Environmental Safeguard Monitoring Report Project No. 43281-013 Semestral Report July 2018 Nepal: Tanahu Hydropower Project Prepared by Tanahu Hydropower Limited for the Government of Nepal and the Asian Development Bank. This environmental 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. Environmental Safeguard Monitoring Report From January to June 2018 Nepal: Tanahu Hydropower Project Prepared by Tanahu Hydropower Limited, the Government of Nepal for the Asian Development Bank This environmental safeguard monitoring report is a document of the borrower and made publicly available in accordance with ADB’s Public Communications Policy 2011 and the Safeguard Policy Statement 2009. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB’s Board of Directors, Management, or staff. Semiannual Environmental Safeguard Report January –June, 2018 CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS As of 31-12-2017 Currency unit = Nepalese Rupees (NPR) NPR 1.00 = $ 0.0098 $1.00 = NPR 101.90 Tanahu Hydropower Project ii Semiannual Environmental Safeguard Report January –June, 2018 Abbreviations ADB – Asian Development Bank AP – Affected People CC – Construction Contractor CDO – Chief District Officer CDS – Community Development Strategy CITES – Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species CTEVT – Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training DBST – Double Bituminous Surface Treatment DFO – District Forest Office EIB – European Investment Bank EIA – environmental impact assessment EMP – Environmental Management Plan ESMU – Environmental and Social Management Unit ESMSP – Environmental and Social Management Service Provider ESU – Environmental Sub-Unit GESI – Gender Equality and Social Inclusion GoN – Government of Nepal GRM – grievance redress mechanism Ha – Hector IEE – initial environmental examination IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature JICA – Japan International Cooperation Agency KM – Kilometer kV – Kilovolt LCF – Local Consultative Forum M – Meter masl – meter above sea level MOE – Ministry of Energy MOFSC – Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation MoPE – Ministry of Population and Environment MW – Mega Watt NEA – Nepal Electricity Authority PIC – Public Information Centre PMO – Project Management Office PSC – Project Supervision Consultant PTL – Power Transmission Line RCT – Rural Training Center Tanahu Hydropower Project iii Semiannual Environmental Safeguard Report January –June, 2018 RCC – Reinforced cement concrete REP – Rural Electrification Program RFP – Request For Proposal RM – Rural Municipality SEIA – Supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment Tanahu Hydropower Project iv Semiannual Environmental Safeguard Report January –June, 2018 Executive Summary Tanahu Hydropower Limited (THL) is a subsidiary company of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) established in 2012 to develop 140 MW Tanahu Hydropower Project ("the Project") (formerly, Upper Seti Hydropower Project). The Project site is situated 150 km west of Kathmandu on Seti River near Damauli of Tanahu District in Gandaki Zone, State 4 of Nepal. The project covers Vyas and Bhimad Municipality and Rising and Myagde Rural Municipality of the district. The government approved an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for hydropower generation system in August 2009 and Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) for the 220 kV transmission line along Seti (Damauli)-Bharatpur in June, 2010. Further, supplementary EIA (SEIA) for hydropower and supplementary IEE (SIEE) for transmission line were approved on 13 October 2017 and 8 October 2017 to include the changes of the project title, generation capacity, forest data and length and location of transmission line. The project is still in pre-construction phase. Several upfront construction activities like construction of access road; camp facilities and substation for construction power supply are ongoing. The physical progress on access road has achieved about 95% (3.3 km access road from RCC Bridge to powerhouse and 3.2 km access road from Chapaghat to dam site). Camp Facilities: As of June 2018, about 75% physical progresses have been achieved. Construction Power Sub-Station:33/11 kV Sub-station for construction power was completed. THL had taken forest clearance approval with the concerned government agencies for major construction work. During the present reporting period, following activities were ongoing: Forest area clearance was given by Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) on 11 September 2017. For the further process, an agreement was made between THL and the Department of Forest on 01 November 2017 (2074-07-15 B.S). During the reporting period, THL has been working with the District Forest Office (DFO) towards an agreement on the DFO’s involvement for forest clearing and compensatory afforestation. Total loss of forest area from government/community forests is 417.31 ha. 22,453 nos of trees, 67,735 nos pole size tree and 91,383 nos of saplings are to be felled from 25 community forests for reservoir, powerhouse, access road and project facilities (total is 181,571 nos). Land Acquisition and Compensation out of a total 525 affected households according to the most recent updated RIPP report) which have been identified, 447 have been compensated (compensation success rate of 85.05%). Out of a total of 82 households which will be physically displaced, 61 households have been compensated. The total compensation paid to date to affected households for their land plots (including those physically displaced) is NPR 1,119,762,990 equivalent to circa USD 10.17 million. Based on the three sets of the reports of EIA (EIA 2009, Addendum 2012, and supplementary EIA 2017), an updated EMP was prepared and submitted to ADB on February 2018. Environmental monitoring has continued during the reporting period. Baseline monitoring has been progressing with water quality sampling, air quality and noise measurements, forest and wildlife survey, fisheries survey, downstream sensitivities survey, and the collection of health data. Compliance monitoring of the preparatory works on access road and camp facilities also continued. A forest management plan and fisheries conservation management plan are under preparation. Water Quality: River water has been sampled for baseline monitoring and analysis. Water samples were collected from 7 different locations of the project area. The sampling stations are set along the stretch of Seti River from the upstream of the proposed reservoir to the downstream of the Power House. One station is located in Madi River. Tanahu Hydropower Project v Semiannual Environmental Safeguard Report January –June, 2018 Air and Noise: Air and noise quality data from four locations (Dam site/Betini, Power House, Patanand Jhaputar) of the project were collected during February 2018 (Dry Season). Total Suspended Particles (TSP), Particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and noise levels (during 24 hours) was measured. High Volume Air Sampler was used to measure the TSP, PM2.5 and PM10 concentration present in the ambient air of the monitoring sites. Active absorption method was used to measure the concentration of SO2 and NO2 from the ambient atmosphere. The noise meter was used for record of noise level. Forest and Wildlife Survey: Data on the Community Forests’ beneficiary household (HH) and population was collected in January and February of 2018. About 2,800 HHs make use of the 25 community forests of which parts are affected by reservoir and project facilities area. In summary, the 25 community forests have a total area of 2234 ha, of which 319 ha will be lost. A Field survey was undertaken at Rising Patan (Santari), Phedikhola, Kahushivapur/Jamune and Phulbari to determine species composition and presence of threatened species of flora. The survey focused on type of forest, major species of flora, forest product used by local people, trade of forest resources, plantation activities taken in forest area. The wildlife survey is focus on type of wild animal found in the project area, frequency of appearance, crops raided by wild animals. Both these surveys are based on interviews/questionnaires with local people and a limited amount of direct observations in the field. Watershed Management Area: This includes to identify additional initiatives to promote good soil and water conservation in the watershed of the reservoir area. The locations for structural and bioengineering measures identified so far during field inspections are at Bhimad, Wantang river catchment, Badarkuna/Phedikhola, Korlangkhola catchment and access road to damsite right side from bridge. Nursery Site:The project is planning to carry out compensatory plantation work through District Forest Office (DFO). The project has done several discussions with DFO for capacity of nursery for seedlings production and compensatory plantation modality. A total of almost 5 million saplings are to be produced by the project. The capacity of nursery for seedling production in DFO Tanahu is about 675,000 nos/per year. Additional locations namely