Land Acquisition and Resettlement Due Diligence Report

Document stage: Final Project Number: 48434-003 October 2018

IND: Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor Development Program – Developing 3 MWp Solar Energy Park with Floating Panels at Meghadrigedda Reservoir

Prepared by Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, Government of Andhra Pradesh for the Asian Development Bank

CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 17 October 2018) Currency unit = Indian rupee (₹) ₹1.00 = $0.0136 $1.00 = ₹73.7055

ABBREVIATIONS

ADB – Asian Development Bank DDR – Due diligence report DoI – Department of Industries GoAP – Government of Andhra Pradesh GVMC – Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation kV – Kilovolt MFF – Multitranche Financing Facility MWp – Megawatt Power PIU – project implementation unit PMU – project management unit R&R – resettlement and rehabilitation UCCRTF – Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund VCICDP – Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor Development Program WRD – Water Resources Department

NOTE

In this report, "$" refers to United States dollars.

This due diligence 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. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section of this 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

I. INTRODUCTION 1 A. Background 1 B. Scope of this report 1 II. SUBPROJECT DESCRIPTION 2 A. Proposed components 2 III. FIELD WORK AND CONSULTATION 3 A. Outline of field work 3 B. Consultation 3 IV. LAND AVAILABILITY AND RESETTLEMENT IMPACTS 4 A. Findings 4 V. CONCLUSIONS 7 A. Summary and Conclusions 7

APPENDIXES 1. JERRIPOTHULAPALEM MEETING ATTENDANCE SHEET 2. LETTER FROM GREATER VISAKHAPATNAM MUNICIPAL CORPORATION CONFIRMING ITS CONTROL AND USE OF THE RESERVOIR

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Background

1. The proposed Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor Development Program (VCICDP) will complement ongoing efforts of the Government of Andhra Pradesh to enhance manufacturing sector growth and create high quality jobs in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The VCICDP comprises: (i) a policy-based loan to support policy reforms, and institutional development in the state’s industrial sector; and (ii) a multitranche financing facility (MFF) for priority infrastructure projects within the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.

2. Under VCICDP, a UCCRTF Grant has been provided to support Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) for developing infrastructure and providing services that are more climate change resilient. The grant focuses on investments in two components: (i) Component A. Watershed development and management program in Mudasarlova and rejuvenation of Mudasarlova lake that includes (a) enhancing water storage; (b) flood control; (c) checking sedimentation; (d) conservation of soil and water; (e) increasing green cover; and (f) recharging of ground water; (ii) Component B. Harnessing renewable energy and GHG reduction through (a) developing a solar energy park at Mudasarlova/Megadhrigadda lake; and (b) developing a pilot only e-Vehicle zone within the city by procuring and deploying e- Vehicles.

3. The proposed UCCRTF grant will be implemented by GVMC as part of the proposed VCICDP. The Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Andhra Pradesh will be the executing agency and the GVMC will be the implementing agency. Moreover, Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development will be responsible for major decision making in relation to project implementation and GVMC will be responsible for day-to-day project implementation activities

B. Scope of this report

4. This land acquisition and resettlement due diligence report (DDR) is prepared for the 3 Megawatt Power (MWp) grid connected floating type Solar PV Power Project on Meghadrigedda Reservoir in Visakhapatnam District proposed under UCCRTF grant.

5. A due diligence process was conducted to examine land acquisition and resettlement issues in detail, in line with Asian Development Bank (ADB’s) Safeguard Policy Statement, 2009. This report describes the findings based on the screening site visits carried out on 18 January 2018 and 08 February 2018 and consultations had with officials of GVMC. Photographs of project location and google images prepared based on coordinates taken during the site visits is presented in this report. This land acquisition and resettlement DDR should be read along with the resettlement framework prepared for VCICDP.

6. Upon award of contract and before commencement of works, the Safeguard Manager, Social and Gender in the GVMC, the project implementation unit (PIU), will be required to undertake a review of this due diligence, update if there is any modification in the design of the project and submit to the Safeguard Officer in the project management unit (PMU) and ADB.

II. SUBPROJECT DESCRIPTION

A. Proposed components

7. Subproject components proposed under the 3MWp grid connected floating type Solar PV Power Project include (i) installation of solar panels floating on the reservoir; (ii) feeder line to 33 Kilovolt (kV) Narawa substation; and (iii) floating walkway for access to solar unit.

Table 1: Summary of Proposed Subproject Components Subproject Component Involuntary S.No Location Components Description Resettlement Impacts 1 Installation of Floating on the south Solar panels made from Floating solar panel will solar panels west part of the mono/poly crystalline be installed on 1% of the Meghadrigedda silicon solar cell area of the reservoir. Reservoir. connected in series will be installed. No involuntary resettlement impact One kW panel will be of anticipated as the about 10 m2 in size and installation is proposed hence for 3MWp, the in a very small portion of panel area will be 30,000 the reservoir area. There m2 and with space is existing approach from between panels and the southern side. The connectors, the total proposed floating panels area will be about 48,000 will not affect the use or m2 or say 0.048 m2. the access to the reservoir by the fishermen The reservoir is owned and maintained by WRD and the control is vested with GVMC.

2 Feeder line From the floating solar 0.5 km long 33 kV feeder The feeder line will be system to the 33 kV cable will be erected connected to existing Narawa substation from the floating solar electric pole on the bund along the south west system along bund to the of the reservoir. bund of the reservoir. 33 kV Narawa The reservoir including substation. the bund are government property. No involuntary resettlement impact anticipated. 3 Floating From the bund in the Floating walkway for Floating walkway will be walkway south west part of the access will be erected erected from the reservoir to the from the bund to the reservoir bund to the floating solar panels. floating solar system for solar panels. maintenance of the The reservoir including system. the bund are government property. No involuntary resettlement impact anticipated. GVMC = Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation; kV = Kilovolt; MWp = Megawatt Power; m2 = square meter; WRD = water resources department.

8. The floatation device will be prefabricated and designed for simple mechanical on-site installation. Hence, there will be no requirement of welding, masonry or complex machinery at the installation site.

III. FIELD WORK AND CONSULTATION

A. Outline of field work

9. Field inspection of proposed subproject facility locations was undertaken in January 2018 and again in February 2018. These included field visit to the Meghadrigedda Reservoir site, the proposed alignment of the feeder line along the bund, the 33 kV Narawa substation and discussions with GVMC officials.

B. Consultation

10. Consultations were held with the key stakeholder, GVMC and it was ascertained that the floating solar system will be erected on the reservoir, which is assigned to GVMC for drinking water supply to Visakhapatnam and the feeder line traverses along the reservoir bund and connects to the 33 kV Narawa substation through an existing 11 kV Electric Pole (EP No. 11KV/MGR/1/1). There is no private land involved in this project.

11. GVMC held consultations with the residents of Jerripothulapalem village located near Meghadrigedda Reservoir. About 22 residents, mostly belonging to fisherman community participated in the consultations. The meeting was held at the residence of the local community leader, who chaired the meeting. The Assistant Executive Engineer and the jurisdictional Work Inspector of GVMC explained the details of the project and the benefits that GVMC will derive by establishing the floating solar plant. The fisherman reported that people from about 10 villages in the vicinity such as Jerripothulapalem, Nandavanipalem, Chintala Agraharam, Pedagadi, Porlupalem, Chintagatla etc., depend on fishing in the reservoir. Further, they expressed their concern on availability of space for fishing, if the reservoir is covered with solar panels. The GVMC engineer explained that an area of about 0.048 square kilometer (km2) only would be covered by solar panels and the remaining area 4.97 km2 out of the total area of 5.015 km2 area of the reservoir would continue to be available for fishing. The engineer explained that just about 1% of the reservoir area in the south west will be used for this project and the remaining area can be used for fishing. Further, the engineer explained that the settlements in the west and the south east (closer to the sluice gates) which are using the reservoir for fishing can continue to access the reservoir without any hindrance as no work is proposed in these areas. They were assured that the proposed works will not affect their fishing activity and were informed that they could contact the GVMC engineer in-charge of the project if they have any issues related to the project, during its implementation and afterwards. The meeting attendance sheet is given in Appendix 1.

Participants in the consultations

IV. LAND AVAILABILITY AND RESETTLEMENT IMPACTS

A. Findings

12. The total area of the Meghadrigedda reservoir is 5.015 km2 and was constructed in the year 1977 across the river Naravagedda and Meghadrigedda at Kamarapalem village in Visakhapatnam District. The catchment area is about 368 km2, which includes the reservoir.1 The area covered by the solar system in the reservoir is 0.048 km2 and it constitutes less than 1 percent of the reservoir area and hence will not cause any impact to the usage of the reservoir. The reservoir is owned and maintained by Water Resources Department (WRD) and the control is vested with GVMC. The reservoir water is earmarked for drinking water requirements of Visakhapatnam. The letter of certification from GVMC confirming its control and use of the reservoir is given as Appendix 2.

Photographs of the Meghadrigedda Reservoir (February 2018)

1 Source: Bathymetric and Topographic Survey for De-silting of Meghadrigedda Reservoir in Visakhapatnam District Andhra Pradesh, India by Irrigation & CAD Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

13. The indicative location of the floating solar panel in the reservoir is depicted as a google earth image below.

Figure 1: Google Earth Map showing Proposed Location of Solar System in Meghadrigedda Reservoir

14. Some of the land owners living in the vicinity of the reservoir use the reservoir for fishing and their fishing activity will not be affected by this project as the floating panels use only 0.048 km2 of the reservoir area and the remaining 99% of 5.015 km2 area is available for continuance of fishing.

15. The 2 kilometer (km) feeder line from the floating solar panel system traverses all along the bund and connects to an electric pole (EP No. EP No. 11KV/MGR/1/1) on the bund, which is in turn connected to the 33 kV Narawa substation. The bund and the land where existing cables are connected from the pole to substation are WRD land is free from encumbrance.

16. The feeder line alignment traversing from the floating solar panel to the EB pole and then to the substation is depicted as a google earth image below.

Figure 2: Google Earth Map showing the Proposed Feeder Line Alignment from the Floating Solar Panels to the Narawa SS

V. CONCLUSIONS

A. Summary and Conclusions

17. No involuntary resettlement impacts are assessed at the identified sites as the reservoir and the bund along which the feeder line traverses belong to GVMC/WRD and free from encumbrance. The solar panel would cover only 1% of the total area of the reservoir and the subproject activities will neither affect the use nor the access to the reservoir by the fishermen. The same has been explained by GVMC to the fishermen community during the consultations with them.

18. This DDR needs to be updated by the GVMC in case of any design changes or site changes during implementation, and the updated DDR needs to be approved by ADB.

8 Appendix 1

Jerripothulapalem Meeting Attendance Sheet

Appendix 1 9

10 Appendix 2

Letter from GVMC confirming its Control and Use of the Reservoir