagship scheme in its first tenure with Congress scion Rahul Gandhi even riding on it to create a pro-tribal image when Vedanta's bauxite mining project was cancelled.

In the Vedanta case particularly, the environment ministry had noted violations of FRA and rights of tribals besides other violations to stop the project. It had refused to accept mere assurances from the Odisha government that FRA had been followed in the impacted area. But the PMO has now asked that the central government do a turnaround and ask the state governments to provide assurances in some cases but to do away with even that in many.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-11/india/36278625_1_tribal-affairs-ministry-environment-clearances-environmental-clearance