SPEED POST
Government
of
Ministry
of Environment & Forests
Ph: 011-2436 4067
e-mail: sarojmoef@yahoo.com
Paryavaran
Bhawan
New
Delhi-110 003
Dated: December 13, 2012.
To
M/s NTPC Ltd.
Environmental Engineering Division
Engineering Office Complex,
Plot No. A-8A, Sector -24
Noida – 201 301.
Sub: 2x800 MW Coal Based Lara Super Thermal Power Project at
villages Armuda, Chhapora, Bodajharia, Devalpura, Mahloi, Riyapalli, Lara,
Jhilgitar and kandagarh, in Taluk Pussore, in District Raigarh, in Chhattisgarh - reg. Environmental Clearance.
Sir,
The
undersigned is directed to refer to your letters dated 03.04.2012, 24.08.2012
and 10.09.2012 on the subject mentioned above. The Ministry of Environment
& Forests has examined the application.
2. It
is noted that the proposal is for setting up of 2x800 MW (Stage-I) Coal Based Lara Super Thermal Power Plant at villages
Armuda, Chhapora, Bodajharia, Devalpura, Mahloi, Riyapalli, Lara, Jhilgitar and
kandagarh, in Taluk Pussore, in
Raigarh Distt., in Chhattisgarh. Land requirement for Stage-I (2x800 MW) will
be 1205 acres which includes 135 acres of forest land. Ultimate Land
requirement for 5x800 MW will be 2395 acres. However due to irregular shape of
land an area of 2857 acres has been acquired, out of which about 2334.18 acres
is private land, 148.99 acres is govt. land; and 375 acres is revenue forest
land. Additional land over and above CEA’s recommendation will be used only for
plantation. The co-ordinates of the site are
located within Latitude 21044’57” N to 210146’19” N and
Longitude 83025’37” E to 83027’56” E. Coal requirement
will be 8.0 MTPA at 90% PLF and will be obtained from Talaipalli Coal Block. Environmental
clearance for the coal block has been recommended and Stage-I forest clearance has
been obtained both for coal block as well as for power plant site. Ash and sulphur contents in coal will be 40% and 0.5%
respectively. High Concentration Slurry Disposal system for ash shall be
adopted. About 2.56 MTPA of fly ash and 0.64 MTPA of bottom ash will be
generated. Ash pond area will be 400 acres and co-ordinates of the ash pond
site will be located within Latitude 21043’07” N to 21044’27”
N and Longitude 83027’37” E to 83029’04” E. Bi-flue Stack
of 275m will be provided. Closed cycle cooling system with cooling towers will
be installed. Water requirement of 4830 m3/hr for the Stage-I, will
be sourced from the Mahanadi River through Saradih Barrage. Commitment for
water availability of water for the project has been obtained from the State
Govt. of Chhattisgarh vide letter dated 12.01.2011 and concurred by Central
Water Commission has been issued vide its letter dated 21.01.2012. The project
involves MGR system of rail transportation over a distance of about 60 Kms.
There are no National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Heritage Sites,
Tiger/Biosphere reserves etc. within 10 km of the project site. An ancient rock
painting is located on Kabra Hills which is at a distance of about 9 km from
the project site. Gajmara & Jhargan Reserve Forests are located at the northeast
direction of the project site at a distance of about 8 km. Public Hearing was
held on 23.12.2011. Cost of the project will be Rs.9568.27 Crores.
3. The project has been considered in
accordance with the provisions of the EIA notification issued by the Ministry
of Environment & Forests vide S.O. 1533 (E), dated September 14, 2006.
4.
Based on the information submitted by
you, as at Para 2 above and others and presentation made before the Expert
Appraisal Committee (Thermal Power) in its 56th
Meeting held during September 3-4, 2012
by you and your consultant viz. M/s Mantec Consultants Pvt. Ltd., New
Delhi, the Ministry of Environment and Forests hereby accords
environmental clearance to the above project under the provisions of EIA
notification dated September 14, 2006, subject to the compliance of the
following Specific and General conditions:
A.
Specific Conditions:
(i)
Vision document specifying prospective plan for the site shall be
formulated and submitted to the Regional Office of the Ministry within six
months.
(ii)
Scheme
for implementation for harnessing solar power within the premises of the plant
particularly at available roof tops shall be formulated and status of
implementation shall be submitted periodically to the Regional Office of the
Ministry.
(iii)
Provision for installation of FGD
shall be provided for future use.
(iv)
Coal
transportation to plant site shall be undertaken by rail and no road
transportation shall be permitted.
(v)
A long term
study of radio activity and heavy metals contents on coal to be used shall be
carried out through a reputed institute. Thereafter mechanism for an in-built
continuous monitoring for radio activity and heavy metals in coal and fly ash
(including bottom ash) shall be put in place.
(vi)
Sulphur and ash contents in the coal
to be used in the project shall not exceed 0.5 % and 34 % respectively at any
given time. In case of variation of coal
quality at any point of time fresh reference shall be made to the Ministry for
suitable amendments to environmental clearance condition wherever necessary.
(vii)
Bi-flue stack of 275 m height with
flue gas velocity not less than 22 m/s shall be installed and provided with
continuous online monitoring equipments for SOx, NOx and
PM2.5 & PM10. Mercury emissions from stack may also be
monitored on periodic basis.
(viii)
High Efficiency Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) shall be installed to ensure that particulate
emission does not exceed 50 mg/Nm3.
(ix)
Adequate dust extraction system such as cyclones/ bag
filters and water spray system in dusty areas such as in coal handling and ash
handling points, transfer areas and other vulnerable dusty areas shall be
provided.
(x)
No
mine void filling or filling up of low lying areas with fly ash shall be
undertaken.
(xi)
Utilisation
of 100% Fly Ash generated shall be made from 4th year of
operation. Status of implementation shall be reported to the Regional Office of
the Ministry from time to time.
(xii)
Fly ash
shall be collected in dry form and storage facility (silos) shall be
provided. Unutilized fly ash shall be
disposed off in the ash pond in the form of slurry form. Mercury and other heavy metals (As, Hg, Cr, Pb etc.) will
be monitored in the bottom ash as also in the effluents emanating from the
existing ash pond. No ash
shall be disposed off in low lying area.
(xiii)
Ash pond
shall be lined with HDPE/LDPE lining or any other suitable impermeable media
such that no leachate takes place at any point of time. Adequate safety
measures shall also be implemented to protect the ash dyke from getting
breached. Ash pond water shall be re-circulated and
utilized.
(xiv)
Fugitive
emissions shall be controlled to prevent impact on such that no
agricultural/non-agricultural land. Impact to any land shall be mitigated and
suitable compensation provided in consultation with the local Panchayat.
(xv)
Hydrogeology of the area
shall be reviewed annually from an institute/ organization of repute to assess
impact of surface water and ground regime (especially around ash dyke). In case
any deterioration is observed specific mitigation measures shall be undertaken
and reports/ data of water quality monitored regularly and maintained shall be
submitted to the Regional Office of the Ministry.
(xvi)
No ground water shall be
extracted for use in operation of the power plant even in lean season.
(xvii)
No water bodies
(including natural drainage system) in the area shall be disturbed due to
activities associated with the setting up / operation of the power plant.
(xviii) Minimum required environmental flow suggested by the Competent
Authority of the State Govt. shall be maintained in the Channel/ Rivers (as
applicable) even in lean season.
(xix)
(xx)
Regular monitoring of ground water
level shall be carried out by establishing a network of existing wells and
constructing new piezometers. Monitoring
around the ash pond area
shall be carried out particularly for heavy metals (Hg, Cr, As, Pb) and records maintained and submitted to the Regional Office of this Ministry. The data so
obtained should be compared with the baseline data so as to ensure that the
ground water quality is not adversely affected due to the project.
(xxi)
Monitoring
surface water quality in the area shall also be regularly conducted and records
maintained. The monitored data shall be submitted to the Ministry regularly.
Further, monitoring points shall be located between the plant and drainage in
the direction of flow of ground water and records maintained. Monitoring for
heavy metals in ground water shall be undertaken.
(xxii)
Waste water generated from the plant
shall be treated before discharge to comply limits prescribed by the SPCB/CPCB.
(xxiii) The project proponent shall undertake rain water
harvesting measures and shall develop water storage for use in operation of the
plant. Rain water harvesting system shall be put in place which
shall comprise of rain water collection from the built up and open area in the
plant premises. Action plan for implementation shall be submitted to the
Regional Office of the Ministry.
(xxiv) Additional soil for leveling of the proposed site shall be
generated within the sites (to the extent possible) so that natural drainage
system of the area is protected and improved.
(xxv)
Common property resource falling in the vicinity
of the project area shall be identified and if any common property resource
(such as grazing land, pond etc.) is falling within the plant area and is
unavoidable by its sheer location an equal area shall be first developed and
handed over to the community.
(xxvi) The
project proponent need to ensure that poor villagers (particularly landless
farmers) are further not marginalized. Accordingly identification of landless
farmers shall be carried out from records of Revenue Department/District
Agricultural Office collected and appropriate scheme for sustainable livelihood
scheme shall be devised and audited report sent to the concerned Deptt. from
time to time.
(xxvii) The project proponent shall ensure compensation to
the land oustees and also formulate scheme in consultation with the State Govt.
for immediate implementation of sustainable welfare measures for marginalized
landless farmers whose sustenance were indirectly dependent on the land now
proposed for the power project and not owned by them.
(xxviii) The project proponent shall also adequately
contribute in the development of the neighbouring villages. Special package
with implementation schedule for providing potable drinking water supply in the
nearby villages and schools shall be undertaken in a time bound manner.
(xxix) CSR scheme shall be undertaken based on need based
assessment in and around the villages within 5 km of the site and in constant
consultation with the village Panchayat and the District Administration. As
part of CSR employment of local youth after imparting relevant training as may
be necessary shall be undertaken as committed.
(xxx)
An amount of Rs
38.0 Crores shall be earmarked as one time capital cost for CSR
programme as committed by the project proponent. Subsequently a recurring
expenditure of Rs 7.65 Crores per annum till the
life of the plant shall be earmarked as recurring expenditure for CSR
activities. Details of the activities to be undertaken shall be submitted within six month along with
road map for implementation.
(xxxi) It shall be ensured that an
in-built monitoring mechanism for the CSR schemes identified is in place and
annual social audit shall be got done from the nearest government institute of
repute in the region. The project proponent shall also submit the status of
implementation of the scheme from time to time. The achievements should be put
on company’s website.
(xxxii)
Green Belt consisting of 3 tiers of
plantations of native species around plant not less than 100 m width shall be
raised (except in areas not feasible). The density of trees shall not less than 2500
per ha with survival rate not less than 80 %.
(xxxiii) An
Environmental Cell shall be created at the project site itself and shall be
headed by an officer of appropriate seniority and qualification. It shall be
ensured that the head of the Cell shall directly report to the Head of the
Organization.
B.
General Conditions:
(i)
The treated effluents conforming to
the prescribed standards only shall be re-circulated and reused within the
plant. Arrangements shall be made that effluents and storm water do not get
mixed.
(ii)
A sewage
treatment plant shall be provided (as applicable) and the treated sewage shall
be used for raising greenbelt/plantation.
(iii)
Adequate
safety measures shall be provided in the plant area to check/minimize spontaneous
fires in coal yard, especially during summer season. Copy of these measures
with full details along with location plant layout shall be submitted to the
Ministry as well as to the Regional Office of the Ministry.
(iv)
Storage
facilities for auxiliary liquid fuel such as LDO/ HFO/LSHS shall be made in the
plant area in consultation with Department of Explosives, Nagpur. Sulphur
content in the liquid fuel will not exceed 0.5%. Disaster Management Plan shall be prepared to
meet any eventuality in case of an accident taking place due to storage of oil.
(v)
First Aid and sanitation arrangements shall be made for the drivers and
other contract workers during construction phase.
(vi)
Noise levels emanating from turbines shall be so controlled such that the
noise in the work zone shall be limited to 85 dB(A) from source. For people
working in the high noise area, requisite personal protective equipment like
earplugs/ear muffs etc. shall be provided. Workers engaged in noisy areas such
as turbine area, air compressors etc shall be periodically examined to maintain
audiometric record and for treatment for any hearing loss including shifting to
non noisy/less noisy areas.
(vii)
Regular
monitoring of ambient air ground level concentration of SO2, NOx, PM2.5
& PM10 and Hg shall be carried out in the impact zone and
records maintained. If at any stage
these levels are found to exceed the prescribed limits, necessary control
measures shall be provided immediately. The location of the monitoring stations
and frequency of monitoring shall be decided in consultation with SPCB.
Periodic reports shall be submitted to the Regional
Office of this Ministry. The data shall also be put on the
website of the company.
(viii) Provision shall be made for
the housing of construction labour (as applicable) within the site with all
necessary infrastructure and facilities such as fuel for cooking, mobile
toilets, mobile STP, safe drinking water, medical health care, crèche etc. The housing may be in the form of temporary
structures to be removed after the completion of the project.
(ix)
The project proponent shall advertise in at least two local newspapers
widely circulated in the region around the project, one of which shall be in
the vernacular language of the locality concerned within seven days from the
date of this clearance letter, informing that the project has been accorded
environmental clearance and copies of clearance letter are available with the
State Pollution Control Board/Committee and may also be seen at Website of the
Ministry of Environment and Forests at http://envfor.nic.in.
(x)
A copy of the
clearance letter shall be sent by the proponent to concerned Panchayat, Zila
Parisad / Municipal Corporation, urban local Body and the Local NGO, if any,
from whom suggestions/representations, if any, received while processing the
proposal. The clearance letter shall also be put on the website of the Company
by the proponent.
(xi)
The proponent shall upload the status of compliance of
the stipulated environmental clearance conditions, including results of
monitored data on their website and shall update the same periodically. It
shall simultaneously be sent to the Regional Office of MOEF, the respective
Zonal Office of CPCB and the SPCB. The criteria pollutant levels namely; SPM,
RSPM (PM2.5 & PM10), SO2, NOx
(ambient levels as well as stack emissions) shall be displayed at a convenient
location near the main gate of the company in the public domain.
(xii)
The environment statement for each financial year ending
31st March in Form-V as is mandated to be submitted by the project
proponent to the concerned State Pollution Control Board as prescribed under
the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, as amended subsequently, shall also
be put on the website of the company along with the status of compliance of
environmental clearance conditions and shall also be sent to the respective
Regional Offices of the Ministry by e-mail.
(xiii)
The project proponent shall submit
six monthly reports on the status of the implementation of the stipulated
environmental safeguards to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, its
Regional Office, Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control
Board. The project proponent shall upload the status of compliance of the
environment of the environmental clearance conditions on their website and
update the same periodically and simultaneously send the same by e-mail to the
Regional Office, Ministry of Environment and Forests.
(xiv) Regional Office of the
Ministry of Environment & Forests will monitor the implementation of the
stipulated conditions. A complete set of documents including Environmental
Impact Assessment Report and Environment Management Plan along with the
additional information submitted from time to time shall be forwarded to the
Regional Office for their use during monitoring. Project proponent will up-load
the compliance status in their website and up-date the same from time to time
at least six monthly basis. Criteria pollutants levels including NOx (from
stack & ambient air) shall be displayed at the main gate of the power
plant.
(xv) Separate funds shall be
allocated for implementation of environmental protection measures along with
item-wise break-up. These cost shall be included as part of the project cost.
The funds earmarked for the environment protection measures shall not be
diverted for other purposes and year-wise expenditure should be reported to the
Ministry.
(xvi) The project authorities shall
inform the Regional Office as well as the
Ministry regarding the date of financial closure and final approval of the
project by the concerned authorities and the dates of start of land development
work and commissioning of plant.
(xvii) Full cooperation shall be
extended to the Scientists/Officers from the Ministry / Regional Office of the
Ministry / CPCB/ SPCB who would be monitoring the compliance of environmental
status.
5. The Ministry of Environment and Forests
reserves the right to revoke the clearance if conditions stipulated are not
implemented to the satisfaction of the Ministry. The Ministry may also impose
additional environmental conditions or modify the existing ones, if necessary.
6. The environmental clearance accorded shall
be valid for a period of 5 years to start operations by the power plant.
7. Concealing
factual data or submission of false/fabricated data and failure to comply with
any of the conditions mentioned above may result in withdrawal of this
clearance and attract action under the provisions of Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986.
8. In case of any deviation or alteration in
the project proposed including coal transportation system from those submitted
to this Ministry for clearance, a fresh reference should be made to the
Ministry to assess the adequacy of the condition(s) imposed and to add additional
environmental protection measures required, if any.
9. The above stipulations would be enforced
among others under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974,
the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986 and rules there under, Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling &
Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008 and its amendments, the Public Liability
Insurance Act, 1991 and its amendments.
10. Any appeal against this environmental
clearance shall lie with the National Green Tribunal, if preferred, within 30
days as prescribed under Section 16 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.
Yours faithfully,
(Dr. Saroj)
Scientist ‘F’
Copy to:
1. The Secretary, Ministry
of Power, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110001.
2.
The Secretary
(Environment), Environment Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, Raipur.
3.
The Chairman, Central
Electricity Authority, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110066.
4.
The Chairman, State
Env. Conservation Board : Nanak Niwas, Civil Lines, Raipur, Chhattisgarh – 421
001
5.
The Chairman, Central
Pollution Control Board, Parivesh Bhawan,
CBD-cum-Office Complex, East Arjun Nagar, Delhi- 110032.
6.
The Chief Conservator of
Forests, Regional Office (WZ), E-5, Kendriya Paryavaran Bhawan, Arera
Colony, Ravishankar Nagar, Bhopal - 462016.
7.
The District Collector, Raigarh
District, Chhattisgarh.
8. Guard file.
9.
Monitoring File.
(Dr. Saroj)
Scientist ‘F’