Institute of Environmental Studies Wetland Management Project ...

Institute of Environmental Studies Wetland ManagementProject SummaryIntegrated Coastal Zone Management Project is one of the environmental projects thathave been launched with the objective of ameliorating the staggering and depletingconditions of the coastal ecosystem. The state of West Bengal has a coastal stretch of220 km that has been fraught with serious environmental challenges that have seriousimplications on the sustenance of the coastal denizens apart from the perspective ofphytology as well as ethology. The Government of West Bengal has created a specialpurpose vehicle, called the West Bengal State Project Management Unit (SPMU), and hasappointed the Institute of Environmental Studies & Wetland Management (IESWM) to bethe SPMU.IESWM has been working in the coastal areas of West Bengal using mainly remotesensing (RS) & geographical information system (GIS) technology for the last 20 years.One of the major thrust areas where RS and GIS technology has been immensely usefulwas in the field of coastal zone management which is exclusively the domain of activityof one of the divisions [Coastal Studies Division (CSD)] of IESWM. The activities of CSDare presently being carried out in collaboration with Space Applications Centre (SAC),National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Ministry of Environment & Forests (MOEF) andMinistry of Earth Sciences, Government of India (GOI). Major activities of CSD of IESWMin the field of coastal zone studies & management are preparation of natural resourcesinventory and formulation of management plans pertaining to coastal wetlands,mangroves, coral reefs, etc., monitoring of basic physical processes operative in theestuarine and near shore areas, implications of climate change and related phenomenain the coastal regime of West Bengal. Progressively greater emphasis is being giventowards acquiring of instrumental and computational facilities for building up of formprocess-materialinteraction models currently operative and also expected underdifferent climatic scenarios in different segments of West Bengal coast.Till recently majority of research works involved use of both visual and digital imageprocessing techniques for mapping and inventorying purposes supplemented by detailedground truth verification for form identification and mapping. Subsequently techniquesrelating to Geographical Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS),and Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) etc were introduced for a multidisciplinaryapproach. Very recently, dynamic process and material monitoring inestuarine and near shore areas including time lapse recording of bathymetry, tidalranges, wave period, tide and wave velocity, sediment size etc have been introduced.Noting the work carried out by this division of IESWM in the coastal zone, Ministry ofEnvironment & Forests, Government of India has recognised IESWM as an authorisedinstitute for demarcation of High Tide Line (HTL), Low Tide Line (LTL) and CoastalRegulation Zone (CRZ) along the Indian coast in 1998.The list of important on-going projects to be executed by IESWM is as follows:•Preparation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan for identified coastalstretches of West Bengal•Coastal zone studies for West Bengal and Andaman Islands•Ecosystem modelling of parts of Sundarban•Development of location specific oil spill trajectory models (OSTM) along Hugliestuary under ‘COMAPS’ programmeThrough different activities carried out during last 15 years or so, CSD of IESWM hascollected and is collecting data on coastal processes of West Bengal. Some of theimportant works, which have already been carried out along coast are mentioned below:

and water providing natural food for estuarine fish, prawns, crab species. Besides thedense mangrove forests of the Sunderban also provide shelter and nursery ground forthe fry and fingerlings and the juveniles of the estuarine and offshore species. However,the entire coastal ecosystem of Sundarban is fragile in nature and it is on the thresholdof change due to natural and man induced processes. The salinity profile of the IndianSundarban is on the increase as a consequence of change in course of River Ganges.Because of this some of the mangrove species (such as Herittierafomes) is facingextinction. Necessary municipal services to treat the wastes are however yet to developto a satisfactory level. As a consequence the threat of pollution of the coastal stretches ishigh. It is imperative therefore regular and on-the-spot chemical and biological analysisespecially of coastal water are carried out to have an insight into the level of pollution,organize site-specific measures and ultimately make it a part of the integrated coastalzone management of West Bengal coast. Since the coastal areas of West Bengalespecially the Sundarban part are not readily accessible and far from the areas where anoff-site laboratory could be set up, the necessity of procuring a mobile laboratory havingthe facilities of some basic analysis is justified. Data produced through such analysis willbe utilized for climate change study.It has been envisaged that such a mobile laboratory could be built on a truck chassisfitted with furniture and equipment / instruments, electrical wiring, water supplypipelines, wash basins etc. There will be a single outlet point of electrical line, where anelectrical connection will be made during operation. Similar is the case with watersupply. In normal condition this mobile laboratory will be kept at the head quarter inKolkata. But during the period of sampling for investigation and monitoring, the mobilelaboratory will move to the field and electrical connection, water supply connections etc.will be made. In case, electrical connection is not available, diesel generator will bepressed into service and water supply will be made using a mini pump. All instrumentsand equipment will be firmly strapped within the laboratory body so that these do notget damaged during transportation. Initial estimated cost of the mobile laboratory is`60.40 lakhs.Social Screening, R & R and need for land acquisitionThe field monitoring equipment are to be procured under this program will be deployedat sites within coastal part of West Bengal especially in Sundarbans under thesupervision of scientific staff members of IESWM. The laboratory equipment will beinstalled in the already existing laboratory facilities of IESWM. It will not involve anyacquisition of private land and will not affect the community adversely. Hence socialscreening and drawing up of R & R plan as mandated by the World Bank are not requiredin the present context.Apart from general strengthening of the facilities in the RS & GIS laboratory, suchaugmentation will support building up of a model of coastal response in both form andprocess elements in the Sundarban in the face of an on-going climate change on aregional basis.Environmental AssessmentsThe implementation of the project will not have any bearing on ecology and environmentof the locality. The design and minor modifications of the laboratory space will involveonly minor indoor renovation works. The running of the instruments will not involvehazardous activities and storage or use of harmful substances, neither will there be anyharmful emission/generation of air/water/solid waste. Construction and operation ofpermanent tide gauge stations are not likely to pose any adverse environmental impactas these stations are small in size to be located on estuaries themselves. There is noneed for a detailed environmental assessment.

Cost of Operation & Maintenance, revenue recovery plans, proposed tariffs,subsidy levelsThe instruments to be procured will be operated by trained personnel. Therefore trainingof research staff members is imperative. Proper maintenance also requires that themanufacturer provide adequate and required spares for any repair. Manufacturer is alsorequired to carry out preventive maintenance at required intervals.Operation cost involving use of infrastructural facilities like electricity, etc of the procuredinstruments will be borne by IESWM through its regular operation of the departmentallaboratories. The maintenance cost of the procured instruments through AMC has beenestimated at `10,00,000/- per year for the second and third year. As indicated in O & MPlan above, the cost of operation relating to capacity building will be met from fundtransferred by IESWM to the corpus fund of the ICZM project authority. The tariff for theuse of the facilities by external agencies during spare time of the instruments will befixed by IESWM as per prevailing national/international rate. No additional financialsupport from the Government has been envisaged.Expected OutcomeThe expected outcome of the Project is augmentation in instrumental facilities forresearch in IESWM. The other outcome is building up of a pool of trained scientificmanpower conversant with advanced instrumental facilities to take up cutting edgeresearch in the above two fields of study. The third outcome is a contribution towardsunderstanding response of coastal processes in Sundarban due to climate change andrelated issues. Peoples’ perception of the Sundarban eco-system will be realized throughthe activities of the proposed Interpretation Centre by Tagore Research Society. This willbe a significant outcome involving the people at the grass root level.Livelihood Development of the Disadvantaged Sectionsin Sagar IslandAn estimated 15000 families constitute the poor and marginalized in Sagar Island. Atabout 8000 to 10000 families live in close proximity to embankment areas. The poor areeither landless or small and marginal farmers. They work as agricultural laborers andwage laborers in fishing trawlers. Many of them especially the womenfolk engage inprawn/shrimp seed collection to eke out their living and in the process an irreparabledamage has been caused to the biodiversity. Livelihood assessment in Sagar Islandreveals that the livelihood options are quite limited to these poverty stricken people asbulk of them has to fend for them by engaging themselves in household chores, smallretail outlets apart from shrimp seed collection. Further the number of employment/workdays of the poor is relatively less. Also the poor are not engaged in any kind of valueaddition activities thus occupying the lower rungs of the value chain.Therefore the Livelihood Development of Disadvantaged Sections in Sagar Islandcomponent proposes the following to enhance the livelihoods of the Sagar islanders:•Organize women and youth around savings, credit and micro-insurance in to SHGs•Undertake participatory livelihoods• Include pro-active eco-support and natural resource enhancing activities like RWH,tourism and tourism-based livelihoods•Include livelihoods enabling infrastructure like vocational training centers, procurementcenters, work sheds for enterprises, shops/outlets, skill building centers•Facilitate bank linkages and convergence with other programs•Utilize the maintenance funds for embankment for enhancing livelihoods as revolvingfunds•Build skills of the youth in vocational training centers for meeting the services requiredin the island•Explore the employment opportunities outside the island and provide them training inthese opportunities for placement

The budget for the livelihood component of the five year Sagar pilot is Rs 2779.00 lakhswith the following work element break-up:♦ Support for institutions of livelihood♦ Community mobilization – Institution and capacity building♦ Funds to the community for enhancing livelihood♦ Revolving funds for community institutions♦ Funds for skills for gainful employment♦ Funds for livelihoods and business development♦ Incentive funds for pro-poor Gram Panchayats♦ Funds for innovative ideas in livelihood♦ Support to livelihood – capacity building♦ Support to livelihoods – livelihoods and business supportThe project component intends to provide the requisite support to the NGOs forcoordinating the livelihood improvement programme that will have strong marketlinkages in conjunction with skill up-gradation and financial bonding at the grass rootlevel. The NGOs will be actively involved in the formation of SHGs & federations throughwhom the devolution of resources will take place for enhancement of a better standardof living.Sundarban Interpretation CentreIESWM in collaboration with Tagore society for Rural Development will constructSundarban-an interpretation centre which will reflect the interaction of Science,Technology and Society in the Sundarbans. The proposed interpretation Centre is comingup at Rangabelia at the Gosaba Block of South 24 Pargana district of the state of WestBengal. Unlike a traditional museum-like institution only with visual impact, theSundarbanis planned to involve all five senses of visitors - the visual, auditory,olfactory, gustatory, and tactile perceptions leading to a complete understanding of theimpact of environment on the life of a common man. With its richness of hands-onexhibits, interactive computer multimedia, target-oriented training facilities, fullycomputerized information bank with cyber library and exposure to creativity, theSundarban is aimed at the betterment of life through emotional involvement of the localpopulace. The main objectives behind the development of Sundarban are to developspirit of inquiry by encouraging curiosity and questioning process, and create a scientifictemper in the society and to inculcate an ability to identify the problems and worktowards appropriate solution with scientific attitude for betterment of the lives of thepeople of the Sundarbans.Sundarban will provide a plethora of items showcasing various debatable topics incommon parlance e.g.♦ The Sundarbans - study of geo-morphology, environment and ecology♦ Soil Management - causes and effects of soil erosion, remedial measures,protectionofthe embankment♦ Disaster Management - protection from Cyclone, Flood, Tsunami and resultingsalination♦ of soil♦ Global Warming -- contributing factors, resulting disasters and protection♦ Freedom from Hunger -- agriculture, animal husbandry, apiary, pisciculture♦ Health &Nutrition - public health and hygiene, cause of diseases and healthservices,malnutrition and balanced food♦♦♦♦Shelter - cost-effective disaster-proof housing, disaster sheltersRenewable Energy -- solar, bio-gas, tidal - both indoor and outdoor exhibitsTransport & CommunicationPeople & Culture

The Interpretation Centre will deploy various communication techniques and tools fordemonstrating audio-visual effects of eco-degenerating and eco-friendly on-goingssupported by scientific and technological inputs for proper understanding of commonerfor the very existence of the Sundarbans and its inhabitants.Capacity Buildinga) Training of NGO workers in the use of audio-video equipment, and educational aidsfor communicating with the people on topics related to their everyday lifeb) Training of teachers, in primary and secondary schools, in the use of audio-videoequipment, and educational aids, with a view to train up young school children incommunity development activitiesc) Development of women power through training and exposure-oriented programsThe administrative expense of Rs.20,000 per month shall include the expenses ofelectricity, Phone, internet connection, postage, travel, transport andcontingencies.Income from the entrance fee shall be less than 20% of the annual O&Mexpenses. The balance has to be raised through private sponsorship and governmentalsupport at the initial stage. The success of the Centre in organizing useful programs shalltaper off the governmental support.Neither techno-economic viability nor cost-benefit analysis in the true sense is a differentproposition as the benefits that will accrue will be of social nature and mostly intangible.This may be considered as an investment for future will long time lag. But benefits thatwill flow out will definitely be much larger than the cost involved.Increase in footfalls will indicate the interest and involvement of the local population,specially the younger generation such as high school students, members of youth clubsetc.The Centre shall concentrate not only on the exhibits but also the integrateddevelopment activities to be carried out both in house and outreach by the extensionstaff. This kind of all-round contact will create public awareness of the problems andprojected solutions for elevating their standard of life.In course of time, the Interpretation Centre will be a focal point of both overseas andother Indian tourists among whom Sundarbans has been an area of specialized interest.