Pre-development measurements of environmental quality through select attributes in the study area are essential requirements for post development audits and impact monitoring. Observations on direct measurements of wildlife species and their habitat attributes likely to be impacted upon by the proposed project have been presented here. The magnitudes of anticipated impacts of the proposed project would be largely determined on the basis of probable changes in wildlife values of ecologically sensitive areas en route the pipeline.

The baseline data for environmental impact assessment in the present study has come mainly from two sources: (i) field surveys conducted for the purpose, and (ii) records and publications already in existence. Naturalist in India have significantly contributed to build up the baseline data on natural wealth during the last few decades. However, area-wise systematic information on floral and faunal diversity is greatly lacking. This is only in recent years that several institutions and voluntary organisations have made efforts in generating scientific information on various aspects of wildlife and ecological monitoring using simpler field methods as well as advanced technology viz. Radio-telemetry, Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System, etc.

Baseline data on wildlife and habitat attributes likely to be impacted upon by the proposed SV pipeline augmentation project is presented below:

3.1 Salaya-Viramgam (SV) Section :
The existing Salaya-Viramgam (SV) section of the SMPL includes a Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) system connected to an off-shore and twin on-shore pipeline in the Gulf of Kutch. A pipeline was laid in the mainland from Vadinar Oil Terminal to Viramgam passing through Jamnagar, Rajkot, Surendranagar and Ahmedabad district of Gujarat. Altogether 30 sample points were surveyed during the reconnaissance (Table-3.1.1). Out of this, two sample points were undertaken in the coastal and marine area of the Gulf of Kutch. In all 21 ecologically sensitive areas representing one coastal and marine ecosystem; 11 wetlands habitats (eight rivers, one lake and two village ponds); seven grasslands and two forest areas were identified and intensive studies were undertaken in all these areas. The baseline status of each identified ecologically sensitive area is discussed below:

A. COASTAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEM
The coastal landforms are the most dynamic and the coastal zone represents a unique interface between the sea, land and air. The coastal zones world-wide have received an increasing importance in view of their rich diversity, high productivity and multiple benefits and functions (SAC, 1992). Also there is a mounting pressure worldwide to exploit coastal and marine ecosystems.

The existing Salaya-Mathura Crude Pipeline (SMPL) originates form the Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) system which is located in the midst of deep sea (30-40 fathom) in the Gulf of Kutch. As described in the para 1.3 the present SBM is connected to an off-shore submarine pipeline which is interconnected with twin on-shore pipelines each of 5.5 km long before reaching the Vadinar Oil Terminal at the coast. Present off-shore and on-shore pipelines (ca. 11 km long) those traverse through various wildlife habitats viz. deep sea, fringing coral reefs at Narara 'bet' (island), intertidal zone, mudflats, beaches, mangroves and saltpans were laid in the late 1970s by M/s IOCL.

Appreciating the existence of an array of marine life and wealth of non-living resources in the Gulf of Kutch and also realising the tremendous irreversible damage caused to its ecology due to the biotic interferences and rapid unplanned industrial growth, the Government of Gujarat decided to protect the ecologically sensitive area of the Gulf of Kutch (7,350 sq km) by declaring a Marine National Park (162.89 sq km) and Marine Sanctuary (457.92 sq km) by three consecutive Government notifications during 1980-82 (Fig. 3.1.2). Major part of the Marine National Park and Sanctuary (MNP) consists of intertidal zone on the southern shore and intricate network of 42 islands ('bets') with coral reefs and mangroves forests in the Gulf of Kutch, The intertidal zone is endowed with fascinating diversity of marine life.

TABLE - 3.1.1 Location of sample points along SV section

* Stone numbers not known
+ denotes recognition of ecologically sensitive area.

Conservationists who met at Sasan-Gir in January, 1981 strongly recommended for the conservation of the ecologically sensitive and fragile marine ecosystem i.e. the Gulf of Kutch. The seminar was chaired by the former Prime Minister, Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi. She herself endorsed the recommendation which stated, "the coral island and associated flora and fauna in the Gulf of Kutch which are on the verge of being wiped out should be preserved at all costs. Speaking in a broader sense about ecology, she had dismissed the fear about costs in preservation of ecology. She had emphatically said that the long term cost of ignoring the ecology or environment was something no country could afford."

The IOCL has now proposed to augment the capacity of Salaya-Viramgam (SV) section of the SMPL by: (i) installation of a second SBM in the vicinity of the present one i.e. in deep sea area, (ii) interconnecting two SBMs by a new 3 km long off-shore pipeline. (iii) connecting the proposed SBM to the existing twin on-shore pipeline by a new 6 km long submarine pipeline, (iv) pigging facility for the existing and proposed off-shore pipelines, (v) upgradation of existing pumping capacity at Vadinar Oil Terminal, (vi) laying of four looplines (total length 122 km) in existing ROW passing through four districts viz. Jamnagar, Rajkot, Sundernagar and Ahmedabad, and (Vii) setting of two Intermediate Pumping Stations (IPS) at Jamnagar and Surendranagar. A diagrammatic presentation of the existing and proposed SBM systems in MNP has been shown in Fig. 3.1.2 and important locations, coastal and marine features near Vadinar Oil Terminal along the Gulf of Kutch have been depicted in Fig. 3.1.3.

The entire coastal and marine area of MNP lying in the Gulf of Kutch has been considered here as a large ecologically sensitive and fragile ecosystem. The ecological, floral and faunal diversity in MNP in the Gulf of Kutch has been described by Chavan, 1988; Vaishav, 1988; in the Directory of Wetlands, 1993 and Singh, 1994a.

The Gulf of Kutch is a largest inlet of the Arabian sea, about 60 km wide at its widest and tapering northeastwards for 170 km. Past records reveals that the Gulf area had much richer marine and terrestrial flora and fauna. The area one time had a well developed fisheries of pearl and windowpane oyster. Mr. James Hornell of Sri Lanka who surveyed and recorded the marine fauna if the Gulf of Kutch as early as 1905 on an invitation of the erstwhile rulers of Baroda State (Chavan, 1988) mentioned that "he had never seen before such a rich marine biota in so confined a place."

Table - 3.1.2   Conservation significance values of ecologically sensitive wildlife habitats/ecosystems along SV section

The shoreline of the Gulf of Kutch has extensive mudflats and is highly indented with a number of cliffed rocky islands. The islands are fringed by coral reefs and have been studied extensively.

Biological researchers have been conducted in last two decades on corals, edible oyster, marine fishes, crabs, molluscs and marine algae by various researchers based at the Saurashtra University, Rajkot; Marine Biological Research Station, Okha' Gujarat Fisheries Department, Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad and several other Institutions and individuals.

The high density and diversity of marinelife in MNP is due to the availability of different types of habitats like sandy, muddy, rocky, calcareous and coral beds, and mangroves in the relatively sheltered waters of the Gulf (Singh, 1994a).

Tidal wetland mapping of a part of Gulf of Kutch 1:2,50,000 and 1:50.000 scale using satellite data - Landsat MSS as well as TM data (Nayak et al. 1986, and Pandeya et al. 1987), mapping of long term changes in tidal wetlands in the Gulf of Kutch (Bahuguna et al. 1990) and in the Marine National Park (Nayak et al. 1989a & b), Gulf of Kutch have been carried out.

The coastal wetlands of the Gulf of Kutch, their types and extent have been described in the report entitled 'Coastal Environment' (SAC, 1992). Accordingly, coastal wetlands have been grouped in four categories : (i) Non-vegetated wetlands (sandy beach, mudflats and coral reefs); (ii) Vegetated wetlands (mangroves, algae, mudflats with scattered vegetation, salt marsh vegetation, and vegetation on sand); (iii) shore land (coastal dunes and saline area); and (iv) other features as salt pans.

Mangroves, coral reefs and other associated habitats in the Gulf of Kutch support 108 species of algae, more than 70 species of sponges, 37 species of hard and soft corals under 24 genera, about 150-200 species of fishes, 27 species of prawns, 30 species of crabs, more than 200 species of molluscs, 3 species of endangered sea turtle, 3 species of sea snakes, 3 species of sea mammals, 94 species of waterbirds and 78 species of terrestrial birds (Singh, loc. cit.)

IMPORTANT FLORA:
Flora of MNP mainly consists of mangroves and array of marine algae including commercially important species of agarophytes and alginophytes while species viz. Salvadora, Zizyphus, Prosopis, etc. occur on peripheral areas on the mainland. Out of these, mangroves play a vital role in the maintenance of marine ecosystem.

(i) Coastal - Terrestrial Vegetation :
The scrub forests on sandy plains of some of the islands and few patches along the coast are represented by Acacia senegal, Acacia leucophloea, Acacia nilotica, Capparis decidua, C. grandis, balanites aegyptiaca, Cummiphora wightii, Euphorbia nivullia, Ephedra foliata, Cadaba fruiticosa, Zyzyphus nummularia, Salvadora oleoides, S. persica, Tamarix spp., Calotropis spp., Brassus flabellifera, Phoenix sylvestris etc. Grassy patches of Eragrostis spp., Eleusine, Aristida spp. are also found on more of the islands. Sueda fruiticosa and Sueda nudiflora are main species of marsh vegetation. Aeluropes lagopoides, Sporobolus spp., Cressa cretica and Bergia odorata are found along the marsh vegetation.

(ii) Coastal - Intertidal Mangroves :
The whole coastline along the Gulf is fringed with luxuriant growth of mangroves, the unique land building tropical trees which show remarkable ability to live in saline and tidal areas where very few other tree species can grow. These slushy muddy mangrove marshes with high degree of dissolved O2 provides a paradise for marine creatures and the colourful living corals.

(iii) Marine Algae :
Total species of algae recorded in the Gulf of Kutch represents 29 species on green algae (Chlorophyceae), 30 species of brown algae (Phaeophyceae) and 49 species of red algae (Rhodophyceae). Out of these 70 are fairly common and 38 are rather rare (Singh, loc. cit. and Directory of Indian Wetlands, 1993).

IMPORTANT FAUNA :

Detailed inventories on invertebrate marine faunal life representing various phylla and sub-phylla in the MNP and a list of plants and animals at risk have been provided by Chavan (1988) and Vaishnav (1988), respectively. This list is presented in the Table - 3.1.3.

Table 3.1.3    Floral and faunal species at risk in the Gulf of Kutch

(Source:   Forest Department, Govt. of Gujarat)

In the Gulf of Kutch reef formations (ca. 1,000 sq km) are fringing or patchy around a chain of 42 islands from Okha to Jodhya. Coral diversity is represented by 20 genera and one sub-genera and 26 species (Wafar, 1992). Coral reefs have been considered as the most specialised, diverse and productive of all tropical marine ecosystems. They are being increasingly subjected to exploitation and human interference. Reefs have also been recognised as a 'flagship' for the conservation of marine resources.

The marine turtles Chelonia mydas and Lepidochelys olivcea breed on the islands in the Gulf, but both are threatened (Directory of Indian Wetlands, 1993). With the onset of summer season as many 34 islands in the MNP come alive with the nesting activity of these endangered sea turtles since they migrate from far away ocean feeding grounds (Chavan, 1988 and Choudhury, Per Comm.). The Blackbanded sea snakes have also been reported in the Gulf waters.

A comprehensive study of waterbirds for the first time in the Gulf was undertaken by scientists of Saurashtra University as a part of WWF - India sponsored project (1984-89). Based on their study Naik et al. (1985) reported 86 species of waterbirds in the salt pans, and 80 species on the islands and coast along the Gulf. Most of the species found in the Gulf and in the area of saltworks were common. The cattle egret, back ibis, ruddy shelduck, eastern golden plover, yellow wattled alpwing, eastern knot, sanderling and eastern little stint were observed in the Gulf but not in the salt pans while avocet, blacktailed gotwit, blackwinged stilt, temminck's stint, pheasant-tailed jacana and white winged black tern were recorded only on the Gulf. The salt pans serve as breeding habitat for four ground nesting species of birds viz. little tern, blackwinged stilt, kentish plover and redwattled lapwig (Directory of Indian Wetlands, 1993). The islands and coast provided a habitat of 11 species of tree-nesting waterbirds, namely painted stork, grey heron, large egret, Indian reef heron, night heron, pond heron, white ibis, black ibis, dartar, littel cormorant, spoonbill and six species of ground nesting waterbirds, namely lesser flamingo, little tern, saunder's tern, great stone plover, Kentish plover, and red wattled lapwing. Some of the species identified as rare on the West coast of India included eastern knot, eastern little stint, ringed plover, whiteringed black tern, brownwinged tern, slenderbilled gull, and sandwich tern.

Naik et al (1985) also reported the presence of dugong (Dugong dugong) in a small number number in the Gulf of Kutch. This is being the only population on the West coast. Sightings of immature-sized individuals and herd of upto 15 individuals have been reported. Endangered dolphins (Delphinous delphi) and whale (Balaenoptera spp.) are usually observed in mangrove lined creeks and near open sea areas, respectively. The Cetaceans Sousa plumbea and Neophocaena phocaenoides also occur in the Gulf, butno data is available on their status.

Land use changes along the Gulf of Kutch :
The land use pattern and ecological changes along the Gulf of Kutch has been presented by Vaishnav, 1988; Naik et al. 1985; Directory of Indian Wetlands, 1993; SAC, 1992; and Singh, 1994. Accordingly, until the beginning of this century Jamnagar was the Centre of one of the biggest pearl fisheries in the world exploiting the eastern Gulf islands. The windowpane oyster fishery developed at Okha in 1910 also severely suffered which finally led to a temporary ban on the collection of all oysters in the Gulf. Fishing remains an important source of income and employment for the local people although catches have declined markedly in recent years. Dredging of sand by the Digvijay Cement Company, Sikka from an area of 648 ha. in the Gulf continued till recent part, but this has now been banned. The salt industry all along the southern shore, the largest at Okha, has over 20,000 ha. of salt pans. The Gulf of Kutch is one of best natural harbours in India. The Vadinar oil terminal which has been built to receive imported crude oil or from the Bombay high through a SBM system. For this reason very large oil tankers (300,00 - 400,000 metric tonnes) are required to visit this Gulf regularly.

B. WETLANDS
Most of the wetlands en route the pipeline are seasonal as the rainfall in the area is erratic and scanty. Thus, the area us highly drought prone. The macro level assessment also revealed that most of the rivers in the region are seasonal. Some of the rivers which were perennial and have been dammed now act as seasonal rivers along downstream stretches.

(a) Rivers :
Total eight rivers along the pipeline route namely, Phuljar, Sasoi, Nagmati, Ruparel, Dondi, Aji, Machchhu,and Bhogavo were recorded. The first two rivers viz. Phuljar and Sasoi falling in coastal watershed area behave more or less like creeks. During post-monsoon and winter season several migratory birds arrive here. The Nagmati river near Jamnagar is perennial. This river has been dammed and this has resulted in the reduced flow of water in the downstream. Other than the rainy season the river carries only the industrial effluents and sewage. Common bird species recorded from this river were Red wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus), black winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus), common sanpiper (Tringa hypoleucos), blur rock pigeon (Columba livia), white breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus), etc. the Ruparel is a seasonal river and had a low bird diversity. Duringmonsoon season only, this river retains flowing water which lasts for a short period.

The existing pipeline is crossing the Dondi river near Paddhari village. The width of the river here is ca. 100 m. This river is seasonal and during the dry phase the river bed is mainly used for cultivating vegetables and other crops. Soft shelled turtles have been reported from this river. On the river banks thorny bushes of Prosopis juliflora were present and interspersed with agricultural fields. A few small populations of Hedgehogs (Hemiechus auritus) were reported to be thriving in this tract.

Aji river is the main source of water for the large population of Rajkot city. To meet the increasing demand of water supply the river has been dammed thrice. This has resulted into the dry river stretches. The river has also been severely polluted by the industrial effluents and sewage. Similarly the river Machchhu, has been dammed for drinking water and irrigation purposes, resulting into dry river stretches for a longer period.

(b) Lakes :
Near the Moti Khakhari village in Rajkot district an irrigation dam has been constructed on the Und river. During the field survey the bird species observed in the reservoir area were viz. open bill stork (Anastomus oscitans), spot billed duck (Anas poecilorhyncha), lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), common pochard (Aythya ferina), grey heron (Ardea cinerea), painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala), spoonbill (Platalea leucorodea) and several others. Secondary information on the fishes and turtles could not be collected but looking at the size of the reservoir and its perennial nature these are expected.

(c) Village ponds :
In the SVsection of pipeline two village ponds namely Umarda and Chamraj were found to be ecologically sensitive. The Umarda village pond was of seasonal nature and dries up in the summer. The secondary information about the fishes could not be collected since the villagers are mostly vegetarian. The presence of turtles in monsoon season was confirmedby villagers. The birds species observed were viz. little cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger), pond heron (Ardeola grayii), cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), little egret (Egretta garzetta), sarus crane (Grus antigone), black ibis (Pseudibis papillosa) and many others are reported to migrate to this area during post monsoon and winter seasons.

The Chamraj village pond was also of seasonal nature. Like Umarda village pond this pond also supports aquatic birds in the monsoon season. Information on fishes could be obtained. The presence or absence of turtles in the village pond largely depends upon the availability of water.

C. GRASSLANDS :
Till recent past whole of the Saurashtra Peninsula and adjoining Kutch region were famous for their highly productive grassland and faunal diversity. Though, most of these grasslands areas have been converted as agricultural fields. Rapidly growing exotic shrubs - Prosopis juliflora has encroached some of the important grassland habitats. These factors have resulted into over-all shrinkage and degradation of grassland habitats throughout the pipeline route. The present condition of the remaining patches of private or Government owned grassland ('vivid') has been further aggravated by natural factors i.e. erratic and scanty rainfall and severe droughts consequently for 2-3 years. In spite of all this, some promising 'hay plots' are still maintained by the Forest Department, village Panchayats and a few individuals. These grasslands are well protected throughout the rainy season i.e. 'active growth period'. After t systematic grass harvest in the post-monsoon season free grazing by livestock is permitted on remnant patches of leftover. Throughout Saurashtra, grassland habitats harbour a rich faunal diversity. Several grassland habitats along the pipeline route were surveyed. Since the field studies were undertaken during the summer season i.e. May, 1994 when grassland areas were almost dry, pale in colour and without standing vegetation. For this reason it was impossible to collect grasses and forbs, identify them and make any assessment of productivity. Thus, the time of field studies was also not proper for assessing the diversity of grassland dependent birds.

The existing pipeline is passing through some of the important grasslands, namely Moti Khakhari, Moti Chanal, Jiyana, Jepur, Vasundhara, Bhalgam and Janvadala. Most of these grasslands were Government owned and looked after by the State Forest Department while a few of them were privately owned. Based on the professional experience and secondary information, the present status of the grasslands habitats lying en route pipeline have been discussed below:

All above mentioned grassland habitats were characterised by the dominant species viz. Sehima nervosum, Heteropogon contortus, Aristida adscensionis. Species namely Themeda quadrivalvis, Chrysopogon fulvus, Apluda mutica, Cymbopogon martinii, Ischaemim spp. also occur in small patches. Leguminos plants (forbs) viz. Indigifera cordifolia, Heylandia latebrosa and thorny shrubs of Zizyphus nummularia contribute significantly in terms of nutritious plants for livestock and other grassland dependent fauna. Along the rivulets and streams pure stands of Dischanthium annulatum were identified. The average grass height in all the studied grasslands was in the range of 0.75 m to 1 m. The preponderance of short and unpalatable annual grass i.e. Aristida was seen wherever grasslands have experienced high biotic pressure. The conservation significance values for seven grassland habitats en route the pipeline have been presented in Table 3.1.2.

D. FORESTS :
Two forests areas intensively studied in this section were of thorny scrub type situated in the saline fry waste/ brackish plains near Chharad and Hebatpur villages. Main floral species observed in these two areas were Prosopis juliflora, Acacia nilotica and Salvadora persica. These forest patches were small and scattered.

E. AGRICULTURAL LANDS :
Along this pipeline section several important natural grassland areas in the recent past have been converted into agricultural lands. Main crops grown in the region are : Groundnut (Arachis hypogea), Pearl millet (Pennisetum typhoides), Wheat (Triticum aestivum), etc. The agricultural lands have given special reference here due to their importance form migratory birds point of view. Apart from the other waterfowl large number of cranes (Semoiselle crane Anthropoides virgo and common crane Grus grus) visit Saurashtra region during September every year and stay nearby for 5 to 6 months. This is the time when the crops are ready for harvest. Studies undertaken by Khachar et al. (1987) indicated that distribution wise about one-fourth of the crane population of Gujarat is found in Rajkot district alone (Fig. 3.1.4). They feed in the croplands during early morning hours in big flocks. For roosting cranes prefer reservoirs river beds and sometimes sand banks on the neighbouring coastal areas. The future of the cranes on Saurashtra region which is the one of the main wintering grounds for cranes in India will depend largely in the extent of agricultural fields, grassland and interspersed wetlands.

The conservation significance values for all the above described ecologically sensitive areas en route SV section are presented in Table 3.1.2.