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E2115 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (EA) AND ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK Public Disclosure Authorized PUNJAB EDUCATION SECTOR REFORMS PROGRAM (PESRP) Public Disclosure Authorized FINAL REPORT PROGRAM DIRECTOR PUNJAB EDUCATION SECTOR REFORMS PROGRAM (PESRP) Public Disclosure Authorized SCHOOL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF THE PUNJAB Tel: +92 42 923 2289~95 Fax: +92 42 923 2290 url: http://pesrp.punjab.gov.pk email: [email protected] (March 2009) Public Disclosure Authorized ENVIRONS (Caring for the Environment) Environmental Management Professionals & Consultants Lahore – Pakistan Tel: 042 – 7591302 Fax: 042 – 7591302 web: www.environs-pk.com email: [email protected] Acknowledgment and Disclaimer ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Environs are thankful to all those persons who directly and indirectly helped in accomplishing this environmental and social assessment study of the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Program in a professional manner. Environs wish to convey their special thanks to officers and staff of the Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit of the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Program, School Education Department, District Governments’ Education Departments, and the District Monitoring Officers, particularly of the district surveyed during the study for providing requisite information / data and general help and support. Environs Study Team owes special thanks to Mr. Nadeem Ashraf, Secretary, School Education Department; Dr. Javaid Afzal, Environment Specialist, World Bank; Mr. Muhammad Omar Khalid, Environmental Consultant, World Bank; Mr. Muhammad Asif, Program Director, PESRP; and Mr. Suhail Raza, Deputy Program Director, PESRP for their guidance, help, and support, for sparing their valuable time, and for providing an enabling environment for completing this study in. DISCLAIMER This environmental and social assessment report of the activities of the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Program of the Government of the Punjab likely to impact the environment has been prepared in compliance to the Environmental laws of Pakistan and in conformity to the Operational Policy Guidelines of the World Bank. The report is Program specific and of limited liability and applicability to the extent of the physical activities under the PESRP only. All rights are reserved with the Proponent (PMIU, PESRP) and the Environmental Consultant (Environs). No part of this report can be reproduced, copied, published, transcribed in any manner, or cited in a context different from the purpose for which it has been prepared, except with the prior permission of the Program Director, PESRP. EA & ESMF of The Punjab Education Sector Reforms Program (PESRP) Page i Environs – Lahore, 2009 Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document is the environmental assessment (EA) study, which also focuses on environment related social issues relating to various activities under the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Program (PESRP) – an initiative of Government of Punjab for introducing holistic reforms in the education sector aimed at improving overall condition of education and sector’s service delivery. The report discusses the potential adverse environmental and social impacts of the Program and suggests appropriate guidelines in the form of an environmental and social management framework (ESMF) for avoiding or mitigating the significant impacts. Screening and assessment of the environmental impacts of developmental, constructional, and or infrastructural activities is a binding requirement under environmental laws of Pakistan. Applicability of the World Bank Safeguard Policies also extends to the Program for its being a Bank funded initiative. Program Description The Punjab Education Sector Reform Program (PESRP) was launched in 2003 by the Government of Punjab (GoPb) for improving the plight of education in the province. The PESRP employs a holistic, sector-wide, and program mode approach of developing well coordinated synergistic activities in a symbiotic environment because the piecemeal project mode approach had not been successful in the past. Under the program mode framework, the Provincial Government enters into “Terms of Partnership” agreements with the District Governments for providing tied budgetary grants, each year. The PESRP is designed to address the issues of access, governance, and quality, primarily in the public sector education. The Program has been successful in achieving the majority of its objectives like increased enrollment rate, reduced dropouts, provision of missing facilities, gender balance, provision of free textbooks, and reduced teachers’ absenteeism. Study Objectives The primary objective of the EA study is to address the significantly adverse environmental and social impacts of the PESRP. Some of the Program activities, particularly those relating to civil work, school operation, and provision of free textbooks to schoolchildren carry a potential of affecting the ambient environment and to produce adverse impacts of varying magnitude and significance. Screening, scoping, and assessment of the significant impacts and formulation of a study-based comprehensive framework for avoiding or averting the negative impacts, in a wide variety of differing conditions across the province, is yet another objective of the study. Scope of the Study The scope of the study entails assessment of the environmental and social impacts of PESRP activities throughout the geographical extent of the province of Punjab. However, impacts have been assessed in only a few districts of representative regional character from different geographical regions of the province. The study also assesses impacts of the Program activities during various implementation stages from planning and designing to construction and the post construction usage of the buildings. Examination of the adverse impacts relating to printing and distribution of free textbooks also comes within the study’s purview. Formulation of an ESMF, which also caters for social issues, also forms part of study’s chartered scope. EA & ESMF of The Punjab Education Sector Reforms Program (PESRP) Page ii Environs – Lahore, 2009 Executive Summary Study Methodology The study relies both on primary and secondary data sources. However, greater reliance has been placed on primary sources, which include site visits, soliciting information from the key persons like construction contractors, school councils, parents, teachers, and the district administration. Stakeholders’ consultations and focused group meetings have also been used as a primary source to solicit viewpoint and knowing concerns of the stakeholders. A specially developed checklist has been used for collecting first hand information and for ascertaining disturbances to environmental parameters from Program’s implementation. A simplified impact assessment matrix has been used for characterization of the adverse impacts on selected parameters of the physical, biological, and social environments in the study area. Photographs, taken during field visits and surveys, have been used for explaining adverse impacts and for highlighting areas of concern. The secondary sources include office archives of the Education Department, files and papers of the PESRP, websites of the World Bank and the PESRP, and other indirect sources of information. Significant Adverse Impacts The majority of the Program activities are isolated small-scale activities at the individual school sites. Being of low-level and of short duration, they would hardly produce any impacts of high significance. The majority of the impacts during construction would be localized. They would relate to water quality, air quality, noise and vibrations, debris / solid waste generation, wastewater production, consumption of raw materials, worksite safety, and inconvenience to public from improper stockpiling of the materials, mostly in the immediate radius of influence of the individual sites. The impacts pertaining to school operation phase would relate to educational and cleanliness activities at the schools. They would include impacts from inadequate disposal and management of the toilet wastewater, and to some extent, unhygienic disposal of the solid waste. The significant impacts the textbook printing would pertain to usage of chemicals, inks, and paper of non-farm origin during the process of printing. The distributional activities would relate to improper storage and road traffic hazards. Mitigation Measures The report provides mitigation measures for each stage of activity. The design stage measures include provision of septic tank for toilet wastewater, convenient spatial placing of various structures and facilities, and provision of gadgets for special children. These construction stage measures include pre-emptory actions by the construction contractor to avoid the adverse impacts, for example, sheeting the stockpiled materials, limiting construction activities after school hours, and ensuring worksite safety. The mitigation measures relating to school operation include proper disposal of the solid waste, avoiding failure of septic tanks, and the drinking water quality check. The textbook printing and distribution measures include selection of an environment friendly printing house, avoiding usage of toxic chemicals and inks, periodic fumigation of the warehouses, and educating the schoolchildren in avoiding related impacts e.g., not to place wet eatables on the printed papers. The Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) The Environmental and Social