Biodiversity assessment with emphasis on select faunal groups in the Hasdeo Arand Coal Field, Chhattisgarh

Abstract

In India, the coal reserves predominantly occur in the Gondwana sediments of the East Central region in the states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and parts of West Bengal. The Hasdeo - Arand coal fields comprising of Tara, Parsa, Parsa East & Kente Basan (PEKB), and Kente Extension (collectively known as HACF henceforth in the report) in Chhattisgarh is one of the identified coal-bearing areas. More than 80% of the HACF and the landscape surrounding it is forested. The coal blocks demarcated HACF and the landscape surrounding it mostly occur in the forests. The Ministry of Forests and Climate Change, Government of India under section 2 (ii) of Forest Conservation Act vide F.Bo.8-31/21 O-FC dated 6th July 2011 granted in-principle (Stage I) forest clearance for diversion of 1898.328 hectares of forest land in Parsa East and Kante Besan captive coal block (PEKB coal block) situated in Surguja Forest Division. This approval was given despite the FAC recommending to reject this proposal in FAC meeting dated 23rd June 2011. Subsequently, the Stage II final forest clearance was granted by Government of India vide MoEF&CC's letter no 8-31 /2010/FC dated 15th March 2012. Aggrieved by the clearance granted by the MoEF&CC, an appeal no 73 of 2012 (Sudiep Shrivastava Vs Union of India Ors) was filed in the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal (NGT) principal bench in Delhi. The Hon'ble NGT pronounced its judgement on 24th March, 2014 directing MoEF&CC to seek a fresh advisory from the FAC with emphasis on seeking answers to the following questions: (reproduced from the order) - (i) What type of flora and fauna in terms of bio-diversity and forest cover existed as on the date of the proposal in PEKB Coal Blocks in question. (ii) is/was the PEKB Coal Blocks habitat to endemic or endangered species of flora and fauna. (iii) Whether the migratory route/corridor of any wild animal particularly, elephant passes through the area in question and, if yes, its need. (iv) Whether the area of PEKB Block has that significant conservation/protection value so much so that the area cannot be compromised for coal mining with appropriate conservation/management strategies. (v) What is their opinion about opening the PEKB Coal Blocks for mining as per the sequential mining and reclamation method proposed as well as the efficacy of the translocation of the tree vis-a-vis the gestation period for regeneration of the flora (vi) What is their opinion about the Wildlife Management plan finally prescribed. (vii) What conditions and restriction do they propose on the mining in question, if they favour such mining? The judgement granted liberty to FAC to get expert opinion/specialized knowledge/advice from authoritative sources such as Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (lCFRE), Dehradun or Wildlife Institute of India (WII). This judgement of the Hon'ble NGT and stage-I clearance granted for prospecting over 1745.883 hectares of forest land of Kente Extension coal block for exploration of coal reserves vide MoEF&CC letter No. F.No 8-46/2017 -FC dated 19th December 2017 impose a condition that a biodiversity assessment study for entire HACF would be conducted by the State Government of Chhattisgarh through ICFRE, Dehradun in consultation with the WII. The condition is reproduced for reference: "(ii) A biodiversity assessment study is to be conducted by the state government through ICFRE, Dehradun in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for the whole Hasdeo Arand coal field comprising of Tara, Parsa, Parsa East, kante to be funded by M/s Rajashthan Rajya Vidyut ll Page Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL). The study is to be awarded by the state Government by associating the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Dehradun or Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and integrated wildlife management plan (IWMP) will be prepared and conservation area will be identified and mitigation measures will be recommended by the expert committee. The cost of the study and cost of implementation of the recommendations shall be borne by the Mis Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL). The report will be submitted within two years". The main objectives of the biodiversity assessment that ICFRE and WII would jointly focus include: a. Provide details of flora & fauna with special reference to endemic threatened species reported from the study area b. Describe the habitat for such endemic/threatened species and identify likely threats for conservation c. Details of migratory route corridor critical areas for wildlife species especially umbrella species like elephants and tigers d. Document socio-economic values of the affected area vis-a-vis biodiversity values e. Consult with forest department officials, local communities in HACF and f. Identification of conservation areas within HACF Consequently, the biodiversity assessment focusing on faunal aspects of HACF was carried out by WII with ICFRE as the nodal agency for the overall assessment. The biodiversity assessment focusing on faunal aspects carried out by WII in the HACF and the landscape surrounding it using on-foot sign surveys and camera trap surveys (for mammalian baselineassessment); transect surveys (for avifaunal baseline assessment), ad libitum sampling for Herpetofaunain conjunction with secondary data and information obtained from Chhattisgarh Forest Department andthe village interview surveys established the ecological baseline information on faunal biodiversity. It isenvisaged in the ToR that impact assessment would be done for the Hasdeo-Arand coal fieldcomprising of Parsa, Parsa East & Kente Basan (PEKB), Tara Central and Kente Extension coal blocks. Of the four coal blocks mentioned, only PEKB is currently operational. Therefore, Wil's impact assessment (Chapter-7), mitigation of impacts (Chapter-S) and preparation of biodiversity conservation and management plan (Chapter-g) focuses on PEKB coal block. Nevertheless, landscape-level suggestions for managing wildlife in HACF and the landscape surrounding it have been detailed in the report. Opencast mining and associated developmental activities in forested habitats could potentially affect a variety of taxonomic groups. Nevertheless, measurement of every aspect of biodiversity in forested landscapes that span several hundred squares kilometers of mosaic habitats in a short period of time is seldom easy. In order to overcome this constraint, short-cut approaches that focus on monitoring large mammal populations, which serve as keystone, flagship or umbrella species have been advocated. As biodiversity assessment, impact assessment and mitigation strategies are to be studied at a landscape level, this study emphasized specially on the "umbrella species concept". The umbrella species concept is a globally accepted concept wherein conservation efforts targeted for a well -chosen representative species can confer a protective umbrella to numerous other co-occurring species in the landscape. Asian elephant and tigers serve as umbrella species in the tropical forested landscapes. Both tigers and elephants are long ranging and have specific ecological needs. Understanding the ecological requirements of these species can augur well for all other species found in the landscape.The results of the assessment show that HACF and the landscape surrounding it is rich in fauna. The HACF and landscape surrounding it supports over 25 species of mammals. The mammals of the Order Chiroptera and Rodentia (except for Ratufa indica that is included in the list) were not surveyed as that would require a long term duration and thus, the number of species reported in the assessment is best considered minimal. Among the mammal species recorded the Hasdeo - Arand area, nine species are listed in the Schedule - I, which are accorded the highest level of legal protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Mammalian species diversity includes threatened large carnivores like common leopard, Indian grey wolf, striped hyena, sloth bear, and others that appears to be widely distributed as evidenced by camera trap captures as well as detections during sign surveys. The Hasdeo Arand area is spread across three districts, viz. Surguja, Surajpur and Korba. The Korba district has two Forest Divisions (FD) viz. Korba FD and Katghora FD. The Korba FD had reported occurrence of tigers. The habitat connectivity between HACF along with the landscape surrounding it, and Achanakmar TR, Boramdeo WS and Kanha TR is strong, and may support sporadic tiger dispersal. Elephant occurrence was reported by the Forest Department in 148 out of 647 compartments in HACF and the landscape surrounding it with an area of 363.98 km2 during the period 2018 to 2020. The elephant occurrence is not restricted to any particular area and is spread across the landscape (Map- 21 , page 56). A conservative estimate of about 40 to 50 elephants could use different parts of the landscape at different times of the year. Human-elephant conflict in the form of crop losses and occasional property damage is widespread too. Elephant conservation and management in the landscape hinges on effective conflict resolution strategies by actively engaging with local communities and at the same time enriching the habitat condition for elephants. Chhattisgarh human-elephant conflict situation is a paradox with a relatively low number of elephants «300, which is <1 % of India's wild elephant population) but high levels of HEC with over 60 human lives are lost every year due to conflict (>15% of the reported human deaths due to HEC). In addition to loss of human lives, crop loss and damage to property due to HEC are severe. There is continuous dispersal of elephant herds from the neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Odisha. The study carried out by WII in collaboration with Chhattisgarh Forest Department from the year 2017 onwards clearly highlight that elephants have large home ranges. The forests that elephants currently occur are highly fragmented and degraded due to incompatible land-use. Infrastructure development and mining are further fragmenting the habitats making conflict mitigation a huge challenge. In fragmented habitats conventional fencing approaches minimally work due to high perimeter to area ratio of habitats. The EC region harbours less than 1/10th « 3000) of country's elephants, but loses over 40% (over 200HEC-related deaths) of reported 500 HEC-related human fatalities in the country. The HEC-related human fatalities reported in the region are highly disproportionate to its elephant population in the country. The increasing levels of HEC have resulted in considerable public resentment against the management and elephant conservation as a whole. HEC resolution is challenging in EC region due to fragmentation, loss and degradation of intact elephant habitats. In highly fragmented areas, the elephant home ranges tend to be large as small, degraded forest patches cannot sustain herds. It is observed that home range size is a function of habitat quality - in areas that support good intact habitats, the elephant home ranges are relatively small (eg. Rajaji, Mudumalai etc). However, in fragmented areas, elephant home ranges are typically large. The elephant herds are generally interlinked and home ranges spread over two or more states. One of the main reasons as to why elephants start dispersing into human-use areas is the threat to habitat. In particular, threat to elephant home ranges. While threat to habitat can be identified and sometimes even addressed, threats within individual home ranges of elephants are hard to evaluate and hence, difficult to mitigate. The latter threats are more insidious and lasting. Major disturbances to habitats such as mining not only cause habitat loss and fragmentation (as understood generally) but can affect individual herd's home ranges. Such disturbances can lead to abandonment of habitats as threats to home ranges have a threshold limits. The effect of mining on elephant habitat may not reflect in the same habitat, but could be a silent trigger for HEC in some other area within the landscape. In general, one of the reasons for HEC being disproportionately high in EC region is the elephant dispersal from forest habitats through fragmented human use areas. This large scale elephant dispersal out of intact forests coincide with commencement of large-scale mining projects and associate infrastructure developments in the EC region, particularly in the states of Odisha and Jharkhand. During the biodiversity assessment, a total of 92 species of birds were recorded with in HACF and the landscape surrounding it. The list is best considered minimal. As per the ebird (https:/Iebird.org/) a total of 406 species of birds have been reported in the three districts of Surguja, Surajpur, and Korba - the districts in which the HACF and the landscape surrounding it occurs. It is quite likely that many of the species of birds reported in HACF either use or pass through it. However, it may be noted that HACF and the landscape surrounding it just supports - 12.4% of the combined area (- 15,110 km2) of the three districts. Local communities in HACF and the landscape surrounding it are predominantly tribal. The livelihood of local communities is closely dependent on forest resources. The NTFP collection (of four major commodities) contribute nearly 46% of the monthly income reported by the households. This does not include the fuelwood, fodder, medicinal plants, water and other resources that local communities collect from the forests. If such resources are pooled as income to local communities, it may be conservatively mentioned that over 60 to 70% of the total annual income of local communities come from forest-based resources. Thus, forest dependence substantially adds to income security of local communities. In addition to financial gains, forest produce collection is critical for medicine, food and other health benefits thereby providing food security and overall well-being. The local communities have reported coming across a variety of wildlife in and around their settlements. A few respondents (n = 4) have even sighted tiger in and around their settlements. They expressed concern about human-wildlife conflict involving crop losses, loss of livestock, loss of property and occasional loss of human lives. Garnering the support of local communities for wildlife conservation would be conditional on addressing human-wildlife conflict on a real-time manner. In general, the local communities are apprehensive of mining, which is perceived as a threat to livelihood as the land as well as forests are lost in the process of mining. The community respondents interviewed expressed concern and were anxious over loss of forests (and consequently material base for livelihood) and loss of land due to mining. The loss of forests due to mining is perceived as a direct threat to livelihood by the local communities. The local communities express positivity towards forest conservation and at the same-time insist on timely resolution of human-wildlife conflicts. Conservation initiatives in the landscape need to be participative and actively involve local communities. Considering this, as part of the biodiversity assessment, and as envisaged in the ToR of the study, the impact of the ongoing mine of PEKB in the HACF has been assessed. It may be noted that the impact assessment carried out by WII for PEKB coal block is not a true Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as PEKB coal block is already operational covering nearly 1000 hectares of the 1898 hectares cleared for mining. Coal extraction is already being done and is in operational stage. Therefore, visualizing the true picture of the likely impacts on the physical environment as well as the wildlife the area supports is not possible. Nevertheless, selected impacts of the physical environment that are likely to impact directly on select biodiversity and social values in the PEKB operation have been identified. For this purpose, the faunal biodiversity list provided by Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) as part of the EIA for PEKB (IIFM, 2009) was used as the baseline for evaluating the impacts. In general, the impact assessment methods argue that the foremost step in impact appraisal must consider and identify project actions that are likely to bring significant changes in the project environment. Such impacts include: physical, biological and social environments. The potential impacts due to ongoing mining operations of PEKB on physical environment, fauna and local communities have been elaborated. The possible mitigation strategies for addressing the impacts of PEKB include progressive restoration, development of grass and leaf fodder plots, livelihood options to increase income sources, bio-filter check dams in the streams of the project sites, green-belt development - phytoremediation, development of "Green Gallery Belt", eco-restoration of waste dump, construction of underpasses, construction of pipe and box culverts as safe passages in the roads as mitigation strategies for reducing road mortality. The detailed mitigation strategies have been provided. The biodiversity conservation and management for PEKB focusing on species groups, threatened plant & animals, resource base of local communities along with the social values have been given. The Human-Elephant conflict mitigation strategies in the HACF and surrounding landscape should include the following: 1. Maintaining the ecological integrity of intact natural habitats without fragmentation and degradation is critical. Any additional mining leading to loss of habitat would escalate HEC unpredictably high 2. Formation of landscape-level Rapid Response Teams by engaging village youth with adequate remuneration is essential. The RRT members should be adequately trained in elephant behaviour and conflict management methods. 3. Judicious use of mobile barriers in select areas of HACF and surrounding landscape where HEC is high need to be experimented with active community participation. 4. Ex gratia payment for crop, property and other losses due to elephants have adequate and timely. The overall process of filing and obtaining compensation by villages should be made smooth and transparent 5. Habitat enrichment by improving surface water availability in carefully selected locations, development of grasslands and fodder base based on the list of plants suggested in the report and protection of critical micro-habitats such as riparian tracts are critical (Refer Table 9.23). 6. Human-elephant conflict is dynamic in nature. The above mentioned mitigation measures need to be experimented in smaller areas and based on the evaluation of efficacy can be scaled up. As certain portions of the PEKB block has already been opened for mining, the miningoperation may only be permitted in the already operational mine of the block. The other areasin HACF and landscape surrounding it should be declared as Uno-go areas" and no mining should be carried out considering the irreplaceable, rich biodiversity and socio cultural values. The HACF and the landscape surrounding it support rich biodiversity with a multitude of mammalianspecies including elephants and also harbours forest-dependent communities. Therefore, sustaining the forest cover and maintaining its overall ecological integrity is essential. It is pertinent that Chhattisgarh Forest Department with due consultation and involvement of local communities identify areas within HACF and the landscape surrounding it for declaration as Conservation Reserve (CR) under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Under the ambit of a CR, habitat improvement activities such as restoration of grasslands and restoration of degraded forests; improving surface water availability in relatively drier tracts during summer, regulating forest fires, and improving overall protection can benefit biodiversity. 2 The response pertaining to this query shall be provided by ICFRE as it deals with nora and efficacy of translocation of the tree vis-a-vis the gestation period for regeneration of the nora The coal mines along with the associated infrastructure development would result in loss and fragmentation of habitat. Mitigating such effects on wildlife, particularly the animals with large home ranges such as elephants is seldom possible. The human-elephant conflict in the state is already acute and has been escalating with huge social and economic costs on the marginal, indigenous local communities. Any further threat to elephants' intact habitats in this landscape could potentially deflect human-elephant conflict into other newer areas in the state, where conflict mitigation would be impossible for the state to manage. Opening up of coal blocks for minging in the HACF would compromise the imperatives of biodiversity conservation and livelihood of forest-dependent local. Even the effects of the operational PEKB mine need to be tactfully mitigated too, wherever possible. The assessment findings are in conformity with the study undertaken jointly by the Ministry of Coal and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change across nine coal fields across the country during the year 2009, where it was concluded that the Hasdeo-Arand coal fields in north-central Chhattisgarh is identified as a 'no-go' area. The findings of this joint study of 2009 culminated into an important policy decision towards facilitating an objective, transparent and informed decision regarding forest lands being diverted for coal mining projects. However, the findings of the study were set aside during 2011 . Considering the need to reconcile country's developmental needs with conservation priorities, the recommendations of the 2009 joint study holds substantial importance for ecologically balanced sustainable growth.