The evaluation of the biodiversity related impacts of the proposed Manglya- BIjwasan pipeline involved careful consideration of the route alternatives for ascertaining the least damaging option and the visualization of the project related actions that are likely to bring about significant changes in the ecological profile of the area. The evaluation of the route alternatives and the significance of the likely project induced changes on the conservation values of the ecosystems en route the proposed pipeline is based on the criteria discussed in the section on methodology. The following are the salient findings of the ecological impact assessment of the proposed Manglya–Bijwasan Pipeline Project.

5.1 Evaluation of the pipeline route alternative for assessing the ‘least impacting’ option
The authorities of BPCL conducted the evaluation of three different pipeline routes following the suitability criteria (refer Fig. 4 Chapter 3) that essentially aimed to avoid impacts on biodiversity resources and its functional values.

As an Alternate I, the shortest and most economical route would have been the straight line joining Indore and Delhi involving a pipeline length of 700 km. This route though shortest would have traversed through major forest areas of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for nearly 80 kms and would have also involved laying of pipeline in difficult terrain and sensitive habitats. Some of the major forest area and sensitive habitats that would have taken in this pipeline alignment are: 1. Khandar Reserve Forest, 2. Ranthambore National Park, 3. Kailadevi Sanctuary, 4. Ghana Kewala National Park, 5. National Chambal Sanctuary, 6. Chakeri Reserve Forest, 7. Balachaur Reserve Forest, 8. South Karahal Reserve Forest, 9. West Kano Reserve Forest, 10. Bargawan Protected Forest, 11. Sironi Reserved Forest, 12. Imiliya Reserve Forest, 13. Langra Protected Forest, 14. Tiponkar Protected Forest, 15. Ghatli Jukhoda Protected Forest, 16. Chhawar Protected Forest, 17. Gubrenda Protected Forest.

An alternative pipeline routing Alternate II - Indore-Gwalior-Jhansi-Mathura-Piyala-Bijwasan circumventing these major forests was explored. This option would provide connectivity to join Indore to Delhi via Gwalior and Jhansi. The route involved traversing through most parts of Madhya Pradesh and ensured avoidances of the some forest stretches encountered in Alternate I. It also had an inherent advantage of connecting Mathura to Delhi that was much easier. Although the total forest area en route this alternative was relatively less when compared with the Alternative- I, the route would have encountered the following ecologically important forest patches at different locations in Madhya Pradesh: Bajrang-ghar Reserve forest in Raghoghar (MP); Rampur PF, Mohanpur PF, Kalora PF, Dhanwari Reserve Forest near Guna (MP); dense Patches of Baldia RF and Narsinghpura Reserve Forests near Shivpuri and forest areas in Dhaulpur.

In order to further minimize the pipeline routing through forested area, an Alternate III - Indore-Ujjain-Kota-Bharatpur-Mathura-Piyala-Bijwasan involving joining Indore and Delhi via Ujjain - Kota - Sawai Madhopur - Bharatpur – Mathura sections was explored. This route would have alignment predominantly through Rajasthan covering nearly 450 km. In this route, forest patches would be encountered near Shajapur in MP, near Jhalarpatan in Jhalawad district and small forest patches in Kota, Bundi, Tonk & Sawai Madhopur districts of Rajasthan. As compared to Alternative I & II, this route would traverse the minimum length of forest area (18.6km) and would ensure avoidance of routing through other sensitive habitats in Protected Area. This route involving a total length of approximately 776 km pipeline route and having minimum demands on forest area was considered as ‘least impacting’. Keeping in view the conservation importance of the habitats sensitive and Protected Areas, and the necessity to protect the rare and endangered species of the area, BPCL further refined the route to avoid the pipeline alignment through National Chambal Sanctuary, Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve and Keoladeo National Park. The final route was thus made optimally suitable despite an unavoidable increase in the pipeline length by 36 km due to the obvious deviations to avoid National Chambal Sanctuary, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and Keoladeo National Park.

This approach of evaluating route alternatives for ensuring minimum impact is commensurate with global good practices that are based on scientific rationale developed by a number of workers for optimizing project benefits by reducing ecological risks (Spellerberg 1992; Dey and Gupta 1999; Dey 2002; Zúñiga-Gutiérrez, 2002).

5.2 Impacts on terrestrial ecosystems en route the proposed pipeline
The forest patches near Shajapur in Madhya Pradesh, near Jhalarpatan in Jhalawar district and also small patches in Kota, Bundi, Tonk & Sawai Madhopur districts of Rajasthan represent the terrestrial ecosystems en route the proposed pipeline.

The pipeline would linearly traverse these forest patches for a total length of 18.6 km. The project authorities have however acquired a 10 m wide belt of forest area in the entire stretch of 18.6 to exercise Right of Use (RoU) for laying the pipeline. The land would be acquired on a temporary basis by paying a suitable compensation as per Petroleum and Mineral Act (1962) and would be returned to the owner after laying the of the pipeline.

Pipeline projects primarily affect terrestrial wildlife resources through alteration of habitat availability, which is largely incurred during project construction; habitat fragmentation, a spatial outcome of alteration in habitat availability; direct wildlife mortalities (e.g. from vehicle-wildlife collisions); and development of new access potential and associated loss of habitat security. The forest areas en route the pipeline are already small fragmented patches of intensively modified habitats, that have limited potential to support large and diverse species of specialized habitats. The biotic pressures induced by interspersed human habitations and livestock grazing are features that characterize all the forest areas en route the pipeline alignment. The project is therefore not likely to induce irreversible impacts on biodiversity resources.

The impacts associated with the laying of pipeline through forest area have been fairly reduced by adopting the proposed route alternative (Alternative –III Indore-Ujjain-Kota-Bharatpur-Mathura-Piyala-Bijwasan) that has reduced the demand on forest land from 80 km to 18.6 km.

Since this route alternative proposed for laying the proposed pipeline between Manglya and Bijwasan does not traverse through Protected Areas and sensitive habitats in any of the five spreads, it does not portend any threat to valued ecosystems or ecosystem components.

There would be however some unavoidable impacts that are generally associated with the laying of pipeline. The visualization of these is based on the knowledge and experience of activities involved in laying of pipeline under earlier implemented projects (Fig. 9). The primary and secondary impacts associated with the physical disturbance of land during clear felling, blasting in rocky terrain and trenching for lowering the pipeline; alteration of water regime due to withdrawal of water during construction and hydro testing and alteration of natural habitat quality induced by clearing of vegetation, movement of workforce and equipment and erosion of soil and are some of the anticipated impacts of laying the pipeline.

Most of these impacts can be appropriately regulated by adopting good environmental management practices.

5.3 Impacts on terrestrial ecosystems en route the proposed pipeline
The conservation values of the river ecosystems en route the pipeline are fairly limited as majority of the rivers except Chambal and Shipra are seasonal water bodies with water availability and stream flow restricted to a few months beyond the monsoon period. The banks of almost all rivers are found to be unstable, barren and broken by unplanned developments and illegal encroachment for settlements and cultivation. The banks lack adequate tree cover and the vegetation generally comprising of scrub species that offer little stability to the highly erosion prone banks in case of most rivers. Grazing, fishing and encroachment for cultivation are major sources of biotic pressures that have seriously impacted the wetland values and conservation prospects of the rivers en route.

Based on the visualization of the nature of changes associated with pipeline laying on different rivers and the knowledge of the existing status of ecological baseline of these rivers (Table 5.1), it becomes evident that the alignment of pipeline across the rivers Shipra, Kalsindh and Gambhir in the identified locations does not pose significant impacts on the ecology and biodiversity values of these rivers.

Chambal which harbours many rare and endangered wetland species is the only river that merit high conservation efforts and require utmost protection of its wetland values. The project authorities have already confirmed that for aligning the pipeline across Chambal, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) technology will be adopted. This technology that involves laying the pipeline below the bed of the rivers will ensure uninterrupted flow during pipeline laying and avoidance of disturbance to bank features and is therefore not likely to pose any threats to the wetland values of Chambal.

Table 5.1 Ecological baseline of rivers falling in the route corridor of the proposed Manglya- Bijwasan pipeline.

On the contrary, the wetland values of the river in stretches falling outside the National Chambal Sanctuary and upstream of the proposed pipeline crossing location are already threatened by several other factors. The chief among these are the anthropogenic activities and the fluctuating water levels resulting from withdrawal of water for irrigation under various projects of the Chambal Valley Project and supply of drinking water to Kota city. The additional and more significant impacts on wetlands are also foreseen in the event of inevitable flow alterations resulting from the implementation of the proposed river linking schemes involving Chambal.

5.4 Risk assessment and design sensitivity
Based on the project profile provided by the project authorities, it becomes evident that the pipeline project would conform to international specifications namely Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) standard OISD 141 for design specifications.

The risks associated with subsequent leakage of hazardous material on land will be fairly remote as the pipeline operating parameters (like pressure, temperature, flow rate, density) shall be constantly monitored at the existing MCS at Mumbai and the status of cathodic protection system and SV valves would be monitored by a dedicated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). Software for accurate and timely detection of leak already provided for Mumbai-Manglya pipeline shall be utilized for Manglya-Piyala and Piyala-Bijwasan section.

The risks associated with subsequent leakage of hazardous material into the river are minimal as the special casing for underwater pipeline would be ensured. The pipe will be concrete coated, to provide sufficient negative buoyancy. Corrosion inhibitor will be used along with the products to be transported to protect internal corrosion. After 100% radio graphing of welded joints, the pipeline will be tested at 1.5 times the design pressure.

Conclusions and Recommendations