Nepal: Tanahu Hydropower Project

Environmental and Social Safeguard Monitoring Report Project No. 43281-013 Semestral Report January 2020 Nepal: Tanahu Hydropower Project Prepared by Tanahu Hydropower Limited for the Government of Nepal and the Asian Development Bank. This environmental and social safeguard monitoring report is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. E nvironmental and S ocial S afeguards Monitoring R eport July – December 2019 Semiannual Environmental and Social Safeguard Monitoring R eport From J uly to December 2019 Nepal: Tanahu Hydropower Project Prepared by Tanahu Hydropower Limitedb the Government of Nepal for the Asian Development Bank Tanahu Hydropower Limited 1 E nvironmental and S ocial S afeguards Monitoring R eport July – December 2019 CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS As of 31c12c2019 Currency unit = Nepalese R upees (NPR ) NPR 1.00 = $ 0.008874 $1.00 = 112.689 NPR Tanahu Hydropower Limited i E nvironmental and S ocial S afeguards Monitoring R eport July – December 2019 Abbreviations ADB – Asian Development Bank AP – Affected People CC – Construction Contractor CDO – Chief District Officer CDS – Community Development S trategy CITE S – Convention on International Trade of E ndangered S pecies CTE VT – Council for Technical E ducation and Vocational Training DBS T – Double Bituminous S urface Treatment DF O – District F orest Office E IB – E uropean Investment Bank E IA – E nvironmental Impact Assessment E MP – E nvironmental Management Plan E S MU – E nvironmental and S ocial Management Unit E S MS P – E nvironmental and S ocial Management S ervice Provider E S U – E nvironmental S ubcUnit GE S I – Gender E quality and S ocial Inclusion GoN – Government of Nepal GR M – Grievance R edress Mechanism Ha – Hectare IE E – initial environmental examination IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature J ICA – J apan International Cooperation Agency KM – Kilometer kV – Kilovolt LCF – Local Consultative Forum M – Meter masl – meter above sea level MOE – Ministry of E nergy MOFS C – Ministry of F orest and S oil Conservation MoPE – Ministry of Population and E nvironment MW – Mega Watt NCB _ National Competitive Bidding NE A – Nepal E lectricity Authority PIC – Public Information Centre PMO – Project Management Office PS C – Project S upervision Consultant PTL – Power Transmission Line R CT – R ural Training Center R CC – R einforced cement concrete R E P – R ural E lectrification Program R F P – R equest for Proposal R M – R ural Municipality S E IA – S upplementary E nvironmental Impact Assessment Tanahu Hydropower Limited ii E nvironmental and S ocial S afeguards Monitoring R eport July – December 2019 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1 A. Brief Project Description .................................................................................................................... 1 B. Project Progress S tatus and Implementation S chedule .................................................................. 3 C. Prec Construction Phase Activities:................................................................................................... 3 D. Major Project Construction Activities: ............................................................................................... 4 II. COMPLIANC E TO NATIONAL R E GULATIONS .............................................................................. 6 A. E nvironmental Protection Rules 1997 .............................................................................................. 6 III. COMPLIANCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL COVENANTS FROM THE ADB LOAN AGR E E ME NT ..... 7 IV. COMPLIANCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN ....................................................... 8 A. Progress on Management Plans and R eports .............................................................................. 8 B. Institutional Arrangement for S afeguards Implementation ........................................................... 8 C. Clearance for Major Construction Work ......................................................................................... 8 V. SAFEGUARD MONITORING RESULTS AND UNANTICIPATED IMPACTS ................................ 10 A. Prec construction Phase Activities ................................................................................................ 10 B. Construction Phase Activities ....................................................................................................... 10 C. Fish Conservation Management Plan .......................................................................................... 14 VI. IMPLEMENTATION OF GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM .................................................. 18 A. E stablishment of GR M .................................................................................................................. 18 B. Public C onsultationb Awarenessb Meeting and Disclosure ......................................................... 19 VII. OTHER ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................................... 22 VIII. CONCLUS ION ................................................................................................................................ 25 List of Figures Figure 1: Location Map of Tanahu Hydropower Project ............................................................................... 2 Figure 2: General Layout Plan of Project ...................................................................................................... 2 Figure 3: Project Area with Inundation Area .................................................................................................... 3 Figure 4: Water sampling locations .............................................................................................................. 11 Figure 5: Air sampling locations ................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 6: Noise measurement locations ...................................................................................................... 13 Figure 7: Hydrocbiological monitoring sites ................................................................................................. 14 List of Tables Table 1: Administrative Areas of the Project (Hydropower Components) ....................................................... 1 Table 2: Details of the LC B contracts for Precconstruction Activities. ............................................................ 10 Table 3: Coordinates of surface water quality sampling locations .............................................................. 11 Table 4: R esults of surface water quality analysis ...................................................................................... 12 Table 5: Air Quality S ampling Locations ........................................................................................................ 13 Table 6: Air sampling results ........................................................................................................................ 13 Table 7: Noise measurement locations ....................................................................................................... 14 Table 8: Noise measurement results ........................................................................................................... 14 Table 9: List of fish species recorded .......................................................................................................... 15 Tanahu Hydropower Limited iii E nvironmental and S ocial S afeguards Monitoring R eport July – December 2019 Table 10: Number of fish species recorded in each station ....................................................................... 16 Table 11: Number of macroinvertebrates families recorded in each station ............................................ 16 Table 12: Number of macroinvertebrates taxa recorded in each station .................................................. 16 Table 13: S ummary of complaints and requests up to December 2019 ........................................................ 18 Table 14: Disaggregated data of complaints and requests by Gender .......................................................... 19 Table 15: S ummary of major public consultations ......................................................................................... 19 Table 16: Training Facilitated by THL ............................................................................................................ 21 Appendices Appendix I: Updated Overall Project Implementation S chedule Appendix II: List of E nvironmental and S ocial E xperts and Personnel Appendix III: List of Documents Appendix IV: Compliance S tatus with E nvironmental Loan Covenants Appendix V: Consolidated E nvironmental Management Plan Appendix VI: Consolidated E nvironmental Monitoring Plan Appendix VII: Weekly Inspection sheets Appendix VIII: Hydrobiological Field S urvey Photographs Appendix

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