National Green Tribunal
Vijesh Kumar V vs Moef on 16 March, 2021
Author: K. Ramakrishnan
Bench: K. Ramakrishnan
Item No.01:
BEFORE THE NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL
SOUTHERN ZONE, CHENNAI
Original Application No. 155 of 2020 (SZ)
(Through Video Conference)
IN THE MATTER OF
Vijeesh Kumar
Thiruvananthappuram
...Applicant(s)
Versus
Union of India and others ...Respondent(s)
Date of hearing: 16.03.2021.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE K. RAMAKRISHNAN, JUDICIAL MEMBER
HON'BLE MR. SAIBAL DASGUPTA, EXPERT MEMBER
For Applicant(s): Sri. S. Sai Sathya Jith represented
Sri. P.B. Sahasranaman
For Respondent(s): Mrs. Me. Saraswathy for R1
Smt. Vidhyalakshmi Vipin for R2.
Mr. C. Vidhusan for R3
Mr. E.K. Kumaresan for R4.
ORDER
1. The above case has been posted for appearance of parties and also for consideration of report of the joint committee which was appointed by order dated 19.08.2020. Originally it was posted to 27.11.2020 and thereafter the matter was 1 adjourned from time to time by successive notifications and lastly the matter was adjourned to today as per notification dated 09.02.2021.
2. When the matter came up for hearing today through Video Conference, Sri. Sai Sathya Jith represented Sri. P.B. Sahasranaman for the applicant. Smt. Me. Saraswathy represented first respondent, Smt. Vidhyalakshmi Vipin represented 2nd respondent, Mr. C. Vidhusan represented 3rd respondent and Mr. E.K. Kumaresan represented 4th respondent. So service is complete.
3. We have received the Joint Committee report dated November 2020, e-filed on 17.12.2020 and received on 08.01.2021 which reads as follows:-
REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 Report of the Joint Committee as per the direction of the Hon'ble NGT south zone Case filed in Hon'ble NGT South Zone O.A no 155/2020 Shri Vijeesh Kumar Vs. U.O.I and others 1.0 Background The Covenant Stones Pvt Ltd is involved in the operation of a building stone quarry and dimension stone quarry in an area of 8.9637 Ha. in the Manikkal and Thekkada Villages of Nedumangad Taluk of Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala (Fig 1 and 2). The first environmental clearance was issued by SEIAA to this quarry on 2014 vide environmental clearance No 237/SEIAA/ KL/ 885/2014 dated 27/11/2014 and it was expired in 2019. The SEIAA had given an extension of six months vide environmental clearance by SEIAA no 1422/EC1/2019/SEIAA dated 3.01.2020 from 2019 to 2020 (see Annexure 6 and &7) . Meanwhile the Tahsildar, Nedumangad Taluk issued a stop memo dated 7.3.2020 to M/s Covenant Stones Pvt. Ltd. for transporting quarried materials without valid documents. At present the environment clearance is not in force and all the quarrying operations are 2 stopped. As per the statement of the Company representative the quarry is not in operation since 7 March 2020. At the moment the extension period of the EC is over and the mining operations have come to a standstill. Further extension of the lease period is rejected by SEIAA. Now the company has applied for the approval of Terms of reference (TOR) for conducting an EIA study followed by public hearing which are pre requisites for Environmental Clearance (EC) for any mining projects having a real extent of 5 Ha or more. This application is now pending before SEIAA, Kerala.
Shri Vijeesh Kumar filed O.A. No 155/2020 before Hon'ble NGT South Zone alleging that lot of environmental damage has been done on account of violations committed by M/s Covenant Stones (P) Ltd,Vembayam , Thiruvananthapuram and the Proponent had manipulated mining plan submitted with application for EC for the subsequent periods.
Vide order dated 19.08.2020 in OA No 155/2020 Hon'ble NGT South Zone has directed to appoint a Joint Committee consisting of officers from SEIAA, MoEF& CC , KSPCB, DMG and NCESS (Annexure 1 and 2) to ascertain the real state affairs and also the violation said to have been committed by M/s Covenant Stones in carrying out quarrying operations . The members of the Joint Committee are Shri G. Sankar , Member, SEAC, Kerala and Scientist G (Retd), National Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram
2. Dr S. Prabhu , Scientist C, MoEF and CC, Bengaluru
3. Shri A. M.Harees, Environmental Engineer, Kerala State Pollution Control Board, District Office, Thiruvananthapuram
4. Dr A.Krishnakumar, Scientist D, National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS), Thiruvananthapuram
5. Shri M. M.Vahab, Geologist, Directorate of Mining and Geology (DMG), Kerala SEIAA, Kerala coordinated the work as the nodal department.
OINT COMMI2.0 Methodology The Hon'ble court had directed the Joint Committee to examine / carry out the following
1. Joint committee members have to inspect the quarry and submit a status report 2. Assessment of environment violation if any
3. Whether excess quarrying was carried out
4. Whether closure plan has been complied with
5. Whether rehabilitation and reclamation has been carried out 3
6. Whether environmental degradation caused on account of unscientific method of quarrying
7. Whether any damages to neighbouring houses due to quarrying and to the ecology
8. Whether pollution control measures provided by the operator was adequate or not The Committee met in the Office of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board on 28th October, 2020, observing all government protocols on COVID-19, to formulate the methodology of investigation to be carried out. The meeting also decided to carry out the site inspection on 2nd November 2020 from 9 am onwards. SEIAA was requested to officially inform M/s Covenant Stones Pvt Ltd regarding the site visit. The Committee also had carried out field studies in the area around the quarry on the same day to ascertain any damages to the neighbouring houses due to quarrying. It was also decided to meet at the Kerala State Pollution Control Board district office, Thiruvananthapuram after the field visit on November 2nd at 3 pm to discuss about the data collected and to identify the gaps if any. It was also decided that the existing reports and data available will be made use for the report. 3.0 Questions raised by the Hon'ble NGT Hon'ble NGT has raised the following aspects:
1. Assessment of environment violation if any
2. Whether excess quarrying was carried out
3. Whether closure plan has been complied with
4. Whether rehabilitation and reclamation has been carried out
5. Whether environmental degradation caused on account of unscientific method of quarrying 5 Chairman REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020
6. Whether any damages to neighbouring houses due to quarrying and to the ecology
7. Whether pollution control measures provided by the operator was adequate or not 3.1 Field visit On 2 November, 2020 the Joint Committee carried out the site inspection with all the Government protocols on COVID-19 (Annexure 3a and 3b). All the Joint Committee members reached the site at 9 am itself. The representative of the management of the Covenant Stones Pvt Ltd, Shri Jijo Mathew was present at the time of visit (Fig.3). Shri. S.Mamallan, R.Q.P. of the company was also present at the site to explain the technical questions. The field studies were concluded at 1.30 pm. The technical teams from the respective organisations of the Joint Committee helped the members in carrying out the investigations.
The environmental clearance (EC) No 237/SEIAA/KL/885/2014 dated 27.11.2014, was issued to this quarry by SEIAA is with 5 (five) specific and 40 (forty) general conditions to be followed during the EC period of 5 (five years). The Joint 4 Committee verified each of the conditions and verified its compliance by M/s Covenant Stones Pvt Ltd. On verifying the records it was observed that there were many complaints and court cases regarding the environmental issues raised by few local people. Revenue department had issued stop memo to this firm for not producing documents for the transportation of mined material.
The quarry was not functioning at the time of visit. On enquiry the Committee was informed that the operations of the quarry was stopped on 7 March 2020. Except Shri Jijo Mathew,, representative of the Company and Shri Mamallan, RQP and the security personnel no other employees were seen at the time of visit. The crusher unit was also not functioning at the time of visit. The internal roads leading to the quarry and crusher unit is wide, black topped. One boundary pillar BP 20 is located in the main approach road (fig 4). The finding of the field investigation is described under different titles below. 3.2 Assessment of environment violation if any The environmental clearance issued in 27.11.2014 specifies 5 (five) specific and 40 (forty) general conditions (Annexure 6 and
7) to be followed during the EC period. The Joint Committee examined these conditions.
The specific conditions imposed are on account of the peculiar topographic, geologic and other site specific socio environmental issues.
In any mining activity the boundary pillars defining the lease area assume lot of importance. The exact position of a boundary pillar is given as geo coordinates (latitude / longitude) in the approved mine plan of the mining project. Since geo coordinates are known revisiting a boundary pillar is easy. So any violation regarding encroachment or buffer or garland canal etc is determined using the present position of boundary pillars in the site.
The Boundary Pillars (BP) with geo coordinates followed in the approved mine plan is given in Table1, were physically checked where ever accessible in the field with hand held GPS and cross checked with GPS facility available with the smart phones. Remote sensing and GIS tools were adopted to check the BP positions with respect to the actual mined area. (Fig 5, Fig 7, Fig 8 and Fig 9) 7 Chairman REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 Table 1 :Lease area of the area defined for quarrying is bounded by the following boundary pillars Boundary Geo coordinates Remarks Pillar No Lattittude Longitude BP 01 N8 o39' 03.5" E76o57' 07.7" No mining area .Verified correct debris mantle slope vegetated area BP 02 N8 o39' 01.4" E76o57' 07.1" Verified correct, No garland canal, No buffer BP 03 N8 o39' 01.0" E76o57' 5 07.9" Verified correct, No garland canal. No buffer BP 04 N8 o38' 58.2" E76o57' 07.0" No garland canal No Buffer BP 05 N8 o38' 57.8" E76o57' 08.4" No garland canal No Buffer BP 06 N8o38' 56.6" E76o57' 08.0" No garland canal , No Buffer BP 07 N8 o38' 55.0" E76o57' 07.1" Excess mining No garland canal No Buffer BP 08 N8 o38' 54.0"
E76o57' 09.4" Excess mining No garland No Buffer BP 09 N8 o38' 53.3" E76o57' 11.3" No garland canal BP 10 N8 o38' 56.0" E76o57' 12.6" Encroachment to outside lease area. No buffer BP 11 N8 o38' 55.4" E76o57' 16.2" Excess mining, encroachment to outside lease area. No Buffer BP 12 N8 o38' 54.9" E76o57' 16.1" Encroachment to outside lease area, No buffer BP 13 N8 o38' 54.9" E76o57' 17.3" Vegetated area BP 14 N8 o38' 53.9" E76o57' 17.7" BP located in steep and bush area BP 15 N8 o38' 53.4" E76o57' 18.5" Verified mining seen side lease area. BP missing BP 16 N8 o38' 54.3" E76o57' 19.2" Verified No garland canal BP 17 N8 o38' 55.2" E76o57' 18.5" Verified No garland canal BP 18 N8 o38' 55.4" E76o57' 17.7" Verified , No garland canal , No Buffer BP 19 N8 o38' 58.3" E76o57' 18.4" Near Canal. Verified BP 20 N8 o38' 58.5" E76o57' 16.2" On the road. Not concreted Verified and found correct ORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 BP 21 N8 o39' 00.3" E76o57' 16.5" Verified near magazine store .Fixed temporarily on the Metallic pole. Verified BP 22 N8 o39' 01.4" E76o57' 13.3" Fixed temporarily on the the road verified metallic pole. Verified BP 23 N8 o39' 04.2" E76o57' 14.3" Boundary pillar is not found- missing BP 24 N8 o39' 05.8" E76o57' 10.3" Two pillars seen. Metallic pole verified correct. Other one inside the lease area in the buffer area . (photo ) BP 25 N8 o39' 06.5" E76o57' 08.2" verified. No mining area vegetated. Debris mantle slope BP 26 N8 o39' 07.9" E76o57' 03.5" Steep slope..No mining area debris mantle slope. Vegetated area BP 27 N8 o39' 05.2" E76o57' 02.6" Steep slope No mining area debris mantle slope . Vegetated area REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 3.21Specific conditions 3.2101. "Western most debris mantled sloping area merging with the lower flat land is very steep quarrying must be avoided."
Complied. The Fig. 6 indicates the actual ground condition of the boundary pillars which were given the approved mining plan. In the Specific condition the mining was prohibited in the debris mantle slope on the western side on 6 the lease area. BP 25, 26, 27 and 1 cover this area. At the time of visit the area is fully vegetated and undisturbed10 Chairman REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 3.2102 Specific Condition 2 : A minimum buffer distance of 250m to be maintained from Thampuranpara in the north.
Complied . There is an aerial distance of appox. 270m from BP 25 to Thampuranpara. The distance was measured using tools available in Google earth. (Fig.8). BP 25 BP geo coordinates were verified on the field. So the distance criterion is maintained. At this spot encroached mining 11 Chairman REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 3.2103 Specific Condition 3 : Quarrying must be limited to Sy Nos 29/2,29/3 part and 30/4 part at Thekkada village & Sy nos 470.472/41, 474/1, 474/1-1, 474 ½, 472/5, 472/6, 469/4/3/4, 469/4/3/3, 469/4/2, 469/4/1/1, 469/4/1/2,469/4/1/3 and 469/4 at the Manickal village, Nedumangad taluk, Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala.
Not Complied. The Boundary Pillars with the geocordinates numbering BP1 to BP27 mentioned in the approved mine plan covers the lease area in the sy nos 470.472/41, 474/1, 474/1-1, 474 ½, 472/5, 472/6, 469/4/3/4, 469/4/3/3, 469/4/2, 469/4/1/1, 469/4/1/2,469/4/1/3 and 469/4 at the Manickal village, Nedumangad taluk, Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala. Field verification and GIS interpretation (i.e. Superimposition of Geocordinates of BP in the Satellite image ) it is evident that mining has encroached into the areas beyond the sy.nos mentioned in the environmental clearance. Most affected areas are in the south and south-western areas. The Department of Mining and Geology (DMG) has carried out an extensive field based survey to find out excessive mining carried out by the Company. DMG have also confirmed that mining was encroached to outside lease area.
O.A NO. 155/20203.2104 Specific condition 4 : Buffer distance of 15 m should be maintained from the OINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 Taluk boundary.
Complied. Cross checked in the field as well as using GIS / satellite image. The Boundary points were plotted on the map ( Fig.12) shows that there is buffer maintained from the Taluk boundary. The position of the Boundary Pillars near the Taluk boundary is also verified in the field.
73.2105 Specific Condition 5 : Boundary pillars should not be tampered with.
Not complied. In this quarry boundary pillars are not maintained properly. Boundary Pillars define the exact boundary of the lease / permit area of quarry. In other words the mining/ quarrying activities should be limited inside the area covered by the boundary pillars. The buffer zone, the garland canal should be within this area. In an ideal case the boundary pillars should be concrete pillars or stone pillars of 4ft high, concreted to the base with yellow colour painted as background with black lettering showing the geo coordinates of the spot. Border pillars are all metallic and few are concreted. The values are fixed on a flex sheet pasted on it with yellow background and black letterings. Some boundary pillars are found loosely fixed on the ground (Fig 4, 13 and 14). The co ordinates of the Boundary pillars were located on a recent Google earth image which is freely down loadable. The Fig.5, 7, 8, 9,10 and 11.
Boundary pillars are not maintained properly. In couple of places it is either missing or dilapidated. This BP is located on an asphalted road leading to the site Another one is also found located in the middle of the road (BP 14 Both these BP are metallic and removable. This is not permissible for quarrying operations. Mining projects are long term projects and the BP should not degrade with time. Since BP are located in open, metallic poles will be subjected to rusting. So concrete pillars or stone pillars concreted to the base are envisaged in a mining project. At one locality two BP boundary pillars are seen There are two boundary pillars seen near BP 24 one stone pillar painted as BP24 and the other metallic one with BP24 sticker. The metallic pole is the correct one and the stone pillar with same number is found inside the lease area. This indicates the negligence of the management in maintaining the Boundary pillars (BP). BP 23 is found missing in the spot where it should have located as per the geo coordinates. Few BP are located in steep inaccessible location and could not be verified physically. Their position was checked using GIS / satellite image (Google earth) REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 22 General Conditions:
3.2201: General Condition1 Rain Water Harvesting facility should be installed as per the prevailing provisions of KMBR/KPBR, unless otherwise specified. 8
Complied. It was noted that PA has made arrangement for collection of rainwater in two ponds. PA has informed that the water is used for sprinkling on haulage road for dust suppression and also for the plantation. 3.2202 General Condition 2 Environment Monitoring cell as agreed under the affidavit filed by the proponent should be formed and made functional.
Not Complied. PA has not produced any records in this regard. in the Compliance reports available it is mentioned that a EMC is functional headed by quarry Manager along with qualified Environmental consultant / engineers is being engaged for the effective implementation of pollution control measures.
3.2203 General Condition 3 Suitable avenue trees should be planted along either side of the tarred road and open parking areas, if any, including of approach road and internal roads.
Partly Complied. The joint committee observed that only very small number of avenue trees are within a quarry lease area. However, PA has informed that one thousand tree saplings are planted along road side. 3.2204 General Condition 4 Maximum possible solar energy generation and utilization shall be ensured as an essential part of the project.
Complied, PA has provided two solar streets lights. 3.2205 General Condition 5 Sprinklers shall be installed and used in the project REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 site to contain dust emissions.
Complied.
3.2206 General Condition 6 Eco-restoration including t h e mine closure plan shall be done at the own cost of the project proponent.
Not Complied.
3.2207 General Condition 7 At least 10 percent of the total area excavated pit should be retained as water storage areas and the remaining area should be reclaimed with stacked dumping and overburden and planted with indigenous plant species that are eco friendly Partly Complied. PA has retained old mining pit as a water storage area. However, plantation carried out only at very less area in overburden dump areas.
3.2208 General Condition 8 Corporate So c i al Responsibility (CSR) agreed upon by the proponent should be implemented Partly Complied. During the visit, PA has informed that CSR activities were carried out in surrounding villages, however, not submitted any supporting documents. The 9 activities carried out are not as per activities listed in the proposal.
3.2209 General Condition 9 The lease area shall be fenced off with barbed wires to a minimum height of 4ft around, before starting of mine.
Partly Complied. Proper fencing of the lease area has not provided in all places.
3.2210 General Condition10 Warning alarms indicating the time of blasting (to be done at specific timings) has to be arranged as per stipulations of Explosive Department.
Complied.
3.2211 General Condition 11 Control measures on noise and vibration prescribed by KSPCB should be implemented.
Not complied. PA has not submitted any supporting documents.
3.2212 General Condition 12 Quarrying activities should be limited to daytime as per KSPCB guidelines. Complied. Signage erected at strategic points. 3.2213 General Condition 13 Blasting should be done in a controlled manner as specified by the regulations of Explosives Department or any other concerned agency. Not Complied. PA has not submitted any supporting documents. Compliance report it is mentioned that Controlled blasting is followed as per the supervision of competent persons.
3.214 General Condition14 A licensed person should supervise/ control the blasting operations. Not Complied. PA has not submitted supporting documents. Compliance report it is mentioned that one first class manager, second class manger, foreman and two mates. 3.2215 General Condition 15 Access roads to the quarry shall be tarred to contain dust emissions that may arise during transportation of materials. Complied. The main road is a tarred (black topped) road. The small roads branching from main road is not tarred Fig23 . The main access road in Quarry area. Fig.24 Untarred road leading to dimension stone quarry 3.2116 General condition 16 Overburden materials should be managed within the site and the old quarries, if any, should be reclaimed and restored. Partly Complied 3.2217 General Condition 17 Height of benches should not exceed 5m and width JOINT2020 should not be less than 5m.
Not complied. Height and width of benches not maintained (Fig25) as per EC conditions. All benches are mined out to extract more materials.
10Fig. 25 5m x 5m benching method is not adopted here 3.2218 General Condition 18 Mats to reduce fly rock blast to a maximum of 10PPV should be provided. Could not verify the compliance as the quarry was not in operation.
3.2219 General Condition 19 Maximum depth of mining form general ground level at site shall not exceed 10m 3.2120 General Condition 20 No mining operations should be carried out at JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 places having a slope greater than45°.
Complied. No mining was carried out in the debris mantle slope.
3.2121 General Condition 21 Acoustic enclosures should have been provided to reduce sound amplifications in addition to the provisions of green belt and hollow brick envelop for crushers so that the noise level is kept within prescribed standards given CPCB/KSPCB. Not complied. Noise level monitoring report has not been submitted.
3.2222 General condition 22. The workers on the site should be provided with the required protective equipment such as ear muffs, helmet, etc Could not verify the compliance as the quarry was not in operation.
3.2223 General Condition23 Garland drains with clarifiers to be provided in the lower slopes around the core area to channelize storm water.
Not complied. There is one canal (Fig.27) going for a short distance without any silt traps near BP19. This drain is now being used as a duct for cables and it not maintained properly. The garland drain is being used to drain mine drainage. It should be located between the benches and the buffer. The rain water falling on the benches should drain through these garland canals and the silt should deposit in the silt traps provided in these canals before joining the common public drainage system. Such an arrangement is not adopted here. Fig. 27 The Garland canal is located near BP 19 . 3.2224 General Condition 24 The transportation of minerals should be done in covered trucks to contain dust emissions.
Could not verify the compliance as the quarry was not in operation.
3.2225 General Condition 25 The proponent should plant trees at least-5times of the loss that has been occurred while clearing the land for the project.
11Not Complied JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 3.2226 General Condition 26 Disposal of spent oil form diesel engines should be as specified under relevant Rules / Regulations.
Complied and no spillage observed 3.2227 General Condition 27 Explosives should be stored in magazines in isolated place specified and approved by the Explosives Department.
Complied. A separate Magazine store room has been found.
3.2228 General Condition 28 A minimum buffer distance of100mfrom the boundary of the quarry to the nearest dwelling unit or other structures, not being any facility for mining shall be provided.
Compiled.
3.2229 General Condition 29 200m buffer distance should be maintained f r o m forest boundaries.
Complied. No forest boundaries within 200 m. 3.2230 General Condition 30. Consent from Kerala State Pollution Control Board under Water and Air Act(s) should be obtained before initiating activity. Complied. Obtained.
3.2231.General Condition 31 All other statutory clearances should be obtained, as applicable, by project proponents from the respective competent authorities including that for blasting and storage of explosives.
Complied. Obtained.
3.2232 General Condition 32 In the case of any change(s) in the scope of the project the project would require afresh appraisal by this Authority.
Company has submitted an application to SEIAA for extension of EC. Since the area is more than 5 Ha the Proponent was asked to submit TOR for EIA and public hearing for getting EC 3.2233 General Condition 33. The Authority reserves the right to add additional safeguard if found necessary, and to take action including revoking of the environment clearance under the provisions of the Environment(Protection) Act, 1989 to ensure effective implementation of the suggested safeguard measures in a time bound and satisfactory manner.
O.A NO. 155/2020Agreed by PA 3.2234 General Condition 34 The stipulation by statutory Authorities under different Acts and Notification should 12 be complied with, including the provisions of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 , the Air (Prevention and control of Pollution) at 1981, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Public Liability (Insure acne) Act, 1991 and EIA Notification, 2006. Agreed by PA 3.2235 General Condition 35 . The project proponent should advertise in at least two local newspapers widely circulated in the region, one of which (both the advertisement and the newspaper) shall be in the vernacular language informing that the project has been accorded Environmental Clearance and copies of clearance letters are available with the Department of Environmental and Climate Change, Govt. of Kerala and may also be seen on the website of the Authority at www.seiaakerala.org.in the advertisement should be made within 10 days from the date of receipt of the Clearance letter and a copy of the same signed in all Pages should be forwarded to the office of the Authority as confirmation Complied 3.2236 General Condition 36 A copy of the clearance letter shall be sent by the proponent to concerned Grama Panchayat / District Panchayat/ Municipality /Corporation/ Urban Local Body and also to the Local NGO, if any from whom suggestion / representations, if any were received while processing the proposal. The Environmental Clearance shall also be put on the website of the company by the proponent Partly complied.
3.2237 General Condition 37 The Proponent shall submit half yearly reports on the status of compliance of the stipulated EC conations including results of monitoring data T OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 (both in hard copies as well as be e-mail) and 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 respective Regional Office of MoEF, Govt. of India and also the Directorate of Environmental and Climate Change, Govt. of Kerala.
3.2238 General Condition 38 The details of Environmental Clearance should be prominently displayed in a metallic board of 3ft.x3 ft with green background and yellow letters of Times New Roman font of size of not less than
40.Signboard with extent of lease area and boundaries 13 shall depicted at the entrance of the quarry, visible to the public 3.2239 General Condition 39 The proponent should p r o v i d e notarized affidavit (indicating the number a n d date of Environmental Clearance proceedings) that all the conditions stipulated i n t h e EC shall be scrupulously followed 3.2240 General condition 40 The above conditions shall prevail notwithstanding anything to the contrary, in consistent, or simplified, contained in another permit, license on consent given by any other authority for the same project Out of the 5 Specific conditions imposed while issuing EC the Company has complied only three. Two conditions are not complied. In the general conditions the Company have compliance only for 22conditions. 5 conditions were partly complied, 3 conditions were not got a clear answer due to non working of the quarry and 10 conditions are not complied at all. Except in the case of excess quarrying for which the mining and geology department has initiated action the other aspects no action has been found initiated so far.
3.3Whether any excess quarrying was carried out ?
Yes. Excess quarrying was done at many places. EC condition for quarrying insists 7.5 meter buffer from the border pillar stone, then a garland canal to drain out quarry drainage then 5m x 5m bench mining/ quarrying for the building stone quarry's. This techniques should be followed in the dimension quarry as well. Here in the case of Covenant stones quarried the lease area up to the boundary pillar. The entire material were mined without leaving any space for buffer garland canal( Fig 30 and Fig 30a) . No benches are also seen. In this manner a huge quantity of material were mined out without observing any EC mining conditions such as Buffer zone , Garland canal and benching. Many places vertical and steep cutting of more than 16m were observed. In the south western area of the lease area , quarrying seems to have encroached to outside the lease area . This is confirmed by the BP positions.
To determine the exact quantity of the stones mined detailed ground surveys are needed. The Department of Mining and Geology, Thiruvananthapuram district office representative informed us they have conducted ground survey and the taluk surveyor and the geologists conducted site inspection on 15.06.2020. In the letter no 3455/DOT/ML/2019 dated15.09.2020 they have issued a demand notice to M/s Covenant Stones Pvt Ltd with the following details.(Annexure 4) 14 " M/s Covenant Stones Pvt Ltd has mined excess quantity of building stones from and out side the lease area in Sy no 29/3, 29/2, 30/4 in Thekkada village and 470, 472/5, 472/6, 474/1, 474/1-2, 474/4-1, 474/1- 1 of Manikkal village and Sy no 30/5 out side the lease area.
Quantity of stones extracted 9,52,978 MT
(i) Quantity of stones extracted from sy no 496/4 20,860 MT (ii) Quantity of stones extracted from sy no 30/5 403.75 MT ( it is delta separately since it is dimension stone and ii Already paid the penalty) Less (i) and (ii) from the quantity extracted 9,31,714 MT Action taken by the Department of Mining and Geology ( Vide demand notice No 3455/DOT/ML/2019 dated 15.09.2020 addressed to Sri Reghunadhan Kunjukrishnan, M/s Covenant Stones Pvt ltd, Katta, Cheeranikkara P O Vembayam, Thiruvannthapuram from Senior Geologist, Mining and Geology District EPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 Office , Kesavadasapuram) Penalty imposed by DMG Royalty 2,23,61,136 .00 (INR) Price 4,47,22,272.00 (INR) Fine 25,000.00 (INR) Total 6,71,08,430.00 (INR) The above calculation was made by the Department of Mining and Geology, Thiruvananthapuram district office for the excess mining carried out for the building stones quarry by M/s Covenant stones Pvt Ltd.The excess mining carried out in the Dimension stone quarry of M/s Covenant Stones Ltd is being done by the DMG , Thiruvananthapuram office.
According to the DMG Geologist's report "The Dimension stone lease area was inspected on 06.11.2020 with the Taluk surveyor . it was observed that the lease holder had extracted Granite Dimension stone far in excess of the permitted quantity in the lease . In that case a show cause case notice had served to the lease holder on 12.11.2020 only on receipt of explanation proper legal steps will be initiated to release the loss sustained to the Government.
3.31 Environmental compensation An accepted method to prepare the scale of compensation for excess quarrying especially in the case of building stones and dimension stones is not developed so far. This Committee has examined the method for sand mining adopted by NGT. The Hon'ble NGT, Principal Bench, New Delhi vide order dated 05/04/2019 in OA No. 360/2015 (13 clubbed cases) related to illegal sand mining from riverbeds in different States, constituted a Committee comprising of representatives of MoEF &CC, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Indian Institute of Forest Management Bhopal, Institute of Economic Growth and Madras School of Economics and directed ".......to prepare a scale of compensation (for sand mining), after including the components mentioned in the order, which can then be adopted in whole of Country.
15The nodal agency for compliance and coordination is CPCB. The committee may also take professional services of an expert/institution in the matter if it so desires."
Accordingly, the committee prepared the final report on "Recommendations on scale of compensation to deal with the cases of illegal sand mining" dt 30/01/2020 submitted to the NGT. The Committee report considered two approaches:
• Approach 1: Direct Compensation based on the market value of extraction, adjusted for ecological damages. • Approach 2: Computing a Simplified NPV for ecological damages. Hon'ble NGT vide order dated 17/08/2020 observed that the direct compensation approach method is preferable and suggested a modification.
Direct Compensation (Violation with respect to Quantity/Production): The compensation to be charged is based on three distinct criteria:
. Exceedance Factor (EF):This criteria captures the extent of illegal mining that has taken place. It is introduced in order to bring in a notion of balance that the amount of penalty that is charged to any party is in proportion to the extent of illegal extraction of material at the first stage.
. Risk Factor (RF) :This criteria reflects the severity of the ecological damages at the field site in question. Since the project site is not located in forest area within a radius of 5 KM, the Committee considered moderate risk factor.
Severity Mild Moderate Significant Seve
re
Risk 1 2 3 4
Level
Risk 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.0
Factor
Discount 8% 7% 6% 5%
Deterrence Factor (DF): This criteria is an attempt to capture the fact that ecological damages tend to display non- linearity's and can increase in unexpected ways. Thus, the greater the extent of extraction (as reflected in the relative magnitude of the illegally extracted amount), the greater is the likelihood that this may have cumulative impact over time, which may not be observable at time of assessment (as reflected in the RF). Given that the scale should also have a 16 deterrence effect, this criteria is introduced to proxy for these non-linear aspects till such time that more site specific data becomes available to carry out a comprehensive NPV. Direct Compensation based on the market value of extraction, adjusted for ecological damages:
Permitted Total Excess Exceedance Compensation
Quantity Extraction (in Extracti in Charge (in Rs.)
(in MT or MT or m3) on Extraction:
m3) (in MT
or m3)
X Y Z=Y-X Z/X = D * (1+RF+DF)
Where D=Z *
Market Value of
material per MT
or m3
DF= 0.3 if Z/X=
0.11 to 0.40
DF =0.6 if Z/X=
0.41 to 0.70
DF=1if Z/X>=0.71
RF = 0.25, 0.50,
0.75, 1.00
Method suggested by Hon'ble NGT
If there is evidence of illegal mining (but no seizure) in a low risk zone, then the RLEF would be 0.4, the RCF would remain at 0.3, and an additional no seizure factor of 1.0 would be added with a total additive value of 1.7 and the total compensation amount: Ecological Damage (ED) = EQ x MP x (No seizure factor of 1.0 + Risk of Ecological Loss Factor + Restitution Cost factor).
This Committee made calculations based on this and felt that this approach is not COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 suitable because of different environmental conditions of fluvial and land environment for calculating compensation for building stone / dimension stone quarry violations. Detailed technical studies are required to develop an acceptable method for calculating the environmental compensation. So in this report the environmental compensation could not be worked out. 3.4 Whether closure plan has been complied with Not complied. The Covenant Stones closure plan has not been complied. They have applied for an extension of the EC. This application is pending with SEIAA, Kerala.
3.5 Rehabilitation and reclamation has been carried out Not complied. Rehabilitation is the action of restoring a mined area that has been damaged due to mining to its former condition. Reclamation is the combined process by which adverse environmental effects of surface mining are minimized and mined lands are returned to a beneficial end use. End users may be open space, wildlife habitat, agriculture, or residential and commercial development. In Covenant stones quarry rehabilitation and reclamation has not done so far. The company has applied for extension of lease period.
173.6Environmental degradation caused on account of unscientific method of quarrying Quarrying whether it is scientifically done or unscientifically done, causes considerable irreversible changes in an area especially from the environmental point of view.
The land, water air, bio and socio environments needs careful handling while quarrying / mining to even minimise the impacts. Landform & land use changes could be analysed using time series satellite images. Google Earth has the collection of images from 2003 onwards. So this gives a provision to examine the changes happened due to mining in the leased area of M/s Covenant Stones Pvt Ltd. The BP co ordinates were super imposed on these images to detect the changes.
NFig. 31 to Fig. 38 indicates the changes that have happened to the lease area of the Covenant quarry from 2003 to 2020. Before starting full scale quarrying in 2015 , quarrying activity was noticed in 2003 itself (Fig. 31) . Fig 32, 33 and 34 indicates quarrying activity near BP 7 and 8
4. Land environment : Fig.31to 38 indicates that considerable topographic changes occurred in this area due to quarrying. Steep cutting measuring more than 16m. The mining has created lot of steep slopes there by increasing the scope of landslides and rock falls. Since in many places overburden has been removed and chances of debris flow has reduced. The rock is massive in many places. So rock fall chances are also less. Increased slope and lack of vegetation will increase the soil erosion. Since the top soil has been removed for mining water holding capacity of the soil is reduced and the overland flow has increased. Soil chemical analysis done by an external agency available in the compliance report also suggests that the values are within acceptable limit. The pH of soil is in the acidic range. Local survey conducted indicated that the Chairman local people who are dwelling at the bottom part of the hillocks (Thampuran Para and Thampuratty Para) and about less than 1 km air distance from the quarry feared that vibrations of quarrying may trigger landslips, enhance soil erosion or destabilize rock boulders on the slopes of the hillocks.
Hydrologic environment: There is no major stream flowing close to this area. This site depends on rainwater and ground water for water needs. The major water body present in the area is the rain harvesting ponds inside the lease area. There are no streamlets present in the area. As per the PFR the level of water table in the open wells is about 15-20m depth during summer and 10-15m depth during monsoon from the general ground level. This level is maintained in the rainwater harvesting ponds also. Since the drainage from the working quarry site is flowing into the harvesting tank , it is also acting as a pollutant absorbent. No major drainage outlet is observed. Positive aspect is that the rain harvesting pond will be recharging nearby wells through the secondary fracture 18 systems present in the bed rock. Inside the project area water quality measurements done by an external agency is available with the compliance reports. Except in the case of pH which is in the acidic range all other parameter is within the acceptable limit. In the vicinity of the quarry i.e., less than 200m ground water quality status was assessed. It was found that the parameters are found within permissible limits prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards (2007) except for pH which is acidic in nature. In The compliance reports also pH values are in the acidic nature. But people in the vicinity of the quarry area said that the well water is unfit for drinking during rainy seasons due to high turbidity. During monsoon season, precipitation will enhance the sedimentation of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and dust particles emitted from rock processing into the waters of the surrounding areas.
There are only two observational wells regularly monitored in this locality by the GWD. One in Koppam and the other in Thekkada. The observation taken monthly for 10 years is given in table 2 &3. The observation was made in an open well as well as in a bore well.
REPTable :2 Observation details of the State Ground water Department Observation well Location : Koppam , Open well (air distance 2.6 km from the Quarry ) Taluk: L Neduma at ngad it u d e-
o 8 3 8' 0 6 "
o Village: Longitude-76 Vembayam 56'04"
Location - Well type : Open Well
Koppam
19
date of time of Water
measuremen measurement Level(mbgl)
t
28/10/2009 11:15:00 8.78
26/11/2009 11:10:00 8.93
21/12/2009 11:55:00 9.05
25/01/2010 11:20:00 9.48
27/02/2010 11:20:00 10.00
07/04/2010 12:45:00 10.76
10/05/2010 15:48:00 11.12
05/06/2010 11:50:00 10.06
09/07/2010 11:30:00 9.09
05/08/2010 11:45:00 8.60
23/09/2010 13:25:00 8.82
27/10/2010 15:15:00 7.18
29/11/2010 15:50:00 4.95
30/12/2010 11:50:00 7.60
28/01/2011 11:25:00 8.30
23/02/2011 11:05:00 8.65
29/03/2011 11:30:00 9.20
27/04/2011 11:40:00 9.38
26/05/2011 11:18:00 10.00
17/06/2011 10:50:00 9.15
22/07/2011 11:15:00 9.30
18/08/2011 14:15:00 9.65
27/09/2011 11:50:00 10.03
21/10/2011 10:50:00 10.34
20
29/11/2011 11:35:00 9.02
27/12/2011 11:45:00 9.34
19/01/2012 11:10:00 8.45
24/02/2012 11:20:00 8.82
29/03/2012 11:05:00 9.56
27/04/2012 11:22:00 7.72
PORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 31/05/2012 11:34:00 9.58 29/06/2012 10:45:00 9.68 24/07/2012 11:00:00 9.70 22/08/2012 11:58:00 7.68 20/09/2012 10:45:00 9.15 21/10/2012 12:27:00 8.65 27/11/2012 11:30:00 8.42 28/12/2012 11:25:00 8.77 31/01/2013 15:20:00 9.41 25/02/2013 16:50:00 7.22 18/03/2013 11:48:00 10.73 18/04/2013 11:25:00 9.72 29/05/2013 12:05:00 9.80 22/06/2013 11:25:00 7.52 15/07/2013 12:35:00 7.40 21/08/2013 12:01:00 7.91 28/09/2013 11:33:00 7.20 29/10/2013 11:20:00 7.59 26/11/2013 11:55:00 6.77 23/12/2013 11:20:00 7.81 21 25/01/2014 11:45:00 8.65 29/01/2014 12:10:00 7.70 25/03/2014 11:55:00 7.53 23/04/2014 10:17:00 7.65 28/05/2014 11:48:00 9.05 30/06/2014 11:15:00 9.32 23/07/2014 11:36:00 9.03 29/08/2014 11:00:00 10.11 29/09/2014 10:55:00 8.35 25/10/2014 10:45:00 7.88 28/11/2014 11:55:00 8.67 23/12/2014 11:20:00 7.81 29/01/2015 11:10:00 9.00 25/02/2015 10:56:00 9.31 28/03/2015 11:18:00 9.75 24/04/2015 11:16:00 7.80 25/05/2015 10:55:00 9.26 26/06/2015 11:10:00 8.60 28/07/2015 11:23:00 8.38 20/08/2015 10:50:00 8.57 REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 25/09/2015 10:25:00 8.41 29/10/2015 11:10:00 8.23 26/11/2015 11:18:00 6.16 19/12/2015 11:15:00 7.79 25/01/2016 10:50:00 8.52 22 25/02/2016 11:00:00 8.97 23/03/2016 11:41:00 9.36 27/04/2016 10:15:00 9.79 26/05/2016 11:50:00 8.85 30/06/2016 11:00:00 7.91 27/07/2016 11:04:00 8.23 29/08/2016 11:04:00 8.45 20/09/2016 10:38:00 8.73 24/10/2016 10:52:00 9.65 21/11/2016 11:46:00 10.17 26/12/2016 11:00:00 10.78 17/01/2017 11:30:00 11.38 13/02/2017 11:23:00 11.58 07/03/2017 10:43:00 11.75 07/04/2017 12:20:00 05/05/2017 07/06/2017 10:33:00 11.90 07/07/2017 11:51:00 11.27 05/08/2017 10:50:00 11.17 15/09/2017 11:32:00 11.05 19/10/2017 11:05:00 9.28 08/11/2017 12:02:00 8.72 13/12/2017 11:30:00 7.58 08/01/2018 11:20:00 8.61 06/02/2018 11:30:00 8.87 09/03/2018 11:35:00 9.34 23 03/04/2018 11:25:00 10.06 07/05/2018 11:42:00 10.29 08/06/2018 12:22:00 9.65 03/07/2018 11:53:00 8.51 14/08/2018 11:24:00 6.27 05/09/2018 11:30:00 6.81 25/09/2018 11:55:00 7.87 15/10/2018 11:55:00 7.87 07/11/2018 11:31:00 7.62 10/12/2018 12:10:00 7.89 16/01/2019 11:48:00 8.50 05/02/2019 11:20:00 8.43 12/03/2019 11:44:00 8.76 01/04/2019 11:12:00 8.89 01/04/2019 11:50:00 8.64 07/05/2019 11:12:00 8.89 07/06/2019 11:24:00 8.09 05/07/2019 11:15:00 8.46 06/08/2019 11:42:00 8.67 04/09/2019 12:21:00 7.96 03/10/2019 10:56:00 7.18 05/11/2019 11:15:00 5.40 09/12/2019 11:55:00 6.53 07/01/2020 11:40:00 8.11 07/02/2020 11:18:00 8.47 01/03/2020 11:25:00 8.46 24 18/04/2020 10:58:00 9.28 08/05/2020 11:11:00 9.35 03/06/2020 11:25:00 7.25 02/07/2020 13:34:00 7.88 05/08/2020 12:05:00 7.30 03/09/2020 11:47:00 7.91 06/10/2020 11:55:00 7.10 T OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 Table :3 Observation details of the State Ground water Department Observation well Location : Tekkada near the quarry Bore well (air distance 1.5 km from quarry ) Block: Latitude: 8 38'4"
o Nedumangad Village: Thekkada Longitude: 76 56'25"
o Location: Well Type _ Bore Well Thekkada date of time of Water Level mbgl Measurement measurement 28/10/2009 11:10:00 2.65 26/11/2009 11:00:00 1.64 21/12/2009 11:50:00 2.66 25/01/2010 11:15:00 2.96 27/02/2010 11:15:00 3.42 07/04/2010 12:45:00 3.66 10/05/2010 15:50:00 3.09 05/06/2010 11:45:00 1.92 09/07/2010 11:25:00 1.67 05/08/2010 12:35:00 1.80 24/09/2010 13:10:00 2.48 27/10/2010 15:20:00 1.57 25 29/11/2010 15:55:00 0.40 30/12/2010 11:45:00 2.15 23/02/2011 11:05:00 2.82 30/03/2011 11:30:00 2.94 27/04/2011 11:33:00 2.81 26/05/2011 11:13:00 3.15 17/06/2011 10:45:00 1.60 22/07/2011 11:15:00 2.15 18/08/2011 11:50:00 1.75 27/09/2011 11:45:00 2.98 21/10/2011 10:45:00 3.31 29/11/2011 11:15:00 1.12 27/12/2011 11:40:00 2.63 19/01/2012 11:00:00 2.21 24/02/2012 11:20:00 2.98 29/03/2012 11:00:00 3.44 27/04/2012 11:15:00 2.67 31/05/2012 11:30:00 2.88 29/06/2012 10:40:00 3.05 24/07/2012 10:50:00 3.45 22/08/2012 11:09:00 2.76 20/09/2012 10:40:00 2.46 21/10/2012 12:18:00 1.46 27/11/2012 11:10:00 2.43 28/12/2012 11:20:00 2.99 31/01/2013 15:30:00 3.42 26 28/02/2013 17:00:00 3.48 18/03/2013 11:48:00 3.58 18/04/2013 11:20:00 3.86 29/05/2013 11:59:00 3.89 22/06/2013 11:15:00 0.58 15/07/2013 12:25:00 0.90 21/08/2013 11:50:00 1.92 28/09/2013 11:28:00 1.70 29/10/2013 11:14:00 2.12 26/11/2013 11:45:00 1.68 23/12/2013 14:05:00 7.61 25/01/2014 11:20:00 3.45 29/01/2014 12:05:00 3.34 25/02/2014 13:00:00 3.45 25/03/2014 11:45:00 3.72 23/04/2014 10:10:00 3.50 28/05/2014 11:41:00 3.01 30/06/2014 11:08:00 3.04 23/07/2014 11:28:00 2.60 29/08/2014 10:54:00 0.88 29/09/2014 10:51:00 1.94 25/10/2014 10:40:00 1.12 28/11/2014 11:45:00 1.68 23/12/2014 11:15:00 2.64 29/01/2015 11:00:00 3.12 27 25/02/2015 10:15:00 3.24 28/03/2015 11:13:00 3.77 24/04/2015 11:10:00 3.20 25/05/2015 10:45:00 1.88 26/06/2015 11:01:00 1.32 28/07/2015 11:11:00 2.31 20/08/2015 10:37:00 2.65 25/09/2015 10:20:00 1.70 29/10/2015 11:00:00 1.55 26/11/2015 11:10:00 1.52 19/12/2015 11:07:00 1.38 25/01/2016 10:41:00 2.95 25/02/2016 10:50:00 3.27 23/03/2016 11:55:00 3.55 27/04/2016 10:12:00 3.85 26/05/2016 11:45:00 2.01 30/06/2016 10:54:00 1.65 27/07/2016 10:59:00 2.38 29/08/2016 10:57:00 3.09 20/09/2016 10:28:00 3.45 24/10/2016 10:48:00 3.65 21/11/2016 11:41:00 3.66 26/12/2016 10:50:00 4.06 17/01/2017 11:16:00 4.09 13/02/2017 11:17:00 4.71 07/03/2017 10:35:00 4.97 28 07/04/2017 10.74 05/05/2017 11:23:00 5.19 07/06/2017 10:27:00 1.83 07/07/2017 11:14:00 2.27 05/08/2017 10:45:00 3.17 15/09/2017 11:26:00 2.47 19/10/2017 11:01:00 1.55 08/11/2017 11:55:00 1.00 13/12/2017 11:20:00 1.88 08/01/2018 11:10:00 2.84 06/02/2018 11:18:00 3.24 08/03/2018 11:24:00 3.59 03/04/2018 11:16:00 4.15 07/05/2018 11:31:00 4.20 08/06/2018 12:15:00 1.80 08/07/2018 11:46:00 1.86 14/08/2018 11:19:00 0.84 03/09/2018 11:24:00 1.89 26/09/2018 11:45:00 2.68 15/10/2018 11:46:00 2.16 07/11/2018 11:25:00 1.42 10/12/2018 11:57:00 2.45 16/01/2019 11:41:00 3.18 05/02/2019 11:15:00 3.45 12/03/2019 11:30:00 3.79 01/04/2019 11:45:00 3.84 29 07/05/2019 11:02:00 4.36 07/06/2019 11:20:00 4.08 05/07/2019 11:05:00 3.29 06/08/2019 11:32:00 3.06 14/09/2019 1.96 03/10/2019 10:35:00 0.78 05/11/2019 11:05:00 1.01 09/12/2019 11:50:00 2.21 07/01/2020 11:30:00 2.87 07/02/2020 11:12:00 3.32 01/03/2020 11:18:00 3.67 18/04/2020 10:50:00 4.07 08/05/2020 11:00:00 3.31 03/06/2020 11:15:00 0.86 02/07/2020 11:25:00 1.27 05/08/2020 11:35:00 0.89 03/09/2020 11:41:00 1.97 06/10/2020 11:45:00 1.79 The two sets of data are not showing any significant changes during 2015-19 when the quarry was in operation. The impact in the immediate vicinity of the quarry is described in 3.15 . Air environment and noise :
Prior to quarrying this area was used for agriculture based activities. Changing the land use from agri based activity to an industry which is included in red category as far as pollution is concerned, generates lot of problems related to pollution specifically air and notice. When the ITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 pollution reduction measures are not followed the effect will be beyond any description. In this case buffer zone is not maintained. Even the area demarcated for buffer zone is mined. Buffer zone with suitable species are to maintained for reducing the air pollution in the neighbouring areas. This buffer will also reduce 30 the noise pollution. Since the quarry was not functional since March 2020 the air quality was fine at the time of visit. The ambient air quality data shown in compliance reports of the previous year's shows that all parameters (PM10, PM 2.5, SO2 and NO2 ) are all within the prescribed standards. The feedback of the locals is given in the later portion(3.7 )of this report. Biological environment: Changes in the Bio diversity: Before the start of the quarrying operations a biodiversity Assessment report was prepared by Metamorphosis NABT accredited EIA consultant for submission to SEIAA. The bio diversity part of the PF report is given as Annexure 5 . In the report it is mentioned that there are 20 varieties of plants, 5 types of mammals 4 types of reptiles , 8 types of birds and 5 different types of butterflies are located in the area. As the Google images reveal now only very little vegetation is remaining. Not even the buffer vegetation is maintained. The debris mantle slope which is prohibited from mining no other area has significant growth of vegetation, the area mostly is barren The Biodiversity report is concluding in the in PFR is like this Based on the observations and scale of quarry operations, the impact on the flora & fauna is assessed to be insignificant. However, it is proposed/suggested that the post mine closure should be systematic and scientific as per the Environmental Management Plan, considering ecology of the surrounding area.
REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 3.7 Any damages to neighbouring houses and to the ecology due to quarrying The baseline environmental status of the region had been studied in the adjacent human habited areas of the quarry. Field observations were conducted in the nearby settlements, housing colonies and made discussions based on different environmental attributes concerning water, land, air, socio-
economics, health and the potential environmental implications due to quarrying activities and based on the field visit and compilation of collected information, this section of report is prepared. Environmental issues and concerns Earth resources are considered as the capital for economic development. Expanding human requirements and economic developments impose immense pressure on our resource base and environmental setting. Lack of adequate studies on the various aspects of resource extraction and its impact on the environment is a major setback in proper planning and developments. Hence, the extraction and utilization of earth resources, especially, mining and quarrying are to be planned and executed in a careful manner and to be verified in every stages of operations for assessing the environmental conditions. Here, we include the present environmental conditions around the hard rock quarry obtained through the fieldwork. Fig.39 shows the location map of the quarry.
31During the field work, a survey had been conducted by interacting with the local people who are residing adjacent to the quarry area. There are serious apprehensions to the local people regarding the impacts of rock quarrying using massive explosives. People claimed that the high impulse noise is affecting the tranquillity of normal life. It is observed that the walls of some houses and wells in the area developed minor cracks (Fig 40 and 41). Massive explosions are causing high ground vibrations and that may be the reason for triggering cracks in the walls of houses and wells. People who are dwelling at the bottom part of the hillocks (Thampuran Para and Thampuratty Para) and about less than 1 km air distance from the quarry feared that such vibrations may trigger landslips, enhance soil erosion or destabilize rock boulders on the slopes of the hillocks. The various issues caused due to hard rock quarrying in different environmental components as collected from the field survey are summarized in Table 4. The details of the houses near the quarry, where the survey was conducted to understand the environmental issues area are shown in ETable 4 Various issues caused due to hard rock quarrying in different environmental components.
Environmental Causative activities Type of effects in different Attributes environmental attributes Air quality Soil excavation, Dust emission, shattering of rock drilling, blasting, crushing, particulates, dust deposition on loading, transportation & canopy cover, inhalation of fine debris dumping particulates Noise level Soil excavation, Significant to extreme and drilling, blasting, crushing, continuous grinding sound, loading, transportation & discrete machinery noise, impulse debris dumping noise of high to moderate level and intermittent traffic noise Water Quality Soil excavation, Water resources: Increased runoff quarrying, debris dumping and turbidity in runoff water during rainy season 32 Socio- Soil excavation, Employment: Increased direct Environments drilling, loading, and indirect employment transportation, crushing, opportunities to 200 debris dumping people residing in the adjacent areas of the quarry Quarrying, transportation, manual Income: Increased income to the crushing, labour unions quarry and crusher operator, Enhanced income Blasting, crushing & generating activities in nearby Transportation localities Tranquillity: Loss of calmness, prevalence of uneasiness O. 155/2020 S Coordinates Location/ REPORT OF THE JOINTDistance O.A NO. Employ Remarks l Home COMMITTEE Name offrom 155/2020Co ment the owner quarry ntact N (meters) o 1 Nandana Ammu 102 - Rubber Vibrations 8°39'5.34"N 76 m, kutty tapping and °57'21.60"E Manickal intense noise while b lasting in the NE dir ection of quarry.
Runoff of muddy water from the quarry to the road cr eated problem s to the 33 local people.
So, a wall was built by the quarry owners .
2 Shinto Kunjap 180 - NREGS Since
8°38'55.13"N 76 Bhavan, pan Worker new
°57'25.32"E Manickal residents
, not
aware
about
the issu
es.
3 Krishna Saiju 108 790273 Driver Dust
8°38'53.57"N 76 Bhavan, 9573 emission
°57'23.66"E Manickal and depo
sition on
canopy c
over,
inhalatio
n of fine
particles
resulted i
n asthma.
Cracks a
nd
leakage
were
observed in
the
house.
Mode
rate
level
of noi
se
pollut
ion.
34
4 8°38'49.96"N Sharon Seena 144 994722 Housew Cracks
76°57'23.75"E Villa, 3278 ife in the
Kattelkizha wall
kekara of well
observed
,
Quality
issues in
drinking
water
5 8°38'49.93"N Madhavam Geetha 161 - Housew No
76°57'24.31"E , ife problems,
Kattelkizha Worker in
kekara Quarry
5.
6. 47
7. Chairman
8. REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020 6 8°38'47.2 Thiruvonam, Ambili 27 - Sweepe No problems, 8"N Manickal 5 r Worker in 76°57'27. Quarry 01"E 7 Kuraplanka Anoop 30 - Quarry No problems, 8°38'46.99 ra 7 worker Worker in "N house, Ma Quarry 76°57'28.1 nickal 0"E 8 8°38'48.7 Kailas, Lathikumar 14 9605104 Social Noise and dust 0"N Katta 8 793 activity issue/Qualit 76°57'22. Vembayam y issues in 21"E GP drinking vice presid water ent's sometimes.
residence
9 8°38'40.2 Aanjalimootil, Lathika/Rad 19 - Quarry Cracks and
0"N Katta ha 8 employ leakages ob
76°57'19. er served
47"E
1 Sreenilayam, Rajendran 19 7593981 Driver Excessive use
0 8°38'39.48 katta 4 408 of road by
"N heavy vehicles
76°57'19.1 of quarry
8"E
35
1 AmbiliNivas, Omana 35 Weed Worker in
1 8°38'29.71 Manickal 4 Cleane Quarry
"N r
76°57'12.7
8"E
1 8°38'30.7 Padheyam, Rahul 24 9995866 Tyre Noise and dust
2 0"N Manickal 9 662 worker issue
76°57'7.0
8"E
1 8°38'26.2 Lekshmi SheebaSuga 42 7592054 Blasting
3 4"N Bhavan, than 7 048 caused
76°57'11. Thampuranpar throwing of
45"E a stones, fear
of landslips
1 Lathi Nivas, Purushotha 35 Driver Cracks were
4 8°39'14.33 Thampuranpar man 9 observed in
"N a the
76°56'59.8 house, fear of
5"E landslips
1 Dwaraka, Sindhu 33 House Cracks and
5 8°39'10.23 Thampuranpar 4 wife leakage were
"N a observed in
76°56'57.7 the house,
1"E Quality
issues in
drinking
water
Table 5Details of the houses surveyed to understand various environmental issues in the vicinity of the quarry Table 6 Chemical characteristics of Ground water samples Sa Krishna Nandan Sharon Kailas, Sreenilay Drinki Remarks:
mp Bhavan, am, Villa, Katta am, Katt ng le Manick Kattelkizh a Water Insitu Locati Manickal al akekara Specifi analysis on cation were carried Coordi 8°38'5 8°39'5. 8°38'49.9 8°38'4 8°38'39.4 (IS out using nates 3.57"N 34"N 6"N 8.70" 8"N 10500 Hydras 76°57' 76°57'2 76°57'23. N 76°57'19. :2012) DS5 23.66" 1.60"E 75"E 76°57'2 18"E Multipara E 2.21" E meter Wate 36 pH 4.8 4.6 5.1 5.4 5.2 6.5-8.5 r Quality Son de.
EC 74.83 41.18 65.23 47.56 57.28 - All the (µS/cm parameters ) were foun d within TDS 44.87 24.77 40.65 26.19 31.50 500 BIS (2007) (mg/l) limit except pH Salinit 26.55 18.83 22.43 19.89 21.17 -
y (ppm) Tur 0.19 1.84 0.25 0.71 1.42 5 bidit y (NTU) pH: Measure of acidity/alkalinity. Here the samples exhibited acidic nature.
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): represents the total concentration of any dissolved substances like minerals, salts, metals, cations or anions in water.
Electrical Conductivity (EC): reflects the total content of salts or any charged particles in water, which is dependent on the
9. 49 Chairman
10. REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE O.A NO. 155/2020
11. geological conditions of weathering and other sources that may affect the concentrations of dissolved compounds. Salinity: the dissolved inorganic salt content of water especially Sodium and Chloride ions. Turbidity: Measure of cloudiness of water due to suspended organic and inorganic particles Report of the Joint Committee O.A no 155/2020 dated 19.8.2020 November 2020 Fig 40 Cracks developed in a nearby house Fig 41 Cracks observed in the well of an adjacent house In order to understand the general quality status of ground water in the area, insitu analysis was carried out in 5 selected well locations by using Hydras DS5 Multiparameter Water Quality Sonde. The results of the parameters analysed are shown in Table 5. The results showed that the parameters are found within permissible limits prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards (2007) except for pH. But people in the vicinity of the quarry area said that the well water is unfit for drinking during rainy seasons due to high turbidity. During this season, precipitation will enhance the sedimentation of suspended 37 particulate matter (SPM) and dust particles emitted from rock processing into the waters of the surrounding areas. People residing in the immediate vicinity of the quarry were on the threat of severe dust pollution. The inhalation of dust as a result of shattering of rock particulates during rock processing caused severe respiratory illness like Asthma, Bronchitis, Cough etc. The dust and smoke emission from heavy trucks by transportation was also adversely affected the people. It is also observed that there are poor road conditions in and around the area due to heavy trucks movements. So, it is very essential that the roads near the quarry site have to be properly textured and periodically maintained to reduce the impacts due to dust pollution.
During the survey, we could realize that the quarry operations had direct and indirect roles in socio-economic development of the area. Approximately, 180 people were solely depending on the quarry for their livelihood. So, the need of the hour is to derive plans and management strategies for any type of quarrying activities by integrating environmental concerns and thereby protection of the environment.
Report of the Joint Committee O.A no 155/2020 dated 19.8.2020 November 2020 3.8Whether pollution control measures provided by the operator was adequate or not No adequate measures were adopted by the mine operators to control the pollution. 1. No Buffer zone maintained . Tall trees were absent. Even the buffer is non extant due to mining. Dust pollution and noise pollution no controls
2. Garland canal to direct the storm water was absent . Even the one existing does not have silt traps Overland flow is directed to the rain harvesting pond. So the silt collected is deposited into the rain harvesting pond. And it is not flowing outside.
4. No waste oil spillage noticed
5. Major roads are blacktopped where as branching roads are not given protection. 6. Acoustic enclosures should have been provided to reduce sound amplifications in addition to the provisions of green belt and hollow brick envelop for crushers so that the noise level is kept within prescribed standards given CPCB/KSPCB.
Report of the Joint Committee O.A no 155/2020 dated 19.8.2020 November 2020 4.00 Concluding remarks and suggestions This report prepared by the Joint Committee is based on available records and on the spot field observations made during a time when this quarry is not functioning. The satellite images from 2003 were examined and we have come to the 38 conclusion that minor quarrying activities are seen from 2003 onwards.
• Joint committee visited the site on November 2, 2020. Both the quarry and crusher unit were not working at the time of visit. • The JC members checked the EC conditions as well as the points raised by the Hon'ble NGT. It was noticed that two of the Special conditions such as quarrying outside the lease area and negligence in maintaining boundary pillars noticed. Few boundary pillars are found missing.
• Out of the 5 Specific conditions imposed while issuing EC the Company has complied only three. Two conditions are not complied. In the general conditions the Company have compliance only for 22 conditions. 5 conditions were partly complied, 3 conditions were not got a clear answer due to non working of the quarry and 10 conditions are not complied at all.
• Excess quarrying was observed at many places. Area demarcated for buffer and garland canal was also mined. Benching at 5m x 5m is also not observed. Google time series maps have indicated that at many places quarrying has encroached to adjacent area also. Department of mining and geology have calculated the excess mining quantity for building stone as well as dimension stone and issued notices to the Company.
• Mine closure, mine rehabilitation and reclamation etc have not been done. Company has applied for environmental clearance in SEIAA for further extraction of building and dimension stones.
• Environmental degradation has happened in this area due to quarrying. Available analytical results of land, air and water shows not much degradation. But excess and unscientific mining has resulted in landform changes, loss of bio diversity. • Environmental compensation was not calculated for excess mining. Though a method was not available for calculating the 39 compensation, this Committee have attempted using the method adopted by NGT for another minor mineral (Sand) developed by an expert team but found that it is not suitable for building and dimension stone quarrying violations.
• It is suggested that an expert committee should study in detail the methods suitable for calculating the environmental compensation for building stone and dimension stone quarrying violations.
Report of the Joint Committee O.A no 155/2020 dated 19.8.2020 November 2020 • Survey conducted in the areas around the quarry indicated that problems due to dust, vibrations movement of large trucks are the major problems. There are other quarries are also working in this locality. So the problem is cumulative. There are no major issues related to the quality of water except the acidic nature of water .
• Though the people who were working on the quarry for their livelihood are facing severe economic crisis after the closure of the quarry, the present field investigation revealed that that resource extraction through mining and quarrying activities took place here has accelerated the degradation of environmental conditions in various ways. So, formulation of an effective integrated management plan and cross checking of the same at every stage of quarrying operation is essential with the proper consultation of the geo- environmental experts in the concerned research areas. • It seems there are no effective follow up or checking of the compliance of the conditions imposed with environmental clearance. Concerned agencies should make sure that all conditions are complied with after getting their half yearly compliance reports.
• Any application for renewal of EC of this quarry should be based on a new mine plan with new EMP and EIA with public hearing.
4. It is mentioned in the report that the environmental compensation on direct basis cannot be possible in Building Stone Quarry matters and as such they have not calculated environmental compensation, but confined to the penalty already imposed by the department for the excess mining done by the third respondent.
5. It may be mentioned here, that this Tribunal as well as the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of violation of environmental laws has come heavily on the authorities for not recovering environmental compensation applying the Polluters' Pay 40 Principle. Further in Forest matters the Hon'ble Apex Court has even gone to the extent of fixing the Net Present Value (NPV) of the trees cut to be calculated after assessing the ecological value that is likely to be obtained from the tree and that will have to be converted into money value while fixing the value of the tree for afforstation scheme.
6. Further in this case excess mining was done by doing mining beyond the mining lease area. Thereby heavy loss has been caused to nature and the ecology and what will be the time taken for the purpose of recouping such loss are all the matters to be taken into account for fixing the environment compensation. This has been repeated by this Tribunal in several cases of similar nature and directed the authorities to calculate the environmental compensation on that basis.
7. Further, they can also ascertain the profit that had been earned or the market value at which the mined article is being sold that will give an indication as the real value of the article that has been mined in excess, which can be taken into account for the purpose of fixing to the compensation as well.
8. Further, the possibility of damage caused to the environment on account of unscientific mining will also have to be taken into consideration as it is likely to cause natural calamity when heavy rain comes, resulting in heavy landslides causing 41 lot of expenditure for the Government to rehabilitate the persons who are likely to be affected on account of the same.
There is a possibility of damage being caused to the existing plants trees and for protection of such that plants trees some precaution any measures will have to be taken. Those are all the matters to be considered by the committee while fixing the environmental compensation to be recovered.
9. Further, Mine Closure Plan has not been implemented and that is one of the violations of the environmental clearance granted for the purpose and for that also guidelines have been provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as to how the environmental compensation has to be calculated. So the observation made by the committee that it is not possible to assess the environmental compensation in the case of Building Stone Quarry cannot be accepted. So they are directed to assess environmental compensation as directed by this Tribunal for the violation of conditions imposed including the excess mining and loss caused to environment, ecology and bio-diversity as mentioned above.
10. The third respondent wants to file counter to the application and also wants to produce certain documents as certain proceedings were pending before the Hon'ble High Court of Kerala in respect of the same issue.
4211. The other respondents are also directed to file their independent statements regarding the allegations made and the action taken from their side before the next hearing date.
If they do not file the statement before the next hearing date then, they will have to pay heavy cost as fixed by this Tribunal for accepting the pleadings as even as per the provisions of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 the maximum time that is available is only two months and beyond that it is the discretion of this Tribunal with certain heavy cost being imposed.
3. The committee is also directed to file the further report assessing environmental compensation as directed by this tribunal considering the manner in which it has to be calculated as detailed in the earlier paragraph.
4. If the applicant wants to file any objection to the report, he is at liberty to file the same, before the next hearing date by serving copies to the other side.
5. The committee as well as the respondents are directed to file their report and the respective statements on or before 23.04.2021 by e-filing in the form of searchable PDF/OCR Support PDF and not in the form of Image PDF along with necessary hard copies to be produced as per rules.
6. The Registry is directed to communicate this order to the 43 members of the committee and also to the official respondents immediately by e-mail, so as to enable them to comply with the directions.
7. For completion of pleadings and for consideration of further report and for objections if any, to the report, post on 23.04.2021.
......................................J.M. (Justice K. Ramakrishnan) ................................E.M. (Shri. Saibal Dasgupta) O.A. No.155/2020 16th March, 2021. Sr. 44