EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT · ramco industries limited i executive summary of environmental impact assessment introduction: m/s. ramco ... asbestos fibre

EIA FOR M/s. RAMCO INDUSTRIES LIMITED

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION:

M/s. Ramco Industries Ltd. is an established Asbestos Fibre Cement Roofing Sheets

(Corrugated and Flat) & Accessories manufacturing company at Survey No. 78/12,

78/13, 78/14, 78/15, 79/2, 80/2, Village: Sinugra, Taluka: Anjar, District: Kutch in

the State of Gujarat. The industry is planning to expand their existing production

capacity from 72,000 MT/ Annum to proposed 1, 20,000 MT/ Annum. This

implies that an increased production of 4000 MT/Month of Asbestos Fibre Cement

Roofing Sheets Corrugated and Flat & Accessories will be carried out to achieve the

said total quantity of 10,000 MT/Month.

M/s. Ramco Industries Ltd. is associated company of RAMCO GROUP. It has been in

the business of manufacturing Asbestos Fibre Cement Sheets for over 43 years. Ramco

Group is a welldiversified galaxy of stars with interests spanning cement, the

production of cotton and synthetic yarn, software systems and more. The Ramco

Group has become one of India’s most respected groups achieving international

recognition for its quality products and services.

The project is required to be granted Environmental Clearance as this project falls

under Category ‘A’ of activity no. 4 (c) of Schedule (List of Projects or Activities

requiring prior Environmental Clearance) of notification dated 14th September,

2006.,as per the MoEF circular dated 29-10-07. For this the industry is required to

submit a Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment Study Report and to carry out public

hearing.

M/s. Anand Consultants was entrusted to carry out the Environmental Impact

Assessment Study.


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OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT:

It has been observed that there is an unfulfilled demand for fibre Cement Products in

Gujarat State. To fulfil the above demand and strengthen the market of their products,

Ramco Industries Limited, at Sinugra, Anjar has proposed to increase its production

capacity from existing 72,000 MT/Annum to 1,20,000 MT/Annum. The additional

production of the plant will be achieved by optimum utilization of the existing

machineries and facilities without any cost investment for the plant and machinery.

Thus the proposed expansion project will help in reducing the gap of demand and

supply.

SITE SELECTION CRITERIA:

The site was selected due to the following reasons:

Easy availability of raw material i.e. cement. In Kutch region there are many

cement plants situated and it is the cement belt of Gujarat.

Easy availability of raw material i.e. Fly ash from Thermal Power Station of

Wanakbori.

Easy Availability of water through Gujarat Infrastructure Limited.

Kandla Port being in Kutch region, the import of Asbestos Fibre becomes

extremely convenient and viable.

The site is well equipped with the required infrastructure facilities like manpower,

transportation, power supply.

Sinugra is directly connected to important industrial and commercial centres of

Western India by road and it is possible to dispatch finished goods from the

factory by road.

ELECTRICITY:

The industry gets power supply from Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL),

Anjar. Total power requirement after the proposed expansion will be 1 MW. The


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industry has also installed a D.G. set of 750 KVA capacity so as to meet the industrial

power requirements only in case of power failure.

FUEL:

SOURCES OF POLLUTION:

Air Pollutants:

Sources Pollutants

Asbestos bag opening Fibrous Dust (Fibre + SPM)

Main Cement Silos, transfer lines Cement Dust (SPM)

Main Fly Ash Silos, transfer lines Fly Ash Dust (SPM)

Raw materials mixing Asbestos dust, Cement Dust, Fly Ash Dust & miscellaneous dust (Fibre +SPM)

Pulverizing broken/rejected pieces Mixed Dust (Fibre + SPM)

Cutting & finishing operation SPM

Liquid Effluent: Domestic effluent

Solid Waste:

1. Broken sheets 2. Dry waste collected from the dust collector system

Noise: 1. Pumps 2. Machinery

Description Quantity required

HSD (for D.G. Set) 0.1 KL/Hr


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POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENTS

For Air Pollution

Sources Control measures

Asbestos bag

opening

The Raw Asbestos is received in 50 Kgs. Polyethylene woven bags.

These bags are opened in a fully automatic bag Opening Device

(BOD) with bag shredder which completely avoids manual handling of

either loose fibre or fibre bag. The whole bag opening and shredding

operations are enclosed and are maintained under negative pressure

with the help of bag filters and a centrifugal fan. The fibre dust

collector system is shown in Figure No. 2.2. The fibre bags cut open

are being shredded into powder and mixed with fibre so that no fibre

particles sticking to bags will be let into the atmosphere and same

shall continue after expansion.

Cement Silo,

transfer lines

Cement is received in bulk in tankers and pumped into the Cement

Silo, weighed in hopper by automatic weighing scale & charged into

Cement Conveyor.

Fly Ash Silo,

transfer lines

Fly Ash is received in bulk in tankers and pumped into Fly Ash Silo,

weighed in hopper by automatic weighing scale & charged into Fly

Ash Conveyor.

Raw materials

mixing

The processing of the Asbestos is done in a totally closed Bag

Opening Device (BOD) and water is sprinkled immediately in the

machine to arrest any flying Asbestos fiber and same shall continue

after expansion.

Pulverizing

broken / rejected

pieces

There is a provision of dust collectors for arresting any dust

emanating in the process of pulverizing and same shall continue after

expansion.

Cutting &

finishing

operation

There is a provision of dust collectors for arresting any dust

emanating in the process of cutting & turning.


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For Liquid Effluent

1. Domestic effluent will be disposed of through Septic Tank / Soak Pit System.

For Solid Waste

1. The broken sheets are being pulverized and recycled in the closed circuit process.

2. The dry waste collected from the dust collector system is grinded in ball mill. The

grinded waste is recycled into the process.

For Noise

2 The industry has provided ear muffs & ear plugs to the workers.

2 Green belt development also attenuates the noise.

Above said pollution control measures will be continued also after the proposed

expansion.

ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING:

Land Use Of The Study Area:

Land use within 10 km radius of the study area is determined with the help of the

satellite image.


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Area Statistics Of Landuse/Landcover Map

Sr.No. Class Name Percentage

1 Water Body 1.00

2 Open/Barren Land 31.28

3 Agriculture Land 10.55

4 Fallow Land 44.94

5 Open/Degraded Vegetation 2.26

6 Scrubs 0.49

7 River & Canal 0.55

8 Settlement & Habitation 4.38

9 Stony Waste/Rocky Area 1.10

10 Industrial Area 0.55

11 Miscellaneous 2.59

12 Seasonal Water Body 0.03

13 Airport 0.28

Total 100.00

Climatology:

Meteorological data shows the maximum wind speed is 4.67 meter/second and

minimum wind speed is 0.03 m/s.

The maximum and minimum relative humidity during morning (8.30 IST) was found to

be 85% and 64 % respectively.

The maximum and minimum relative humidity during evening (17.30 IST) was found

to be 69% and 23% respectively.

Air Environment:

The Ambient Air Quality AAQ in the surrounding study area is within the permissible

limits as prescribed by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Residential areas


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except SPM at Anjar City. Ambient air quality in study area during the study period is

stated below:

Concentration (µg/m3)

RSPM SPM SO2 NOx HC CO Location

Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max Min

Project Site

65.45 41.99 158.23 139.16 9.69 8.85 17.77 14.88 465.05 465.05 307.80 307.80

Khambhara 48.94 48.94 168.51 157.62 4.16 3.69 18.61 12.97 419.20 419.20 273.60 273.60

Nagalpar 41.34 41.34 157.21 153.4 6.77 6.71 17.29 15.95 687.75 687.75 467.40 467.40

Anjar 77.3 77.3 223.58 200.83 9.37 8.85 19.4 19.36 576.40 576.40 364.80 364.80

Sinugra 48.75 48.75 160.9 152.62 6.71 5.2 17.83 16.22 727.05 727.05 513.00 513.00

Noise Environment:

Noise levels in the study area have been measured, at selected locations in residential

zone with the help of Noise Meter.

Day Time dB(A) Night Time dB(A) Location Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum

Project Site 65 56 58 50 Khambhara Village 58 56 51 50 Nagalpar Village 61 52 54 50 Anjar Village 60 58 54 52 Sinugra Village 68 55 61 52

Water Environment:

To assess the water quality, water samples were collected from ground water source –

bore well & surface water source – pond/lake within the study area.

Analysis of ground/surface water of 8 villages namely Khambhara, Nagalpar, Anjar,

Sinugra, Bhimasar, Ajapar, Lakhpar, Tapar shows that the water quality meets the IS:

10500, 1991 drinking water standards except at few villages namely Khambhara,

Ajapar and Tapar.


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Soil:

Surface soil samples were taken from five different locations. These were analyzed for

a range of parameters.

Location pH Moisture Content

(%)

Nitrogen as N (%)

Total Phosphorus

as P (%)

Potassium as K (%)

Sodium Absorption Ratio (%)

Project Site

8.45 6.52 0.024 0.029 0.0052 3.92

Khambhara 7.90 5.27 0.015 0.031 0.0037 4.58 Nagalpar 8.50 6.20 0.029 0.022 0.0065 4.69 Anjar 8.10 5.80 0.036 0.021 0.0074 3.90 Sinugra 7.90 4.97 0.026 0.047 0.0084 6.52

Ecology:

Ecology is the study of the relationship of organisms or group of organisms to their

environment. Ecology data for the study area were collected from Environmental

Information Centre (EIC), New Delhi.

Flora

The study shows that there have well diversified species of Trees like Goradio Baval,

Baval, Nariyali, Khajuri, Vad, Ambli etc., Shrubs Akado, Chani bor, Goras-Amli etc.,

Fruits like Mango, Chicku, Lemon, Papaya, Coconut etc., & Agricultural crops like

Kapas, Bajara, Brinjal & seasonal vegetables.

Fauna

The study shows that there are mammals like langur, mongoose, Indian hare etc.,

reptiles like Common garden lizard, rat snake, monitor lizard etc, aves like common

myna, barn owl, baya weaver, black drongo, black headed gull, flamingo, common

babbler etc. in the study area.


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Socio-Economic Environment:

Socio-economic environment – demographic and related socio-economic data was

collected from district census handbook 2001 to assess socio-economic status of the

study area.

In villages, agriculture dominates the economic scene in the study area. The main

occupation and also the main source of income of the majority of the households in the

area are agriculture and related activities. The percentage of main workers, marginal

workers and non-workers are 30.17 %, 2.47 % and 67.36 % respectively.

The demographic structure of villages of the study area has been studied. The total

population of the study area is 91,882.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IDENTIFICATION, PREDICTION AND MITIGATION:

The likely impacts due to the proposed project on Air, Water, Noise, Soil/Land, Ecology

and Socio-economic have been identified and evaluated. Based on the significance of

impacts, control measures have been planned.

Air Environment:

1. During Construction

It may be noted that since the industry is going for expansion in the existing land area

utilizing the existing machinery, there shall not be any construction carried out.

Therefore there will be no any adverse impact on the surrounding air quality due to the

proposed expansion.

2. During Operation

The operational activities are usually expected to have long-term impacts on air

quality. Process emissions would be the core sources of air pollutants. Air pollutants

like Asbestos fibre and SPM will arise from process.


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For air pollution control in plant area, four dust collectors (one for Fibre Circuit, second

for Cement Circuit, third for Fly Ash Circuit and fourth for Pulverizer Circuit) have been

attached to the process vents. The whole process is enclosed. Asbestos fibre is added

into process by automatic Bag opening device and later on Water is added so as to

reduce any kind of fibre dispersion into air due to process and handling during

operation phase.

The maximum ground level concentration for pollutants has been predicted for

proposed scenario giving equal concentration contour plots for SPM and Asbestos

Fibre. Ground level concentration was superimposed on existing ambient air quality to

obtain proposed scenario for the purpose of prediction and evaluation of impact of

stack emission on surrounding environment. The results were found within prescribed

limits.

Thus, it can be concluded that there will be no adverse impact on Ambient Air Quality

of the surrounding environment due to proposed expansion project.

Water Environment:

Water Requirement:

1 During Construction

No any construction work is required is to be carried out. Therefore no any water will

be required for construction.

2. During Operation

Water requirement during the operation phase after the said expansion would be

approximately 95 KL/day which consists of 90 KL/day of fresh water and 5 KL/day of

recycled wastewater from process. Water requirement will be met by Narmada water

through Gujarat Infrastructure Limited.


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Waste Water Generation and Disposal:

There will be no industrial wastewater discharged from the process, since the small

amount of 5 KL/day of wastewater generated will be recycled back into the closed

circuit process.

Domestic effluent will be disposed off through septic tank/ soak pit system.

Thus, it may be concluded that there would be no adverse impact on water

environment due to the proposed expansion of project.

Land Environment:

1. During Construction

The proposed expansion will be carried out in the existing premises utilizing the

existing facilities and machinery. Therefore no any construction work will be carried

out. Thus there will be no any adverse impact on the surrounding land due to

construction.

2. During Operation

The impact of air, water and solid waste pollution on soil causes direct / indirect effect

on soil. During operational phase, since the maximum predicated GLCs of air pollutants

are insignificant, there will be negligible effect on the surrounding soil. The emissions

of pollutants during operation will be effectively controlled. So there will be practically

no effect on the land.

It may be noted that there will be no disposal of effluent on land. So there will be no

adverse effect on land/soil due to wastewater.

All necessary control steps will be provided for handling, storage and disposal of solid

waste generated from the plant. Thus, there will not be any significant impact of solid

waste on soil environment.


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Noise Environment:

No construction activity will be carried out. Therefore the major source of noise will be

operation phase. Noise will generate due to operation of machinery and pumps.

However, suitable protective equipments will be provided to workers who are exposed

to high sound pressure levels. The occasional noise will be attenuated by the green

belt around the industry.

Hence, There will be no increase in noise level in the study area due to proposed

project.

Socio-Economic Environment:

The existing industrial and development have already made the area an attractive

place for people to move in or return to the area. A change in the demographic profile

is also observed. M/s. Ramco Industries has done various welfare activities for the

surrounding area and villages.

The industry has employed about 116 employees viz. including skilled labour, unskilled

labour and office staff from the local area. After the proposed expansion of the project

there may be few direct & indirect job opportunities.

Local people have been given preference wherever found suitable for all the jobs in the

plant, direct as well as indirect. Economic status of the local people has improved.

Educational, medical and housing facilities in the study area have considerably

improved.

Thus, the proposed expansion of the project will have significant positive impact on the

socio-economic status of the study area.


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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN:

An Environmental Management Plan has been prepared for mitigation of the adverse

impacts. The Environmental Management Plan describes in brief, the management’s

plan for proper and adequate implementation of treatment and control system for

pollutants and for maintaining the environment. It also includes development of green

belt, proper safety of workers, environmental monitoring plan, rain water harvesting,

Fire protection system and measures etc.

Environmental Monitoring Plan:

Monitoring of environmental factors and constraints will enable us to identify the

changes in the environmental impacts at various locations and application of mitigative

measures. To ensure the effective implementation of the EMP, monitoring of ambient

air quality, stack emissions and noise levels will be carried out as required / specified

by statutory authority.

Green Belt Development:

An existing greenbelt of area of 12,300 m2 has been developed by M/s. Ramco

Industries limited. An additional 4,700 m2 of greenbelt development will take place

during the proposed expansion of the project.

Rainwater Harvesting:

A scheme for rain water harvesting will be adopted by the unit.


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CONCLUSION:

No ecological damage will occur.

Negligible impacts will occur on air quality. However, all the necessary air

pollution control measures will be provided.

No adverse impacts will occur on water environment.

Local employment opportunities will increase.

Various other environmental parameters like Forest / National Park / Sanctuary

and Religious / Historical Places will not be affected.

The project will help in reducing the gap of demand and supply of fibre cement

products.

However it may be noted that:

Environmental Management Plan has been formulated to control all the pollutant

parameters and Environmental Management Cell has been set-up to ensure that

these parameters do not exceed the norms set out by the concerned authorities.

Also after the proposed expansion the Environmental Management Cell will take

care of all the pollution control measures.

Overall, the proposed expansion project of M/s. Ramco Industries Ltd. would

have negligible adverse impact on the surrounding environment.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT · ramco industries limited i executive summary of environmental impact assessment introduction: m/s. ramco ... asbestos fibre