El 503 VOL. 1 Public Disclosure Authorized IESCO 6t STG and ELR Project (2006-07) Environmental and Social Assessment Volume 1 of 2 - Main Report Ref.: DRT06VO21ES Public Disclosure Authorized August 2006 Prepared for Islamabad Electric Supply Company Limited (IESCO) Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Elan Partners (Pvt.) Ltd. Suite 4, 1st Floor, 20-B Blair Center, G-8 Markaz, Islamabad Tel.: +92 (51) 225 3696-97 * Fax: +92 (51) 225 3698 * Email: [email protected] Report disclaimer: Elan Partners has prepared this document in accordance with the instructions of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) for its sole and specific use. Any other persons, companies, or institutions who use any information contained herein do so at their own risk. IESCO 6th STG and ELR Project (2006-07) ESA Report Executive Summary The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) is planning to undertake the 6th Secondary Transmission and Grid (STG) and Energy Loss Reduction (ELR) project in various parts of its territory. IESCO is seeking financing from the World Bank (WB) for a portion of this 5-year project. In line with the prevailing legislation in the country, and WB safeguard policies, an environmental and social assessment (ESA) of the project has been carried out. This document presents the report of this assessment. Suiv Methodology The present study was conducted using a standard methodology prescribed by national and international agencies. Various phases of the study included screening, scoping, data collection and compilation, stakeholder consultation, impact assessment, and report compilation. Leval and Policy Framework The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 (PEPA 1997) requires the proponents of every development project in the country to conduct an environmental assessment and submit its report to the relevant environmental protection agency. In addition, the World Bank Operational Policy 4.01 (OP 4.01) requires that environmental and social assessment be carried out before commencing projects such as the 6'h STG and ELR. The OP 4.12 specifies the procedure that needs to be followed to address the involuntary resettlement the project would cause. The WB's other relevant safeguard policies include OP 4.36 (Forestry), OP 4.04 (Natural Habitat), OP 4.10 (Indigenous People), OP4.11 (Cultural Property) and OP 7.60 (Projects in Disputed Areas). However, the ESA concludes that none of these OPs are triggered, except the OP 7.60, since project area includes parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which is a disputed area. ProjectOverview The overall objective of the 6'h STG and ELR project is to help increase the efficiency, reliability, and quality of its electricity supply. The project seeks to decrease technical as well as commercial losses, increase electricity availability, and improve the voltage profile within IESCO's electricity network. The 3-year slice of the 6th STG project - for which IESCO is seeking the WB financing - consists of establishing 6 new grid stations, converting 11, augmenting 3, extending 17 existing grid stations, and laying of 509 km transmission lines. The ELR activities during the proposed project include works on 30 HT feeders and 575 LT lines. The present ESA addresses the project components that will be undertaken during the Year 2006-07. The STG works for this year include the establishment of 4 new grid stations, in addition to the conversion of 7, extension of 6, and augmentation of 2 existing grid stations. A total of about 287 km of new transmission line will also be added to the e6 iii August 2006 DRT06VO21ES-S00 Executive Summary IESCO 6th STG and ELR Project (2006-07) ESA Report existing IESCO system. The ELR works for the Year 2006-07 include works on thirty 11- kV HT feeders and 575 LT lines. Dbscrplion of the Environment Most of the project area falls in the Potohar Plateau-which spreads over 2.2 million hectares in the Province of Punjab-lies to the south of the northem mountains, and is flanked in the west by the River Indus and in the east by the River Jhelum. This 1,000- 2,000 feet (305-610 m) of upland is a typical arid landscape with denuded and broken terrain characterized by undulations and irregularities. There are a few outlying spurs of the Salt Range in the south and of the Kheri Murat and Kala Chitta Ranges in the north. Two seasonal streams, the Haro and Soan Rivers, flow from east to west and, after crossing the region in the north and in the middle, respectively, fall into the Indus. The River Kanshi traverses the eastern part of the plateau from north to south and drains into the River Jhelum. These rivers and other hill torrents have cut deep valleys and are of little use for irrigation. Cultivation is thus almost entirely dependent on the 15-20 inches (380-500 mm) of rainfall the area receives, and on the small dams built in the catchment areas of the streams. Ecologically, the project area can be divided in four ecozones: moist temperate coniferous forest ecozone; cheer pine forest ecozone; tropical deciduous forest ecozone; and arid sub-tropical forest ecozone. However, settlements and agriculture activities have greatly modified these ecozones in parts of the project area. Administratively, the project area falls under four districts of the Punjab Province- Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum, and Attock; the Islamabad Capital Territory; and Punch, Bagh, Sudhnoti, Kotli and Mirpur - the districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Stakeholder Consultation Stakeholder consultations were carried out as part of the ESA study. These consultations were conducted with the institutional as well as the grassroots stakeholders. The main objectives of the consultations were to apprise the stakeholders of the proposed project activities and to obtain their views, concerns, and recommendations so that these could be incorporated into the project design in order to enhance the environmental and social performance of the project. Impact Assessment and Mitigation During the present ESA, the project's potential social and environmental impacts were identified. Each identified impact was then characterized with respect to its nature, reversibility, geo-extent, consequence-severity and likelihood. Based upon this characterization, the impacts were then assessed to be of high, medium or low significance. The ESA revealed that most of the impacts of the proposed project were confined to the construction phase and temporary in nature. Appropriate control and housekeeping measures - recommended in the ESA - would address these issues adequately. The environmental and social monitoring would ensure compliance to and effectiveness of these control measures. iv August 2006 DRT06VO21ES-S00 Executive Summary IESCO 6th STG and ELR Project (2006-07) ESA Report The key social issues identified and assessed as described above included land procurement, damaged crops and safety hazards. The ESA has recommended that the land for the grid stations should be purchased directly from the owners, on the basis of willing seller - willing buyer, at mutually acceptable market price. The project will purchase a total of about 16 acres of land in this manner. To mitigate the damage crops - caused by the transmission line construction activities - compensation should be paid to the landowners/cultivators. The ESA has identified that the construction activities would damage crops over about 666 acres of land, belonging to 453 landowners/cultivators. The associated compensation amount has been estimated to be about Rs. 8.6 million. Finally, to address the safety concems associated with the construction activities, and the electrocution risk, precautionary measures have been included in the ESA. The key environmental impacts of the proposed project as identified in the ESA included soil erosion and degradation, water contamination and damage to natural vegetation. The soil erosion would be caused by the grid station and transmission line construction activities, particularly in the hilly terrain of the project area. These concerns will be addressed through appropriate design and construction techniques employed during the proposed project. The soil and water contamination could be caused by the inappropriate waste disposal and leakage/spillage of oils and chemicals. These concerns will be forestalled through waste disposal system recommended in the ESA. Finally, the project's impacts on the natural vegetation - primarily caused by the transmission line construction through forested areas - would be addressed by planting trees along the transmission line routes in specified areas as well as inside the grid stations. The total cost of the environmental and social management of the project, including implementing the mitigation measures has been estimated to be Rs. 14.8 million. This includes the crop compensation of Rs 8.6 million mentioned earlier. Environmental Management Plan In order to provide an implementation mechanism for the mitigation measures discussed above, a comprehensive environmental management plan (EMP) has been developed. The EMP provides the organization structure for the environmental management system during the project, and defines the roles and responsibilities of various players. The EMP includes a mitigation plan, a monitoring plan, the communication and documentation requirements, and training needs, in the context of the environmental and social management of the project. Resettlement Plan The social assessment of the project has identified the project affectees to be more