FACT SHEET. Odisha. Koraput and Rayagada. i. SOI Topo-sheet: Pg.384/c ii. DGPS Map : pg /c

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1 F.No. 8-46/2016-FC Subject: Diversion of forest land of ha ( ha of forest land within Kodingamali Bauxite Mining Lease area including ha, of forest land in safety zone and ha of forest land outside the ML area for construction of approach road to the mining lease ) for Mining of Bauxite in Kodingamali Bauxite Mines located in Koraput and Rayagada District of Odisha by Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd. (OMCL). 1. The State Government of Odisha, Department of Environment and Forests vide their letter No. 10F (Cons) 196/2016/17202/F/E dated submitted a fresh proposal to obtain prior approval of the Central Government, in terms of the Section-2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for Diversion of forest land of ha ( ha of forest land within Kodingamali Bauxite Mining Lease area including ha, of forest land in safety zone and ha of forest land outside the ML area for construction of approach road to the mining lease ) for Mining of Bauxite in Kodingamali Bauxite Mines located in Koraput and Rayagada District of Odisha by Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd. (OMCL). 2. The facts contained in the State Govt. s letter dated are as given below: FACT SHEET 1. Name of the Proposal Diversion of forest land of ha ( ha of forest land within Kodingamali Bauxite Mining Lease area including ha, of forest land in safety zone and ha of forest land outside the ML area for construction of approach road to the mining lease ) for Mining of Bauxite in Kodingamali Bauxite Mines located in Koraput and Rayagada District of Odisha by Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd. (OMCL) 2. Location (i) State (ii) District 3. Particulars of Forests: (i) Name of Forest Division and Forest area involved. Odisha. Koraput and Rayagada Koraput Forest Division = ha Rayagada Forest Division = ha (ii) Legal status/sy.no. Koraput Reserved Forest Kodinga PRF Koraput Revenue Forest = ha = ha = ha (iii) Map 4. Topography of the area 5. (i) Geology (ii) Vulnerability to erosion Rayagada Revenue Forest = ha Total = ha. i. SOI Topo-sheet: Pg.384/c ii. DGPS Map : pg /c - Koraput The area proposed is quite vulnerable to erosion on the boundary of lease area especially in step stops of the lease area. Rayagada- The proposed area does not contain any significant vegetation. Hence it is vulnerable to erosion. 6. Density of Vegetation Koraput : 0.1, Eco Class- 3 Rayagada : 0.1, Eco Class- 3

2 7. Species wise (scientific names) and diameter class-wise enumeration of trees (to be enclosed. 8. Whether forms part of National park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere Reserve, Tiger Reserve, Elephant Corridor, etc. (if so, details of the area and comments of the Chief Wildlife Warden to be annexed). 9. Whether any RET species of flora and fauna are found in the area. If so details thereof 10. Approximate distance of the proposed site for diversion from boundary of forest. It is reported by DFO, Koraput that devoid of vegetation on the plateau top except, phonix, aculix.the hill slopes and approach road contain tree growth under 30 cm of species like Jamun (Syzygium cumini), Kendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), Bahada (Terminalia belerica), Mango (Mangifera indica), Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Karanja (Pongamia pinnata), Amla (Emblica officianalis), Karada (Cleistanthus collinus), Kurai (Holarrhena antidysenterica), Dhatki (Adhadoda voscica), Wild ber (Zyzyphus jujube) and weeds (Lantana eupatorium) etc. It is reported by DFO,Rayagada that forest area does not contain any vegetation. No No. Koraput 0.0 km. inside R.F Rayagada Whether any protected No archaeological/ heritage site/defense establishment or any other important monuments is located in the area. 12. Whether any work of in violation No of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been carried out (Yes/No). If yes details of the same including period of work done, action taken on erring officials. Whether work in violation is still in progress. 13. Whether the requirement of Yes, the requirement of land is unavoidable and barest forest land as proposed by the minimum for the Mining purpose. user agency in col. 2 of Part-I is unavoidable and barest minimum for the project, if no recommended area item-wise with details of alternatives examined. 14. Whether clearance under the Environment (protection) Act, 1986 is required? Yes. Environment Clearance has been granted vide this Ministry s letter No. J-11015/439/2007- IA-II (M) dated (Pg /c). 15. Compensatory Afforestation Compensatory afforestation has been proposed on ha of non-forest Govt.land. (i) Details of non-forest The non-forest Govt. land of ha. has been area/degraded forest area identified as detailed below:

3 identified for CA, its distance from adjoining forest, number of patches, size of each patches. (i) Chuchukona ha. (ii)pipalpadar ha (iii)musopal ha (ii) Map showing nonforest/degraded forest area identified for CA and adjoining forest boundaries. (iii) Detailed CA scheme including species to be planted, implementing agency, time schedule, cost structure, etc. (iv) Total financial outlay for CA Scheme (v) Certificate from the competent authority regarding suitability of the area identified for CA and from management point of view. 16. Catchment Area Treatment NA 17. Rehabilitation of Oustees a) No of families involved Nil b) Category of families NA c) Details of rehabilitation plan NA Cadastral Map: Pg.392/c. Detail CA scheme of 10 years for an area of ha ( ha ha) has been submitted (Pg /c). Rs. 84,88, (pg-227/c: ha.) + Rs. 2,27,27, (pg-245/c: ha.) = Rs. 3,12,15, Land suitability certificate for an area of ha has been furnished by DFO, Koraput Forest Division. (pg /c) 18. Phase Reclamation Plan Phased reclamation plan has been prepared by the user agency and available in file at pg /c. In the reclamation plan, the user agency proposed for vegetative fencing, block plantation and soil conservation measures. 19. Compliance of Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 The certificate on Scheduled Tribe and OtherTraditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 along-with resolution of Gram Sabha for an area of ha has been given by Collector, Koraput District (Pg /c). The certificate on Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 for an area of ha has been given along-with resolution of Gram Sabha by Collector, Rayagada District (Pg /c). The certificate on Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 for an area of 6.86 ha has been given along-with resolution of Gram Sabha by District, Koraput District (Pg /c) 20. Total Cost of the Project Rs lakh (pg-33/c) 21. Employment Potential Direct: 330 nos. Indirect:1330 nos. 22. Cost benefit Analysis Cost benefit ratio of the project is 1: (pg-83/c). 23. Recommendations: i. DFO ii. RCCF iii. Nodal Officer/PCCF Recommended (Pg-49/c) Recommended (Pg-59/c) Recommended (Pg-62/c)

4 iv SG 24. District Profile (i) Total Geographical area of the district (ii) Total Forest area/ Divisional Forest area (iii) Total area diverted since 1980 (iv) Total CA stipulated since 1980 a. Forest land including penal CA b. Non Forest Land (v) Progress of Compensatory Afforestation a. Forest land b. Non Forest land Recommended ((Pg-63/c) Details in this regard are available at pg.46/c Koraput District: 5337 Sq.Km. Rayagada District: ha Koraput District: ha Rayagada District: ha Koraput District: ha Rayagada District: ha Koraput District: ha Rayagada District: ha - Koraput District: Rayagada District: Koraput District: ha Rayagada District: ha Koraput District: ha Rayagada District: ha 3. The site inspection in respect of diversion of ha of forest land ( ha forest land within Kodingamali Bauxite Mining lease area including ha of forest land in safety zone and ha of forest land outside the ML area for construction of approach road to the mining lease) for mining of bauxite in Kodingmali Bauxite Mines located in Koraput and Rayagada districts of Odisha by M/s Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd. was conducted by Sh.R.K. Samal, Conservator of Forests, Regional Office, Bhubaneswer from and The detailed SIR is reproduced below: 1. Legal status of the forest land proposed for diversion: Forest Division Forest land in Ha. Legal Status Rayagada Proposed Reserved Forests (Sec.-4 of IFA) Koraput Reserved Forest Koraput 0.97 Revenue Forest Total Item-wise break-up details of the forest land proposed for diversion: SI Purpose of Koraput Division in Ha. Rayagada Division in No. utilization RF PRF Rev. RF PRF Ha. Rev. Total Fores Fores 1. Mining

5 2. Infrastructure (ore stack, site offices, parking places, magazine, etc.) Area earmarked for safety zone Total area within Kodingamali Mining lease area 4 Proposed approach located outside the ML to the mining lease Grand total Whether proposal involves any construction of buildings (including residential) or not. If yes, details thereof: Yes. Infrastructure such as ore stack, site offices, parking places, magazine, etc. to be built over Ha. The Detailed breakup has not been given. Construction of residential buildings on forest land proposed to be diverted may not be allowed as this can be taken up on non-forest land and is not permissible under Section 4.5 (ii) of the guidelines and clarifications of Forest (Conservation) Act, Total cost of the project at present rates:rs lakh 5. Wildlife: Whether forest area proposed for diversion is important from wildlife point of view or not: Although not very important,however wildlife such as Barking deer, Hare, Porcupine, Wild Boar, Bear, Mongoose, Fox, Wolf, Wild Cat, Jackal are found in the area. 6. Vegetation: The proposed area is the hill top in Koraput Forest Division and is devoid of tree growth except phonix aculis.the areas of Rayagada are the hill slopes and approach road contain scrubs with stunted growth of species like Jamun (Syzygium cumin, Kendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), Banda (Terminalia bellarica), Mango (Mangifera indica), Jack, Karanja (Pongamia pinnata), Amla (Emblica officianalis), Karada (Cleistanthus collinus), Kurai (Holarrhena antidysenterica), Dhatki, Wild ber and weeds (Lantana eupatorium), etc. Density of vegetation is 0.1.In Rayagada Forest Division the proposed area does not contain any vegetation. The density of vegetation is 0.1. (a)total number of trees to be felled:there is no trees above 30 cm girth except a few stunted saplings of above species are only available in the area. Effect of removal of trees on the general ecosystem in the area: There will be very less adverse impact out of the removal of the trees in the general ecosystem of the area.

6 (b) Important species: Species like Jamun (Syzygium cumin, Kendu (Diospyros melanoxylon), Banda (Terminalia bellarica), Mango (Mangifera indica), Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Karanja (Pongamia pinnata), Amla (Emblica officianalis), Karada (Cleistanthus collinus), Kurai (Holarrhena antidysenterica), Dhatki (Adhadoda voscica), Wild ber (Zyzyphus jujube) and weeds (Lantana, cupatorium), etc. are found. Number of trees of girth below 60 cm:nil. Few stunted grown trees of the above trees are present on the land to be diverted for the road, however, the road is already existing and people are using for movement of their cattle and other livestock. Number of trees of girth above 60 cm:nil 7. Background note on the proposal: Kodingamali Bauxite deposit is a part of East Coast Bauxite deposit and named after Kodingamali plateau for mining of bauxite ore. The area exhibits a flat topped hill with moderate to steep hill slope with varying elevations from 1050 m to 1276 m above Mean Sea Level (MSL). Geographically, it is located at a distance of about 30.0 Kms from the Panchpatmali Bauxite mine of NALCO. The deposit is situated at a distance of about 6.0 Km from Laxmipur (Railway station) of Koraput district in south and around 58.0 Km from the District head quarter of Rayagada district. There is no existing approach road to the ML area. It is therefore proposed to construct an approach road covering 6.86 ha of forest land from the existing road at Raulpadar village to the ML area. Initially, the Prospecting License (PL) over an area of ha of Kodingamali Bauxite deposit was executed in favour of Odisha Mining Corporation Limited (A Govt. of Odisha Undertaking) for a period of two years with effect from dt On completion of prospecting work and on expiry of the prospecting license, OMC applied the said area for grant of ML in accordance with the letter of Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India vide letter No.4/75/98-M.IV dt The Department of Steel & Mines, Government of Odisha conveyed a conditional grant order of ML over ha vide letter No III(K)SM-4/99/SM, dt for a period of 30 years. OMC accepted all the terms & conditions laid down in the letter dt vide their letter dt Mining Plan over an area of ha was approved by IBM vide letter No.314 (3)198-MCCM (C)/MP-3 dt The total ML area of ha comes under forest land. There is no involvement of non-forest land. Mining in the ML area has never been carried out previously. It is still a virgin area. In order to reduce the non-mineral bearing forest area from the ML, OMC requested the Directorate of Geology, Odisha who had carried out Geological prospecting of the entire area of ha. The Director of Geology vide letter No. GXVIII (0-1/ dt authenticated the mineralized area as ha in respect of Kodingamalli Bauxite Mines. Basing on the authentication made by the Directorate of Geology, OMC submitted a revised application along with the boundary description vide letter No dt over ha to Government of Odisha. Department of Steel & Mines, Government of Odisha, instructed the Directorate of Mines to carry out survey and demarcate the ML boundary for the revised area of ha. Accordingly, the proposed ML boundary was surveyed & demarcated in the field by the Deputy Director of Mines, Koraput. Under Secretary to Government, Department of Steel & Mines, vide letter No (BX) SM. 6/03, dt informed OMC that the lease area has been revised to ha with reference to the original ML application dt , applied over ha. Under Secretary to Government, Department of Steel and Mines vide letter No (BX) SM.-6/03/SM dt requested the Director of Mines to issue the precise area map over ha. Accordingly, Director of Mines vide letter No. III-K-6/ , dt issued the precise area map with Boundary Description. OMC thereafter filed the Forest Diversion Proposal (FDP) with Chief Conservator of forests (Nodal), 0/o PCCF, Odisha over ha of forest land excluding ha earmarked for safety zone area out of ha of ML area vide letter No. 6648/0MC/06 dt With due compliance of the observation raised by CCF

7 (N), the FDP was forwarded to DFO, Koraput vide letter No /9F (MG)-33/2006 dt with State Serial No. 200/06. DFO, Koraput and DFO, Rayagada after site inspection recommended the proposal through Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Koraput Circle vide memo No dt to CCF (Nodal). In pursuance of the Govt. of Odisha, F&E Department letter No. IOF (Cons.) 113/ F&E dt , the Addl. PCCF (N), communicated the RCCF, Koraput vide memo No /9F (MG) 44/2010 dt to submit the authenticated DGPS map by ORSAC and upload the proposal online. OMC, on dt , decided to surrender ha of forest land which is non-mineral bearing of the ML area by retaining ha. Govt. of Odisha, Department of Steel and Mines, vide letter No. 8996/SM dt reduced the ML area for Bauxite in Kodingamali RF in Koraput and Rayagada district from ha to ha to be granted in favour of OMC Ltd. OMC had uploaded the FDP online vide proposal No. FP/OR/ MIN/ 15581/2015 on dt , assigned with State Serial No. OR-071/2015 dt and as per the system generated advise, submitted the hard copies of the proposals in two sets to DFO, Rayagada and to DFO, Koraput vide letter No /0MC/F&E/2015 and letter No /0MC/F&E/2015 dt respectively. OMC carried out DGPS survey of the approach road and got the map vetted by ORSAC. The area proposed for use as approach road now comes to 6.86 ha. As per DGPS survey duly vetted by ORSAC, there is a change in the ML area (to be granted after diversion of forest land) of Kodingamali from ha to ha. Director of Mines, Odisha vide letter No /DM dt authenticated the DGPS map submitted by OMC over an area of ha instead of ha. Henceforth, for all purpose, Kodingamalli Bauxite ML area (to be granted) is considered as ha. Out of the total area of ha applied for grant of ML, ha of Kodingamali Reserve Forest (RF) come under Koraput District and the balance ha of Kodinga Proposed Reserved Forests (PRF) comes under Rayagada District. In addition, out of 6.86 ha of forest area proposed for approach road to the ML area, 5.89 ha is Kodingamali RF (includes the forest area shown as Jungle Block) and 0.97 ha is of Revenue Forest category. The total forest area for the project therefore comes to ha (Proposed ML: ha + Proposed approach Road: ha. 8. Compensatory afforestation: Mining lease are of Kodingamali bauxite Mines is ha. and the entire area is forest. Approach road to the mine is 6.86 ha. Hence total forest area to be diverted is ha. Deducting Safety Zone area of ha. the compensatory afforestation will be undertaken over ha. Initially compensatory afforestation was proposed tobe undertaken at the places as per the details given below: Village Pipalpadar (Tahasil Laxmipur) ha. Village Musupal and Chuchukona (Laxmipur Tehasil) ha. Total= ha. However, as per the DSS analysis, it was found the site for CA at Pipalpadar contains 9 Ha. MDF and similarly the site at Musupal-Chuchukona contain 9 ha of MDF. The user agency was requested to exclude these areas from the CA area. Further, as per the DSS analysis the total area under Pipalpadar was found to be ha and the total area of the site at Musupal-Chuchukona was found to be ha only and therefore there was a shortfall of ha to meet the target. Therefore, additional non- forest of ha was to be identified for meeting the target. Accordingly, the UA has submitted the new CA area for the shortfall part and the details of the proposed CA area is given below in the table:

8 District Tahasil Forest Division Village Area in Koraput Laxmipur Koraput Pipalpadar Hectare Koraput Laxmipur Rayagada Musupal Koraput Laxmipur Rayadaga Chuchukona Kalahandi Thuamul Rampur ( New) Kalahandi South Kandulguda Total (a) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is suitable from plantation and management point of view or not:yes. Land suitability certificate has been given by DFO Koraput Forest Division and DFO Rayagada Forest Division. DFO, Kalahandi South Forest Division and Nodal Officer has certified the compensatory afforestation scheme for 46 ha non-forest land identified in village in Kandulguda, under Thuamul-Rampur tehasil of Kalahandi district. (b) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is free from encroachment/other encumbrances:yes. Non- encroachment and non -encumbrance certificate has been given by the Tahasildar, Thuamul-Rampur & Collector, Koraput. (c) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is important from Religious/Archaeological point of view: No. (d) Land identified for raising compensatory afforestation is in how many patches, whether patches are compact or not: Three compact patches. (e) Map with details: Submitted with the proposal as well as submitted by letter No.10F(Cons.)196/2016/21877/F&E dated along with enclosures by the project. (f) Total financial outlay: Total cost of compensatory afforestation is Rs.6,81,04,200/-. Details of which are given in the individual proposal. 9. Whether proposal involves violation of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 or not. If yes, a detailed report on violation including action taken against the concerned officials: No. 10. Whether proposal involves rehabilitation of displaced persons. If yes, whether rehabilitation plan has been prepared by the State Government or not :No. 11. Reclamation plan: Phased reclamation plan has been prepared by the user agency and submitted along with the detailed project. The reclamation plan involves physical reclamation and biological reclamation. The physical reclamation involves the stabilization of the mined out areas and saturated dumps by taking up block plantation along the contours. They have proposed for vegetative fencing, block plantation and soil conservation measures. Details and financial allocation: Rs.16,51,731/- for vegetative fencing, Rs.35,79,169/- for soil conservation measures & Rs.3,79,86,400/- for block plantation. 12. Details on catchment and command area under the project: Not applicable. Catchment area treatment plan to prevent siltation of reservoir: Not applicable 13. Cost benefit ratio: The cost benefit ratio is 1: Recommendations of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests/State Government: Recommended.

9 15. Recommendations of Addl. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Central) along with detailed reasons: The entire forest area of ha involved in this mining proposal forms part of Kodingamali Reserve Forest. The site inspection report of CF (Central) says that the proposed forest area is devoid of tree growth. However, the compartment history procured from the State Government shows that the Reserve Forest comprises of dry deciduous miscellaneous scrub forest with important species such as Terminalia tomentose, Annogeisus latifolia, Pterocarpus marsupiurn, Buchanania lanzan, etc. There is thus, a variation between what has been described in the compartment history and the site inspection report. The State Government may be asked to explain this in the FAC meeting. 16. Conservator of Forests shall give detailed comments on whether there are any alternative routes/alignment for locating the project on the non-forest land:no. the area is site specific. The bauxite ore is occurring at the hill top. 17. Utility of the project: Numbers of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes to be benefited by the project: The project will benefit by way of direct and indirect employment of people and most of the people will be Scheduled Tribe as the area nearby is dominated by Scheduled Tribe people. 18. (a) (b) (c) Whether land being diverted has any socio-cultural/ religious value: No. Whether any sacred grove or very old growth trees/forests exist in the areas proposed for diversion: No. Whether the land under diversion forms part of any unique eco-system: No. 19. Situation with respect to any Protected Area: There is no protected area within 10 km radius of the proposed site. 20. Any other information relating to the project: Though the area belongs to RF and PF category under Koraput and Rayagada Forest Division. The proposed area is devoid of vegetation and the top of the hill forms the exposed lateritic rocks. It is seen that except plants like Phoenix aculis no other vegetation is growing in the hill top. Remnants of dried moss on the exposed rocks were seen. There will not be much adverse impact on the environment, forest and wildlife of this area by diversion of the proposed area for non-forestry purposes. This will create job opportunities for many of the Scheduled Tribe people living nearby the proposed area for diversion The facts related to the above proposal may be placed before FAC in its forthcoming meeting to be held on 28th February, 2017 for their examination and appropriate recommendation.