Charikot (Dolakha) Water Supply and Sanitation Subproject
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Initial Environmental Examination Document Stage: Draft Project Number: 35173-015 July 2018 NEP: Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (Sector) Project – Charikot (Dolakha) Water Supply and Sanitation Subproject Package No. W-01 Prepared by the Ministry of Water Supply, Government of Nepal for the Asian Development Bank. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 2 July 2018) Currency unit - Nepalese rupee (NRe) $1.00 = NRs109.821 NRe1.00 = $0.009 ABBREVIATIONS ADB - Asian Development Bank DMA - district metered area DSMC - design, supervision and management consultant DRTAC - design review and technical audit consultant DWSS - Department of Water Supply and Sewerage EARF - environmental assessment and review framework EIA - environmental impact assessment EMP - environmental management plan EMR - environmental monitoring report EPA - Environment Protection Act EPR - Environment Protection Rules ESS - environmental safeguard specialist ESA - environmental safeguard assistant GRM - grievance redress mechanism ICG - implementation core group IEE - initial environmental examination MOWS - Ministry of Water Supply NDWQS - National Drinking Water Quality Standards PMO - project management office RPMO - regional project management office RVT - reservoir tank SPS - Safeguard Policy Statement UWSSP - Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (Sector) Project VDC - Village Development Committee WTP - water treatment plant WHO - World Health Organization WSS - water supply and sanitation WUA - water users’ association WUSC - water users’ and sanitation committee WEIGHTS AND MEASURES amsl - above mean sea level cum - cubic meter dBA - decibel audible ha - hectare km - kilometer kph - kilometer per hour lps - liters per second m - meter µg/m3 - microgram per cubic meter mg/l - milligram per liter mm - millimeter NOTE In this report, "$" refers to United States Dollars. This draft initial environmental examination 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. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section on ADB’s website. 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. CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I. INTRODUCTION 1 Background 1 Name and Address of the Individual Institution Preparing the Report 2 Purpose of the Initial Environmental Examination 2 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUBPROJECT 3 Need for the Subproject 3 Relevance of the Subproject 4 Overview of the Subproject 4 Project Components 4 Implementation Schedule 13 III. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 14 ADB Safeguard Policy Statement 14 Government Environmental Legislations 18 Other Relevant National Laws, Policies and Guidelines 19 International Environmental Agreements 23 IV. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 25 With- and Without-Project Alternatives 25 Alternatives Relative to Planning and Design 26 Selected Alternative for Detailed Design/Proposed Project 26 V. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 27 Physical Environment and Resources 27 Ecology, Environment and Resources 29 Socioeconomic and Cultural Environment 33 Existing Institutional Situation 37 Site-Specific Environmental Conditions 38 VI. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 42 Beneficial Impacts 42 Assessment of Potential Impacts 43 Impacts, Issues, Concerns and Mitigation Measures during Operation 52 Indirect, Induced and Cumulative Impacts 53 VII. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION, AND PARTICIPATION 54 VIII. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 57 IX. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 60 Institutional Arrangement 60 Environmental Management Plan (EMP) 65 Environmental Monitoring Program 78 Institutional Capacity Development Program 79 Staffing Requirement and Budget 81 X. MONITORING AND REPORTING 84 XI. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 85 XII. LITERATURE REVIEWED 86 APPENDIXES 1 Rapid Environmental Assessment Checklist Charikot Town Project and Preliminary Climate Risk Screening Checklist for Sample Project Towns 2 Charikot Town-Water Supply No Mitigation Scenario Checklist 3 Sample Grievance Redress Form 4 Semi-Annual Environmental Monitoring Report Template 5 No Objection Letter and Minutes of Meeting 6 Water Quality Test Reports 7 Photographs 8 Spoil Management Plan 9 Results of the Environmental Audit of Water Treatment Plants EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (Sector) Project (UWSSP) will support the Government of Nepal in expanding access to community managed water supply and sanitation (WSS) in 20 project municipalities by drawing on experiences and lessons from three earlier projects funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project will finance climate-resilient and inclusive WSS infrastructure in project municipalities and strengthen institutional and community capacity, sustainable service delivery, and project development. The project will be implemented over a five-year period (indicative implementation period is 2018 – 2023) and will be supported through ADB financing using a sector lending approach. The project will have the following impact: quality of life for urban populations, including the poor and marginalized, improved through the provision of sustainable WSS services. The project will have the following outcome: inclusive and sustainable access to WSS services in project municipalities achieved. The project will have two outputs: (i) water supply and sanitation infrastructure in project municipalities improved; and (ii) institutional and community capacities strengthened. The Ministry of Water Supply (MOWS) is the executing agency and Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) the implementing agency. The project management office (PMO) will be responsible for the overall management, implementation and monitoring of the project. There will be regional PMOs (RPMOs) to manage day-to-day project implementation at the subproject/municipality level. After construction including a one-year operations and maintenance (O&M) period by the contractor, subprojects will be operated. by the WUSC or municipality. Charikot subproject is one of the subprojects proposed under UWSSP. The municipality is served by surface water sources. However, the system does not sufficiently meet the needs of the people, in both quantity and quality. Water samples have been collected from the proposed water sources. Analysis of the samples collected reveals results that meet all parameters of the National Drinking Water Quality Guidelines (NDWQG), except for total hardness. Subproject Scope. The subproject is demand-driven by municipality and water users’ association (WUA), and selected based on transparent criteria, including population growth, poverty index, existing WSS infrastructure, formed WUA, community willingness for cost sharing and long-term O&M contract. The subproject is an extension of the existing Charikot water supply system and has been conceptualized as a gravity surface water system. Investments under this subproject include: (i) construction of a piped water supply system comprising various components like intake, water treatment plant, transmission mains, river and stream crossing, reservoir tanks, valve chambers, office buildings, bulk distribution mains, distribution main and household connections; (ii) rehabilitation of water treatment plant that includes clearing of all filter media from slow sand filter; (iii) demolition of masonry tanks and of old stone masonry boundary wall at Bisuna. Environmental assessment has been conducted for the Charikot (Dolakha) water supply and sanitation subproject selected based on (i) preliminary detailed design, and (ii) most likely environmentally sensitive components. The environmental assessment used ADB’s rapid environmental assessment (REA) checklist (Appendix 1) and a “no mitigation measures scenario” checklist developed for UWSSP (Appendix 2). The environmental assessment of the Charikot (Dolakha) water supply subproject shows it is not likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts that are irreversible, diverse, or unprecedented. Potential impacts are unlikely to affect areas larger than the sites or facilities subject to physical works. These impacts are site-specific, ii few if any of them are irreversible, and in most cases mitigation measures can be designed with uncomplicated measures commonly used at construction sites and known to civil works contractors. Therefore, Charikot (Dolakha) water supply subproject is classified as Category B for environment per ADB Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS), 2009. This initial environmental examination (IEE) report has been prepared based on preliminary detailed design and following requirements of ADB SPS and Government of Nepal laws, rules and regulations. Description of the Environment. The subproject components are in Bhimeshwore Municipality. The subproject components will be in municipality-owned sites and right-of-way (ROW) of public roads. There are no protected areas, forests, wetlands, mangroves, or estuaries in or near the subproject locations. Potential Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures. The subproject is unlikely to cause significant adverse impacts that are irreversible, diverse or unprecedented because: (i) the components will involve straightforward construction and operation, so impacts