Narrative description of Project

• Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India has identified four (04) strategic lines along India-China border that would be taken up on priority. The Bilaspur-Manali-Leh (hereinafter referred as “BML”) Railway Project which is located in North of India in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Ladakh, is one of them. The total length of the railway alignment is approximately 489.434 kilometers, including 12.926 km of Shisherthang Army Siding.

• The proposed BML Railway Project is one of the strategic lines along India-China border. The proposed BML Railway will be a strategic line in the Himalayas to connect areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)-dividing China-with the mainland India.

• Northern Railway Construction Organization (NR), has entrusted Yüksel Proje A.Ş (hereinafter referred to as “Yüksel“) for Final Location Survey Work of Bilaspur – Manali – Leh new BG rail line Yüksel has been appointed as Engineering Consultant for this project.

• Yüksel has further appointed M/s Voyants Solutions Private Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “VSPL”), as Technical Consultant to provide consultancy services for carrying out Environmental Studies for Final Location Survey (FLS) work of Bilaspur – Manali – Leh new BG rail line.

• The main objective of the study is to carry out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed project. The purpose of EIA is to provide information on the nature and extent of environmental and social impacts arising from the construction and operation of the proposed project. The study will address the requirements stipulate by Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Govt. of India for EIA for Linear Projects.

• The study will include the description of the project setting, appraisal of project activities and assessment of environmental impacts related to the location, design, construction and operation of the project.

• A corridor of 10 km on either side of the alignment for the proposed project is considered for various environmental attributes in general whereas corridor of 500 m is taken into consideration for detailed and primary investigation.