SUMMARY INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION REPORT Supplementary Appendix to the Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors on the SOUTHERN PUNJAB BASIC URBAN SERVICES PROJECT PAKISTAN This report was prepared by the Borrower and is not an ADB document. The IEE is available on request. 18 December 2003 Supplementary Appendix H 2 SUMMARY INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION A. Introduction 1. In compliance with the ADB’s environmental requirements, an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) of the proposed Project was conducted. For the initial screening, ADB’s checklist of environmental parameters for all the infrastructure development projects was used. The potential major impacts or benefits of the Project were identified next and an analysis of whether or not a further study was warranted followed. The Summary IEE (SIEE) summarizes the screening of potential environmental impacts of the Project, suggests mitigation measures, and describes the institutional requirements and an environmental monitoring program. The SIEE is based on the information gathered during feasibility study, a review of the reports available with tehsil municipal administrations (TMAs), and on data collected during the Loan Fact-Finding Mission by ADB staff. The proposed Project aims to facilitate sustainable urban development in the 21 Project towns by addressing critical environmental improvement needs. 2. The subprojects concerned with urban and environmental infrastructure improvements and (i) sewage treatment facilities; (ii) water supply; (iii) solid waste management; (iv) territory link roads; and (v) relocation of slaughterhouses. Description of subproject is provided in the following sections and their design parameters and scale are summarized in Table 1. 3. The Pakistan Environmental Protection Regulations (1997), as well as ADB regulations stipulate that an IEE is necessary for the subprojects. The land development requires infrastructure development and is mostly agricultural land. The development of infrastructure will enhance environmental quality in the project towns though temporary minor impacts that will occur during construction can easily be mitigated. B. Description of the Subprojects 4. Sewerage System. This includes extension and rehabilitation of sewerage system and construction of new wastewater treatment plants in 19 of the 21 towns 1. This component includes rehabilitation of existing and laying of new sewers, rehabilitation and construction of new disposal stations (49), construction of new sullage carriers (48 km length), where needed, and construction of one or more treatment plants in each city (a total of 32). The Project will provide primary and secondary municipal sewer lines whilst the residents of each low-income area supported with project technical assistance will provide house connections. The wastewater treatment plants2, would considerably improve the overall environmental quality in the towns. 5. Depending on soil permeability test at waste stabilization pond sites, the bed of the ponds will be lined with clay to prevent wastewater from leaching into the ground and contaminating the groundwater. The process is capable of achieving BOD removal efficiency of 80 to 90%. The process is most effective and economical in hot climates as the rate of bacterial activity is higher under warm climatic conditions. 6. Water Supply. Distribution systems will be extended and/or rehabilitated for poorly served low-income communities in 7 towns. In these towns, the groundwater is scarce, very deep or brackish. This sub-component will include the provision of 57 new tubewells, new 1 Two towns (Ahmadpur East and Hasilpur) are already implementing this component out of their own resources 2 To minimise operating costs, waste stabilisation ponds (lagoons) have been proposed Supplementary Appendix H 3 transmission mains, ground storage reservoirs, and construction/rehabilitation of distribution systems. In Multan, it will also include the rehabilitation of ageing distribution systems through the replacement of old and chronically leaking pipes. The development and/or expansion of water distribution systems will focus on intra-urban low-income areas. 7. Solid Waste Management. Improvement in the collection and disposal of solid waste will remove the cause of blockage of sewer lines. Hence, improvements in the sewage system will only be sustainable with corresponding improvements in the solid waste management system. Sub-projects will improve collection and disposal of solid waste including hospital wastes. This sub-component will include (i) community support through waste minimization with concentration of waste to neighborhood collection points, (ii) procurement of equipment/vehicles for collection and disposal of solid waste to landfill site; (iii) development of landfill sites; and (iv) incinerators for hospital waste. 8. Low Income Area Road Links. This component will aim at the improved access of low- income communities to their town center and local neighborhood, which will improve economic activities. All road links (54 km in length) will follow existing right-of-way. 9. Slaughter houses. This sub-component will comprise the construction or relocation or rehabilitation of existing slaughterhouses in 11 towns, in an effort to improve hygienic conditions in residential areas, and to improve the handling of wastewater as well as solid waste from these slaughterhouses where it is causing serious environmental hazards. C. Description of the Environment 10. Physical Resources all project towns are classified as urban or semi urban. The area is characterized by low-rise development with occasional medium-rise development containing significant areas of poor quality infrastructure and housing, interspersed with small area of open wasteland and urban agriculture. Geographically the Project area can be divided into three zones; sandy desert area, mountainous region and plain areas including river plains. The soil of the project area varies. The major soil type is alluvial and can be found a few feet below the surface. Generally the lowest part of the plains are silt clays and silt clay loams, the mid reaches are occupied by loamy/loamy soils, the upper most belt is coarse tortured. Rivers, canals, streams and nullahs pass within and in close proximity of the project area. Muzaffargarh Canal, D.G.Khan Canal, Sutlej and Chenab rivers and Sangarh Nullah are important water resources in the project area. The groundwater depth in the Project area fluctuates between approximately 7 to 25 meters. Where sweet, groundwater is used for municipal and drinking purposes. 11. Climate of the project area is extremely hot in summer and cold in winter. The summer from April to September is very hot. The winter from mid November to end of January is sufficiently cold. The month of May, June and July are dry and hottest when the temperature soars up to 51 degree centigrade, but the nights are comparatively cool and moderately pleasant. Precipitation rates in the project area range between 20 – 200 millimeters annually with most of the rainfall occurring during the monsoon months. 12. Ecological Resources There are no endangered varieties of flora. The Flora of the project area constitutes primarily of agriculture crops and other naturally occurring species. The agricultural species include cotton, wheat, pulses, vegetables, fruit plantations etc. Naturally occurring species include shrubs, grasses and trees. 13. Little wildlife is present in the project area due to uptake of different wildlife habitats as a result of extensive cultivation and dense human population. Faunal species present in or close to the project area include wintering birds e.g., Houbara Bustard, Raptor birds. Grey and Black Supplementary Appendix H 4 Partidges, Hog deer, Caracal and Blind Indus dolphin are among other important species of the area. No adverse impacts are envisaged on the indigenous species in the area. 14. A total of 10 protected areas are present in the project area, however there is no threat to these areas during or after construction, since the environmental improvements are restricted to only the core urban areas. A list of protected areas, their distances (in kilometers) and direction from different city/towns of the project area is detailed in Table 2. None of the protected areas lie within five kilometers of the outer periphery of these cities/towns3. 15. Human and Economic Development The subprojects are located in principal towns of the tehsils (administrative division of a district). The towns in southern Punjab have experienced a rapid increase in population due to rural-urban migration. Southern Punjab is a canal irrigated agricultural area, with primary crops including cotton, wheat and orchards, and mangoes. All project towns are market towns for agricultural produce of the area. Industrial development has taken place in some towns especially Multan and Muzaffargarh where a number of agro-based industrial units are located. Government provides education, health and veterinary care in towns and all major local banks provide services in all project towns. There are under-serviced areas and katchi abadies in all towns, where municipal institutions do not provide water supply, sewerage and solid waste disposal services. Water supply is perceived as a problem in six towns where ground water is brackish and existing water supply system is under severe pressure. There are no sewerage treatment facilities in any of the towns. Untreated