Of the major problems that the wildlife and their habitats are facing in the developing countries are the diversion of land for industrial expansion and the increasing biotic pressures on remaining wilderness areas.These two ongoing processes have already taken a heavy toll of the natural forests and the wild animals residing in them. For the growing needs of energy and power that are needed for the various developmental activities, construction of dams, thermal power stations, laying of railway lines, roads, transmission lines and pipelines are inevitable.These industrial expansions and upgradations have impacted upon the wildlife values of natural habitats directly by threatening the survival of wildlife species or indirectly by altering the quality of their habitat.

Numerous examples of forest and wildlife being impacted upon by developmental activities could be cited. Perhaps the example of elephant population in North-West India between Rajaji - Corbett range best illustrates the impacts of habitat fragmentation on a species. The movement of elephant population in this range has been restricted due to a number of developmental activities such as Kumaun - Chilla Power Channel, establishment of Hindustan Antibiotic factory, Raiwala army camp, settlement of evacuees from the submergence area of Tehri dam and the construction of Kotdwar -Landsdowne road across Rajaji Corbett corridor (Johnsingh, 1994).

Although the impacts of the developmental activities involving construction of dams and barrages have been most significant, the fact that the frequency of the linear developments including construction of railway lines, roads, irrigation canals, power transmission lines and pipelines is very high, they also pose significant threats to wildlife. The impacts of above mentioned developmental activities also depend upon the nature of the area, spatial requirements of the project and the duration of the activities associated with the project.

The first field data published by Oxley et al. (1974), suggested that small forest mammals were reluctant to venture on roads, where the distance between forest margin and the road exceeded 20 m. A study of the effects of the vehicle pressure on the Everglades National Park road revealed that 73% of snakes were either injured or dead because of accidental run over by the vehicles (Bernardino Jr. and Dalrymple, 1992). Significant isolation effects of roads on population of forest dwelling mice (Aprodemus flavicollis) and Carabid beetles were observed (Mader, 1984). Field studies suggested that roads obstructed the movements and thus bisected the gene pool by dividing animal populations into two fractions on either side (Mader, 1984).

The construction of roads in the forested hills of the Himalayas and the presence of human settlements have dissected the once continuous elephant range in Arunachal Pradesh (Johnsingh, 1986). Similar problem of obstruction of elephant movements due to the construction of railway line ultimately led to an end of the elephant movement between south of Shencottah pass (Ashambu hill population in Tamil Nadu) and the Idukki Periyar hill population in the north in Kerala (Johnsingh et al. 1991).

Some times these developments causes direct impact on forests and wildlife. Chellam and Johnsingh, (1994) have discussed that highways and railway line across the Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary causes fire hazard, and incidences of lions being runover in the track.

Decline in the population of Great Indian Bustard from 23 in 1989 to four in 1991 was noticed due to construction of irrigation canal through the Ghatigaon Bustard Sanctuary (N.S. Bundela, Pers. comm., 1993).

Impacts of transmission line projects on wildlife have also been now recognised. More than 300 Cape Vultures (Gyps copotheres) were electrocuted due to 88 KV suspension powerline towers in Western Transroad in South Africa (Ledger and Annegarn, 1981). Powerline tower construction by Bihar State Electricity Board across Ganges in Barauni have reduced the number of migratory waterfowl visiting this area from 300 to 50 (Gammon India Limited, Pers. comm., 1994).

Industrial and economic development depends on energy and power inputs. A century ago non - commercial sources such as fuel wood, agricultural residues, dung etc. constituted about 52 percent of the total energy used. This share dropped significantly as fossil fuels became the predominant source of energy. For example, in 1930 the use of non-commercial sources dropped from 25 percent to 12 percent in 1970 (Tolba and Eikholy, 1992). The rate of energy consumption in the world have increased almost 600 percent between 1900 and 1965 and is projected to increase by another 450% by the year 2000 (EI- Hinnawi and Hashmi, 1982).

Coal, oil and natural gas are the three major form of fossil fuels. Oil is undoubtedly the most versatile fossil fuel and a source of energy. Worldwide increasing demand for clean burning fuel has led to the construction of 86,000 miles of pipeline network (Ives, 1933). In India, the development towards the energy generation has gone up from 1700 MW in 1950 to over 6700 MW till today. As a result, India has 7800 km network of existing pipelines and will add up another 7865 km pipelines in near future to transport crude, natural gas, petroleum and petroleum products.

Exploration, production and transportation of oil and natural gas, whether carried on land or offshore, would cause environmental impacts of varied nature. Fire, explosions and accidental oil spills and equipment failures would also cause some additional problems. Assessment of the environmental impacts of industrial expansion and upgradation must therefore be essential. It should include the study of impacts on air, land, water and biota.

1.1 PIPELINE PROJECTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Three modes - rail, road and pipeline exists for the transportation of petrochemical products and natural gas. Of these, pipeline remains a superior mode as it is more cost effective. It also helps to reduce the traffic on the road and the environmental pollution associated with vehicular movements.

From the economic stand point, the cost analysis of the MDAJ Hook-up project, indicated savings of Rs. 53, 47 and 21 crores in the years 1993-94, 1995-96 and 1996-1997 respectively due to the transportation of crude oil through the pipelines (IOCL, 1991).

The statistics provided by the Directorate of Oil Industry Safety, regarding the accidents and fire hazards related to the transportation of petroleum products in the years between 1988 and 1992 indicates that more accidents took place while transporting the products by road and rail. There has been a record of 88 accidents that took place during the transportation of petroleum products by road and rail. The number of accidents were restricted to only four when the products were transported through a network of pipelines.

Even, with the several advantages of transportation of petroleum products by pipelines, the impacts of their construction, operation and maintenance phases on wildlife values cannot be undermined. Some of these impacts could be too serious to allow development in the manner it is planned. In other instances detailed studies become crucial for mitigation planning. Environmental impact assessment studies of the HBJ gas pipeline showed that the pipeline passing through the proposed Pohri Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary would impact on bustards and their habitat. In the same study, the assessment of impacts in the forested regions indicated that the clearing of forest areas for Right of Way (ROW) would increase the accessibility of local people to harvest forest resources for fuel wood, fodder and timber requirements (WII, 1993). Pipeline being a linear development, poses problems arising due to the nature of the route through which the pipeline traverses, the technology involved in laying the pipeline, and location and design of the monitoring stations. The duration of the construction related activities and the activities of the operational phases could also decide the severity of the impacts. The impact assessment study of pipeline projects therefore becomes crucial for better planning of projects.

1.2 PROPOSED PROJECT:
An upcoming polypropylene unit at Indian Petrochemical Corporation Limited (IPCL) complex at Baroda will be using about 80,000 tonnes per annum of Propylene. For this, the Propylene will be imported through a jetty at Jogeshwar and would be stored at Gandhar Petrochemical Complex (GPC), Dahej (Fig. 1). Naphtha cracker of IPCL Baroda would require Naphtha as a raw material, which will also be imported and made available through Jogeshwar jetty and stored at GPC, Dahej. Moreover, to provide the operational flexibility to both the complexes, Ethylene, Propylene and Naphtha from GPC, Dahej to IPCL, Baroda and vice versa, M/s IPCL has planned a pipeline project between Dahej and Baroda.

1.2.1 Project Setting
The proposed DGB project would be completed in two phases. In the Phase-I, two pipelines of 33.5 km length each would be laid between Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) complex situated near the village Roza Tankaria and GPC at Dahej. These pipelines would transport C2/C3 and Lean gas from GAIL complex, C2-C3/LPG recovery plant at Gandhar to IPCL complex at Dahej.

In the Phase-II of the proposed project, three pipelines of 110 km length each would be laid between the two complexes of IPCL located at Dahej and Baroda. These pipelines will transport Propylene, Naphtha and Ethylene between these two complexes of IPCL (Fig.1).

1.2.2 Project Design and Salient Features of the Project route
As mentioned earlier, the project would involve laying of five pipelines. The details of these pipelines are given in the Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Salient features of the pipeline Project

For monitoring and control of these pipelines, use of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software has been proposed. The total land acquired for the Gandhar Petrochemical Complex (GPC) is about 460 ha. The cost of the project is approximately expected to be 3600 crores.

This Project involves laying of the following pipelines:-

(i) Three Pipelines, for transportation of Propylene, Naphtha and Ethylene, between IPCL complex at Dahej and IPCL complex at Baroda.

(ii) Two pipelines for transportation of C2/C3 and Lean Gas from Gas Authority of India Ltd.(GAIL) complex, C2-C3/LPG recovery plant at Gandhar complex at Dahej.

The terminals for the above pipelines are located at the following places:

(i) Dahej GPC Complex

(ii) Gandhar GAIL Complex

(iii) Baroda IPCL Complex

These terminals have Pig Launching and receiving facilities with metering and control facilities. The proposed pipeline route would be largely traversing through the agricultural land and would have major crossings in the following areas:-

1.2.3 Scope of work
The Engineers India Limited (EIL), New Delhi have been entrusted by IPCL to undertake the comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment study on the proposed Dahej - Gandhar - Baroda pipeline (DGB) pipeline project. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, was offered a consultancy by EIL to undertake the EIA study of the above mentioned projects on wildlife and its habitat values.

The scope of work outlined for this study is as follows:

1. Identification of the various operations involved during the laying of the proposed pipeline likely to have significant impacts if any on wildlife habitats along the proposed route.

2. Assessment of the existing status of the wildlife habitats (scrublands, wetlands, marshes, etc.) and all wildlife species (aquatic, avian and terrestrial) present along the proposed pipeline route.

3. Identification, evaluation and prediction of impacts that may significantly affect wildlife and wildlife habitats.

4. Planning mitigatory measures for the likely impacts caused by the proposed pipeline project.

5. Suggest measures for legal/statutory obligations if any to be fulfilled by project proponent under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.