The assistance and support provided by various individuals and organizations has helped a great deal in compiling this report.

The authorities of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Bombay and Cochin are gratefully acknowledged for their support and co-operation during the course of this EIA study. Sincere thanks are extended to Shri Rohatagi, General Manager (Engg. & Projects); Shri N. Haran, Former DGM (Projects), CIR; Shri A.C. Sen, DGM (Projects), CIR; Shri H.S. Yadav, Sr. Project Manager; Shri A.K. Navur, Former Dy. Manager (Engg.); Shri V.N.Tilak, Deputy Manager (Engg.); and Shri A. Gawai, Sr. Engg. Officer, BPCL, Bombay for their readiness to help us in every possible manner, both in the initial preparatory phase and subsequent phases of this report. Shri D. Banerjee, Manager (Projects) is thankfully acknowledged for accompanying the WII team and for the keen interest he has taken in providing all possible information about the pipeline route. Shri Chandrashekhar of SECON Surveys and Shri Samson, Sr. Engg. Officer, BPCL, Bombay, who assisted the project team in the route identification, are gratefully acknowledged. Shri A.K. Bharadwaj, Manager, BPCL, Cochin; facilitated the visit to the take-off point of the proposed project during the reconnaissance. They are sincerely thanked for their help.

The support rendered by the scientific community has been of immense help in generating the database for establishing the baseline status of the project environment. Special thanks are due to Dr. P.S. Easa, Dr. A.R.R. Menon, Dr. S. Sankar, Dr. Jason of KFRI, Peechi, Kerala; for their unfailing support and for sharing their valuable data sets, both published and unpublished, on the different aspects of the study area. Dr. Ajith Kumar, Principal Scientist, SACON, Coimbatore has been a friend and guide during the course of the field work. Dr. Justus Joshua, Dr. S. Bhupathy and Shri T.R.K. Yoganand of SACON provided valuable information on the distribution of wildlife species in the project area. Grateful thanks are due to Dr. C.G. Rajendra, Associate Professor, Rice Research Station, Vitilla, and Mr. Jaya Prasad, IFS, Principal, Kerala Forest School, Walayar, for their cooperation in field. Support rendered by Shri, K.J. Verghese, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Trichur Forest Division, and his staff, is sincerely acknowledged. Interaction with Shri L. Namashivayan and Shri Ajeeth Menon were particularly useful in documenting the avifaunal richness of the Walayar Reservoir.

At the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun several people provided support. Shri S.K. Mukherjee, Director, Wildlife Institute of India, is gratefully acknowledged for providing valuable suggestions that greatly improved our ability to undertake the task under this consultancy offer. Shri S.P. Singh, Registrar, WII, is sincerely acknowledged for providing access to computing and printing facilities at odd hours and also for other administrative support. We sincerely thank Dr. V.B. Mathur, Scientist `E' who provided valuable suggestions that made the formulation of recommendations an easier task. Sincere thanks are also due to Dr. G.S. Rawat, Scientist `E' for his assistance in identification of plant species and in the interpretation of ecological data of the study area.

Shri S.S. Oberoi, Finance Officer and Shri M.D. Gupta of the Finance Section maintained the project accounts very meticulously.

Several factors beyond our control has disrupted our functioning during this period marked by the local disturbances. These constraints were overcome by the staff of EIA Cell, Computer Centre and the resography section of WII. Their cooperation is sincerely acknowledged. Tireless efforts of Shri Narinder Singh Bist and sincere efforts of Shri G. Shanmugam and Shri Mahesh Ghosh made it possible to complete the word processing, cartographic work and printing of this report within the unrealistic time schedule. Shri Mohan Singh, cheerfully rendered his services as a driver and attended to our needs for coffee and tea and volunteered to run errands for the preparation of the report.

Dr. Asha

Faculty In-charge, EIA Cell