Sethusamudram Corporation Limited - Issues raise in Public Hearings

The project envisages construction of shore facilities to cater to needs of the channel in Adam’s Bridge area viz. service jetties, slipways, buoys yard, repair workshop as also staff and administration buildings for facilitation regulated traffic in the vicinity of Adam’s Bridge area. The locations of land-based structures and the extent of area required for their construction has been identified on Pamban Island (as suggested in the EIA report) in consultation with local authorities. Most of the land east of Rameswaram is barren and covered by sand and scant vegetation. There are few hamlets of Arimunai and Dhanushkodi who are engaged in fishing. These fishermen will be displaced only in the event of the land based facilities being planned in this area. However, in consultation with the District Authorities, Government land on which there is no which there is no inhabitation at present has only been identified for land based facilities. Utilization of the land for the purpose will be contingent upon CRZ clearances, not within the scope of the present application for environment clearance for the channel. Land on Pamban island was also identified in the EIA report for disposal of dredged materials. Utilization of the land for the purpose, subject to its availability, will also be contingent upon investment decision as land reclamation is a costlier option compared to sea disposal, and CRZ clearances, not within the scope of the present environment clearance for the channel. However, given that the canal will pass through Adam’s Bridge area, the pressure on land based facilities would be negligible in comparison to that envisaged in earlier studies where land locked canal cutting through Pamban Island was proposed. (Refer EIA Report) Therefore, during the construction of the channel no dislocation of the fishermen is envisaged. For land based facilities which will be set up only after obtaining CRZ clearance in due course, the identification of land in such a way that it does not have any inhabitation, in consultation with district authorities, obviates the need for any displacement of fishermen.

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Issues

3. Fish breeding will be reduced due to this project.

4. While Implementing the project fisherman should not be affected since the Kodaikarai and Muthukattai are the main fish breeding area. Fish production will be affected.

Response

The fish production grounds are mostly confined to coral reef area and margroves forest in the coastal area and around the islands. There is about 100 sq. Kms of coral reef in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay. The Coastal areas are also considered to be breeding grounds. This project does not envisage any disturbance to the breeding grounds viz., coral reefs, mangroves or the islands either during construction or during operation phase because of the stringent environment management plan such as:-

(i) No disposal of dredged material in Palk Bay or near Marine National park in Gulf of Mannar.

(ii) No permission for disposal of any kind of wastes in the Gulf of Mannar/Palk Bay area.Hydrodynamic modeling was carried out to study the base line spatial tidal current distributions in the GoM and the Palk Bay and to estimate the changes that could be brought about due to the proposed channel. The Focus has been to predict the change in the direction and magnitude of the vector currents due to the change in bathymetry resulting from modeling. These studies carried out by NEERI for change in current pattern near Adam’s bridge and adjacent locations in Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar reveal that:-

(a) There will be no significant change in current directions and magnitude near coral reef areas, consequent to construction of the channel

(b) The current direction will remain nearly the same after creation of the channel in Adam’s Bridge area

The current pattern in Palk Bay near the Pamban Island before creation of the channel is 270^o - 340^o i.e., towards north-west. This direction would not change in the near shore area. In the Palk Bay and Palk Strait area, the current will remain parallel to the channel and significant change in current direction and magnitude is not envisaged based on the earlier tracer studies conducted in this region.

The project envisages creation of a 300m wide channel, situated atleast 20Km away from the nearest island, forming part of the National Marine Park. Even more distance has been maintained from other breeding centers where mangroves are situated. Any impact on the fish production grounds could be only on account of change in the direction and magnitude of the current near the production grounds in the after -channel – scenario or turbitidy around them. The aforesaid studies would indicate that the channel will have no impact on the fish production grounds due to any such change in the current.

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As regards turbidity, the dredged material will be disposed of 20-25km away from GoM Biosphere and, therefore, the EIA study does not envisage movement of the silt from the dumping ground towards the National Marine Park. An exercise using dispersion modeling was carried out to study impact of the dredged spoil on turbidity of sea water using CORMIX model. It has been inferred from the studies that the effect of the silty water when discharged will be localized and restricted to about 1500m from the discharge point. However, the plume will not surface immediately and the concentration of the suspended soil in sea water will return to normal after 1500m in the line of advection. The envisaged dredging activities in the area likely to cause much less turbidity than the international threshould, and thus the likely risk to marine biodata even in the vicinity of the dredging area is going to be minimal.

A potential source of pollution of the marine environment during the operation phase of the project relates to ship discharge – oily ballast, bilge water and sewage. The EMP has stipulated that during dredging activities, the equipments, vessels, barges, etc. will be maintained in secured area and spillage oil or any toxic material in sea/ coastal waters will have to comply with MARPOL convection 1973/78 and CPCB restrictions for discharge of bilge, ballast, effluence’s etc. into the sea. However, keeping in view the sensitivity of the region, ships will not be allowed to discharge any effluents into the sea.

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Issues

5. Livelihood and welfare of fishermen will be affected.

6. Welfare of the fishermen will be affected.

7. Dredging of channel will reduce the fishing area of Tamil Nadu Fishermen.

8. This project will implement time restriction which will affect the fishing activity.

Response

As neither fish production grounds nor fishing activities will be affected due to the channel either in the construction or operation phase as already explained, the project rather than adversely affecting the socio-economic status of the fishermen, will upgrade their socio-economic status due to the following:

Fishermen will be able to freely trasit through Adam’s Bridge between Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar, thereby enlarging the area of their fishing operations. (EIA report: Page 7.4)

There are rich resources of fish and shrimps in Palk Bay, Gulf of Mannar and the Indian Ocean and the Indian Ocean and at present the catches are being sent by means of refrigerated lorries to Kochi and Chennai for onward export to Japan and United States. Instead of this, the fishing harbour at Rameswaram can be upgraded into a Port from where the catches can be directly exported. This will promote maritime trade along the residents of the islands and ameliorate their present backwardness and conditions of distress for which the Government of the state and at the Center often invest in social grants for removal of such distress. This will also be an indirect benefit to the National exchequer.

(Techno-Economic Feasibility Report)

There will be significant direct employment generated in the project. TPT’s experience has shown that there are several posts for which only fishermen’s wards have the requisite qualification and, therefore, are recruited. Therefore, significant employment opportunities, direct and indirect could be available to the fishermen families, providing them an opportunity of changing over to other avenues of employment.

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9. Transfer of fish will occur due to ship movement.

Response

The channel will facilitate navigation of ships. At the same time it will facilitate the movement of fishes and other biota from the Bay of Bengal to the Indian Ocean and vice-versa. By this way, the entry of oceanic and alien species into the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar, as also the dispersal of endemic species outside the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar could occur.

(EIA Report)

Researchers have reported in their papers that such alien species is a continuing phenomenon. Many scientists and fishermen have expressed the view that entry of such alien species into Palk Bay through the dredged channel in Palk Bay could enrich the fish population.

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11. Spillage of oil and plastic materials into the sea will affect the fish breeding

12. Fisherman community will be wiped out due to pollution

Response

The proposed alignment in the Gulf of Mannar is more than 20 Km away from the Islands constituting the National Marine Park in the Gulf of Mannar. Therefore, as explained already, the marine biological resources around these islands will not be affected to any significant level. The existing level of primary productivity in the project area will remain practically unaltered during the construction and operation phases of the channel. There would not be any significant change in water quality including turbidity due to the proposed deployment of cutter suction/trailer suction hopper dredgers for capital and maintenance dredging.

A potential source of pollution of the marine environment during the operation phase of the project relates to ship discharges – oil, ballast, bilge water and sewage and accidental spills. Likewise, the effects of anti-foul paints on bottom dwelling marine organisms, particularly clams and oysters, when the depth is relatively shallow and there are a number of crafts moored in the location can be significant. However, in this project anchorages are being provided only as safety measures and therefore, mooring of the ships for prolonged duration, that too in large numbers, is not envisaged.

The EMP prescribes the following:-

All the ships transiting through the channel will comply with IMO Standards and follow MARPOL convention (MARPOL 73/78)
Discharge of bilge, ballast, treated sewage, solid wastes, oily wastes and spillage of cargo will not be allowed.
All the ships using the route will have proper treatment sewage will not be allowed to be discharged.
Oil spill contingency plan will be drawn up by TPT with preparedness to prevent spread of spillage in GoM and Palk and its immediate recovery by deploying equipments and ships.
The channel will be properly marked by navigation light buoys.
Accidents due to collision will be averted through VTMS and also control of cruise speed.

Therefore, strict EMP will be in place to ensure that the ships transiting through the channel comply with the IMO standards, MARPOL 1973/78 and CPCB limits, if any.

(EIA report : pp.6.14 and 7.7 to 7.9)

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13. Rare fish species sea cow, sea turtle and dolphins will be affected.

Response

Presently, stray turtles and marine mammals suffer from propeller cuts, ghost fishing and death due to ingestion of jetsam and flotsam. Such instances may increase unless strict control is enforced in maintaining the channel pollution free and shipping speed is regulated. Such control has been provided in the EMP. EMP has further suggested posting of environmental watchers or well trained pilots aboard the transiting vessels to endeavour avoidance of injury to endangered species.

The proposed channel will have a depth of only 12m. Rare species may not, therefore, be affected by the channel.

It is of note that despite significant shipping activities, it has been reported that Olive Ridley turtles from the deep seas migrate to Gahirmatha beach in northern Orissa via Paradip Port for mass nesting during November-February every year. Reported mass killing of turtles in this region is primarily due to their getting entangled in gill netters and also due to poaching by local people for turtle flesh. This observation indicates that the proposed channel project may not have significant adverse impact on the migration and mass nesting of turtles.

(EIA report : pp.6.14 and 7.7 to 7.9)

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14. Non-availability of documents/reports by NEERI

Response

As the nodal agency, Tuticorin Port Trust had supplied sufficient copies of executive summary in Tamil and English and copy of EIA to all six Coastal District’ Environment Engineers. The extract of EIA was also published in Port’s website for several months. Detailed booklet were also supplied free of cost by the Port during public hearing containing salient features of the project, EIA and EMP

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15. Sedimentation will occur in the canal during monsoon leading to heavy loss to the Govt.

Response

Computation of requisite maintenance dredging estimates is a major component of aby techno-economic feasibility study or EIA study, as a project of this nature involves significant dredging component. Maintenance dredging of about 0.1 million m3 per year is envisaged in the EIA study in the Adams’s Bridge area and about 0.45 million m3 in Palk Bay area totaling 0.55 m3 for the channel. The studies carried out by the NSDRC indicate the region around Adam’s Bridge as a significant sink for the littoral drift. In the case of extreme monsoon conditions and occurrence of cyclones in the GoM, such prolonged deposition of sediments may move north and enter Palk Bay through Pamban Pass and Adam’s Bridge. Once the sediments enter the Palk Bay, environment conditions favour immediate deposition. This has been recognized in the EIA study. The quality of maintenance dredging required in this channel even in the worst case scenario will be far less than the quantity of annual maintenance dredging in ports such as Cochin, Kolkatta and a few others.

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16. During cyclone the channel will be unusable because of deposition of heavy silt.

Response

Information on the normal wave conditions is normally required for further studies on sedimentation and erosion and to establish the limiting conditions for navigation through the channel whereas information on the extreme wave conditions is required for the design of various structures like groynes and bank protection. The findings of the EIA study in this regard have been also duly verified with further modeling studies.

In terms of landfall, Andhra coast is the most vulnerable to the cyclones and Tamilnadu is third. Orissa is affected by the highest frequency of severe cyclones in October-November. In terms of storm surges, West Bengal coast is highly vulnerable, while Tamilnadu coast is vulnerable. Andra and Orissa are the most vulnerable to coastal inundations. The fact that against the incidence of 61 cyclones on the Tamil Nadu coast during the period 1891-1995, only six had directly crossed the Palk Bay will convey that Palk Bay is less prone to incidence of cyclones than even the rest of Tamil Nadu. Even then the EIA states that in the case of incidents of cyclones in the Gulf of Mannar, due to conditions prevalent in Palk Bay there could be more sedimentation in the Palk Bay leading to increase in the quantity of maintenance dredging. However, the incidence of cyclones in the Gulf of Mannar because of its geomorphology is even less than in Palk Bay.

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17. The earlier alignment recommended by Screening Committee may be

considered.

Response

The present alignment is considered based on the bathymetry to reduce the dredging distance of the canal and the dredge material. The alignment suggested by Steering Committee is passing near the Shingle island which is only 12Km. from the alignment whereas the present alignment is 20Km. away from Shingle island and Marine Park.

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18. The project is not economically viable and sustainable.

Response

Economic Benefits

1. Quantifiable

Savings in voyage time
Savings in fuel cost

2, Non Quantifiable

Increase in the level of economic activity in the region resulting in employment opportunities and revenue generation for the government. An illustrative list of activities includes ship repair facility, bunkering facility etc.
Multiplier effect due to investment in the channel i.e being a development project, it will lead to manifold increase in the level of economic activity as a whole resulting in an overall increase in the level of economic activity due to multiplier effect.
Possibility of coastal vessels plying on the coastal routes transport in cargo from/to the various ports in peninsular India.
The channel will be strategic importance to the national defence agencies since the naval vessels can ply in territorial waters.

Economic Cost

Various associated social and environmental costs associated with the development of channel have been duly estimated.

Calculation of EIRR

The EIRR is calculated from the perspective of the government based on the following costs and benefits.

Costs

Cost of the project – shadow rate of 90% of the capital cost (excluding interest during construction and other financing cost)
Cost incurred for operation and maintenance of the channel including environment monitoring cost at the shadow rate of 90% (excluding interest and other financing charges).

Benefits

Economic benefits on account of fuel saving
Economic benefits on account of time saving
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Issues

19. Project will not be completed within 3 years definitely it will take 30 years.

Response

77% of this work involves of dredging component. As the dredging technology is developed world-wide and as the work is going to be executed through global tenders, the period of 3 years for the completion of this project is adequate.

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20. This project will change the current pattern and that will have negative impact on fishing. Increase in Temperature. Increase in turbidity during construction will destruct fish species.

Response

A two dimensional (ocean) Model, DIVAST ( Depth Integrated Velocity and Solute Transport) has been used for the hydrodynamic modelling. Current (tidal stream) measurements, with the assistance of the staff of Chief Hydrographic surveyor of India, were carried out at 10 locations in the study domain for spring tide conditions.

The special distributions of tidal currents have been modeled for two conditions:

With the present bathymetry
With the increase depths along the proposed alignment

The modelling study reveals that there will be no significant change in the current vectors due to dredging. The maximum current speeds is 0.7m/sec. The speed and directions are not changed significantly with geographical locations close to the proposed alignment. (EIA Report Aug 2004 P.6.15 to 6.18)

The field investigations indicate no significant change in temperature.

Dredging of canal is proposed to employ modern technology; so turbidity will be within the prescribed limit.

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Response

The canal alignment is more than 30-40 Kms away from the coastal areas of Muthupettai, Kodiyakarai and Athiramapattinam. The dredged spoil is proposed to be disposed of in the Bay of Bengal at a depth of 25-30 mtr. There will not, therefore, be any damage to the Margroves during dredging of the canal.

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22. a. The dredged material will have an environment impact

b. Disposal of dredged spoil in the sea will alter the level of dissolved oxygen.

c. There will be environmental degradation.