BY SPEED POST

F. No. J-13011/7/2009-IA.II(T)

Government of India

Ministry of Environment & Forests

                                                                                       Paryavaran Bhawan

CGO Complex, Lodi Road

New Delhi-110 003

 

 Dated:   17th   July, 2009     

To

          M/s Athena Chhattisgarh Power Pvt. Ltd

          7-1-23/2, B, Block, 5th Floor,

          Roxana Towers, Greenlands,

          Begumpet, Hyderabad - 500 016. 

 

         

Subject:  2x600 MW Singhitarai TPP near village Singhitarai, District Janjgir-Champa, Chhattisgarh by M/s Athena Chhattisgarh Power Pvt. Ltd-Environmental Clearance   regarding.

 Sir,                      

 

The undersigned is directed to refer to your communication no. ACPPL/002/MoEF/066 dt. 20.3.2009 regarding the subject mentioned above. Subsequent information furnished vide letters dt. 27.5.2009 and 9.6.2009   have also been considered.

 

2.       It is noted that the proposal is for grant of environmental clearance for setting up of   a 2x600 MW   TPP near villages Singhitarai, District Janjgir- Champa Chhattisgarh.    Land requirement is 930 acre.  Township for the project will be near to Raigarh and will be separate.  Coal requirement 5.733 MTPA which will be sourced from   SECL Mines.  Water requirement is 35 MCM and will be sourced from Mahanadi River.   No National Park/Wildlife Sanctuary is reported within 10 km radius.    Schedule I animals like Peacock and Bear are reported in the study area and a conservation plan for these scheduled animals  is under preparation and after approval from State Wildlife Department will be submitted to the MoEF.    No legal homestead is reported.  A total of 863 PAPs will be due to this project.  It was also stated that an amount of Rs 5.00 crore will be spent as capital expenditure towards  

CSR activities and Rs 1.50 crore per year will be spend as recurring cost.     Public hearing has been held on 15.1.2009.  Total cost of the project is Rs. 5700.00 crores which includes Rs. 490.00 crores for environmental protection measures.

 

 3.      The proposal has been considered by the Expert Appraisal Committee for Thermal Power and Coal Mine projects  and Ministry of Environment & Forests hereby accords environmental clearance to    the said project under the provisions of Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 subject to implementation of the following terms and conditions:-   

(i)       No additional land in excess of 930 acres shall be acquired   for any activity/ facility of this project.  

 

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(ii)Copy of the conservation plan for schedule-I animals duly approved by State Wildlife Department should be submitted to the Ministry.

(iii)       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 the time of mine allocation by the SECL, a fresh reference shall be made to MOEF for suitable amendments to environmental clearance conditions wherever necessary.

(iv)       A bi-flue stack of 275 m height   shall be provided with continuous online monitoring equipments for SOx, Nod and Particulate matter.  Exit velocity of flue gases shall not be less than 25 m/sec. Mercury emissions from stack may also be monitored on periodic basis.

(vi)     High efficiency Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) shall be installed to ensure that particulate emission does not exceed 50 mg/Nm3.

(vii)    Space provision shall be kept for retrofitting of FGD, if required at a later date.

(viii)   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.  

(ix)        Fly ash shall be collected in dry form and storage facility (silos) shall be provided.  100% fly ash utilization shall be ensured from   4th year onwards.  Unutilized   ash shall be disposed off in the ash pond in the form of High Concentration Slurry ( 60% ash and 40% water).  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.

(x)         Ash pond shall be lined with impervious lining. Adequate safety   measures shall also be implemented to protect the ash dyke from getting breached.

(xi)        Closed cycle cooling system with   natural draft cooling towers   shall be provided.  COC of at least 5 shall be adopted and the effluents shall be treated as per the prescribed norms.

(xii)       No ground water should be extracted for project work at any stage.

(xiii)     The treated effluents conforming to the prescribed standards shall be re-circulated and reused within the plant.  There shall be no discharge outside the plant boundary except during monsoon. Arrangements shall be made that effluents and storm water do not get mixed.

(xiv)     A sewage treatment plant shall be provided and the treated sewage shall be used for raising greenbelt/plantation.

(xv)       Rainwater harvesting should be adopted. Central Groundwater Authority/ Board shall be consulted for finalization of appropriate rainwater harvesting technology within a period of three months from the date of clearance and details shall be furnished.

 

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(xvi)     Adequate safety measures shall be provided in the plant area to check/minimize spontaneous fires in coal yard, especially during summer season. Copy of the 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 at  Bhopal.

(xvii)   Storage facilities for auxillary liquid fuel such as LDO and/ HFO/LSHS shall be made in the plant area in consultation with Deptt. 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. 

(xviii)     Regular monitoring of ground water in and around the ash pond area including heavy metals (Hg,Cr,As,Pb)  shall be carried out, records maintained and six monthly reports shall be furnished to the Regional Office of this Ministry. The data so obtained should be compared with the baseline data so as to ensure that the groundwater quality is not adversely affected due to the project.     

(xix)      A green belt of adequate width and density shall be developed around the plant periphery covering  200 ares area preferably with local species.

(xx)       First aid and sanitation arrangements shall be made for the drivers and other contract workers during construction phase.

(xxi)     Noise levels emanating from turbines shall be so controlled such that the noise in the work zone shall be limited to 75 dBA. 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.

(xxii)    Regular monitoring of ground level concentration of SO2, NOx,    RSPM 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.

(xxiii)   Provision shall be made for the housing of construction labour 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. 

(xxiv)    Bore well should be dig up in villages Singitarai, Odekara, Nimohi               and Benipali as part of its CSR initiative to augment water availability.

(xxv)    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

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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.

(xxvi)        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, is any, from whom suggestions/ representations, if any, were received while processing the proposal. The clearance letter shall also be put on the website of the Company by the proponent.

(xxvii)  A separate environment management cell with qualified staff shall be set up for implementation of the stipulated environmental safeguards.

(xxviii)    The proponent shall upload the status of compliance of the stipulated EC 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, SO2 and  NOx (ambient levels as well as stack emissions)  shall be monitored and displayed at a convenient location near the main gate of the company in the public domain.

(xxix)   The project proponent shall also submit six monthly reports on the status of compliance of the stipulated EC conditions including results of monitored data ( both in hard copies as well by e- mail) to the respective Regional Office of MOEF, the respective Zonal Office of CPCB and the SPCB. 

(xxx)     The environmental 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 EC conditions and shall also be sent to the respective Regional Offices of MOEF by  e- mail.

(xxxi)   Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment & Forests located at  Bhopal 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 bases. Criteria pollutants levels      (Stack & ambient levels of NOx) will be displayed at the main gate of the   power plant.

(xxxii) 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

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                   purposes and year-wise expenditure should be reported to the Ministry.

(xxxiii)    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.

(xxxiv)    Full cooperation shall be extended to the Scientists/Officers from the Ministry / Regional Office of the Ministry at Bhopal/the CPCB/the SPCB who would be monitoring the compliance of environmental status.

4.       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. MOEF may impose additional environmental conditions or modify the existing ones, if necessary.

5.       The environmental clearance accorded shall be valid for a period of 5 years to start operations by the power plant.

6.       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.

7.       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 and Handling) Rules, 1989 and its amendments, the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and its amendments.

8.       Any appeal against this environmental clearance shall lie with the National Environment Appellate Authority, if preferred, within 30 days as prescribed under Section 11 of the National Environment Appellate Act, 1997.

 

 

 

(LALIT KAPUR)

                                                                                        DIRECTOR

 

Copy to:-

      1.   The Secretary, Ministry of Power, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg,                    New Delhi   -110 001.

 2.  The Secretary, Department of Environment, Dau Kalyan Singh Bhawan, Raipur- 492001.

 3.    The Chairman, Central Electricity Authority, Sewa Bhawan, R.K. Puram, New Delhi-110 066. 

 4.    The Chairman, Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board, Nanak Niwas, Civil Lines, Raipur - 492001 - with a request to display a copy of the clearance letter at the Regional Office, District Industries Centre and Collector’s office for 30 days. 

 5.  The Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board, Parivesh Bhawan, CBD-cum-Office Complex, East Arjun Nagar, Delhi-110 032.

 

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 6.   The Chief Conservator of Forests (C), Regional Office (WZ), Ministry of Environment & Forests, Kendriya Paryavaran Bhawan, Link Road No.-3, E-5, Arera Colony, Bhopal - 462 016.

 7.    Director (EI), MOEF. 

 8.    Guard file. 

 9.    Monitoring file.

 

 

(LALIT KAPUR)

                                                                                             DIRECTOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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