Environmental Assessment Report Initial Environmental Examination – Provincial Roads Component: Mannar–Vavuniya District Project Number: 42254 May 2010 Sri Lanka: Northern Road Connectivity Project Prepared by [Author(s)] [Firm] [City, Country] Prepared by the Ministry of Local Govern ment and Provincial Councils for th e Asian Development Bank (ADB). Prepared for [Executing Agency] [Implementi ng Agency] The initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of AD B’s Board of Di rectors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary The views expressed herein are those of the consultant and do not necessarily represent those of ADB’s in nature. members, Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADB - Asian Development Bank BIQ - Basic Information Questionnaire CCD - Coast Conservation Department CEA - Central Environmental Authority CEB - Ceylon Electricity Board CSC - Consultant Supervision Consultant DBST - Double Bituminous Surface Treatment DCS - Department of Census and Statistics DoF - Department of Forestry DoI - Department of Irrigation DoS - Department of Survey DSD - Divisional Secretariat Division DWLC - Department of Wild Life Conservation EA - Executive Agency EMP - Environmental Management Plan EMo - Environmental Monitoring Plan EPL - Environment Protection Liaison ESCM - Environmental Safeguards Compliance Manual GND - Grama Niladhari Division GoSL - Government of Sri Lanka GSMB - Geological Survey and Mining Bureau IA - Implementation Agency IEE - Initial Environmental Examination LA - Local Authorities MLGP - Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils MSL - Mean Sea Level MT - Metric Tones NEA - National Environmental Act NP - Northern Province NWSD B - National Water Supply and Drainage Board PD - Project Director PIU - Project Implementation Unit PRDA - Provincial Road Development Authority PRDD - Provincial Road Development Department PSD - Pradeshiya Sabah Division RDA - Road Development Authority REA - Rapid Environmental Assessment RoW - Right of Way SLT - Sri Lanka Telecom Page ii Initial Environmental Examination Report (IEER): Subgroup IIIN, Northern Provincial Roads: Mannar and Vavuniya Districts. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Project background and the justification 1 1.2 Extent and the scope of the study 1 1.3 Structure of IEE Report 2 1.4 Applicable Environmental Legislations 3 1.5 Methodology 4 2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 5 2.1 Type of the project 5 2.2 Category of the project- Category B 5 2.3 Need for the project 5 2.4. Location 5 2.5 Size and the magnitude of operation 8 2.6 Proposed scheduled for the implementation 9 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 10 3.1 Vavuniya District 10 3.1.1 Existing condition of the roads and proposed work 11 3.1.2 Physical resources 14 3.1.3 Ecological resources 14 3.1.4 Economic Development 15 3.1.5 Social and Cultural resources 17 3.2.1 Mannar District 19 3.2.1 Existing condition of the roads and proposed work 20 3.2.2. Physical Resources 27 3.2.3 Ecological Resources 28 3.2.4. Economic Development 29 3.2.5. Social and Cultural resources 33 4. SCREENING OF THE POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 35 4.1 Environmental impacts associated with pre construction and construction stage 35 4.2 Environmental impacts associated with operation period 43 5. PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE 44 5.1 Consultation Findings 44 6. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 45 6.1 Identified Grievances 45 6.2 Awareness of Stakeholders 45 6.3 Grievance Redress Committee 45 6.4 Grievance Redress Procedure 46 Page iii 7. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 49 7.1 Institutional requirements 49 7.2 Environmental Monitoring Program 50 8. CONCLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 51 9. REFERENCES 53 LIST OF TABLES Table: 1.1: Acts and regulations applicable to the project 3 Table: 2.1: List of the class C roads located within two districts of Northern Province 7 Table: 3.1: List of roads located within different DS & PS Divisions of Vavuniya district 10 Table: 3.2: Total road net work in Vavuniya district 16 Table: 3.3: Land area belongs to each DSD of Vavuniya district 17 Table: 3.4: Population sizes of 4 DS Divisions of Vavuniya district 18 Table: 3.5: Private health institutions of Vavuniya district by MOH Division. 19 Table: 3.6: List of the roads located within different DS & PS Divisions of Mannar district. 20 Table: 3.7: Area of Mannar district according to the A.G.A Division 31 Table: 3.8: Azweddumized extent of paddy according to the DS Divisions of Mannar district – 2008 32 Table:3.9: Information regarding the hospitals by DSD of Mannar District– 2007 33 Table:3.10: Number of schools by DSD of Mannar district- 2008 34 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: General Location of Northern Provincial Roads (Vavuniya and Mannar Districts) 6 Figure 2: Responsibility Hierarchy for Resolving Public Complaints 46 Figure 3: Responsibility Hierarchy of project implementation 49 LIST OF ANNEXURES: Annexure 1: Location maps Annexure 2: Public Consultations Annexure 3: Environmental Management Plan (EMP) Annexure 4: Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMoP) Annexure 5: Terrestrial/aquatic flora and fauna found in the proposed project area of Mannar and Vavuniya districts Annexure 6: Guidelines obtained from CEA Page iv Initial Environmental Examination Report - Subgroup IIIN, North Provincial Roads: Mannar and Vavuniya Districts. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Introduction: The proposed road development project i ncludes rehabilitation and improvement of 1 41.27 km of 22 C class provin cial roads located in Mannar and Vavuniya districts of the Northern Province (NP) in Sri Lanka through “Northern Connectivity Road Project” with the financial assistance of the Asi an D evelopment Bank (AD B) under the AD B Loan 2080 SRI, Road Project Preparatory Facili ty Cons ulting Service for Feasibi lity Study and Det ailed Engineering Design of Provincial Roads. The Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils of Sri Lanka (MLGPC) carried out the feasibility study for the proposed Project. A total of 22 C class provincial roads including 15 roads in Mannar district (59.27 km) and 7 roads in V avuniya district (82 k m) are proposed for Environ mental Assessment. Hence this IEE report pro vides the existing conditi ons of the roads which are locate d in the above districts of NP and als o includes the ecological, economical, social and cultural background and importance of Northern Province in overall Sri Lankan concept. Objective of IEE Report The objective of th e IEE report is the preparation of an environmental account to the AD B and the CEA, including relevant environmental issues pertaining to the propose d project to facilitate the necessary decision-making. The IEE report comprises baseline data on existing conditions o f P hysical, Ecological, Economical and Social infor mation, together with the anticipated environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures. Extent and the Scope of the Study The road rehabilitation and improvement activities include the widening of existing roads to two lane status (4.50 to 5.00m) plus shoulder widths of 0.50mm to 1.50m depending on th e actual situation. Pavement surfacing will be Double Bitumen Surface Treatment (DBST). The provisions of road side drainage and other hydrological structures where necessary. Methodology The land us e pattern, road side tree s, relig ious and archaeological sit es, p ublic s ensitive locations, environmentally sensitive area s in cluding decl ared protect ed areas , i mportant flora/fauna and their habitats have been recorded with a line transect survey within 25 m area each side of the existing RoW. Public consultation sessions have been carried out within the period (6 days) from 15th November to 10th December 2009 during the site survey. Basic Inform ation Questionnaires (BIQ) for t he proposed pro ject r oads w ere prepared according t o Central Env ironmental Authority (CEA) Guidelines and sub mitted to CEA . Based on the CEA evaluation all project roads w ere categorized as u n- prescribed category. The IEE re port ha s been prep ared for the proje ct in accordance with Env ironmental Safeguards compliance Manual (E SCM) of R DA, ADB’s Environ mental Polic y (2002), Executive Summary Page i ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement 2009 and Road and Rail D evelopment Guidelines in Sri Lanka (CEA). 2. Description of the Project Location, Type, Category and Extent of the Project A total of 22 C class roads i ncluding 141.27 km have been identified w ithin the Northern Province in V avuniya and Mann ar districts. The project acti vities will involve repair, rehabilitation and/or upgrading of existing provincial road s. A total o f 07 C cl ass roads including 82 k m h ave been identified w ithin the V avuniya district. A dministratively Vavuniya district is divided in to 4 DS Divisions namely Vavuniya south (Tamil), Vavuniya south (Sinhala), Vavuniya north and Vengalacheddikulam. A tota l of 15 C class roads in cluding 59.27 km have b een i dentified with in the Mann ar district. Adm inistratively Mannar d istrict divided in to 5 DS Divisions: Mann ar town, Manthai West, Madhu, Nanatta and Musali. The roads selected for rehabilitation pass through three DS Divisions (Mannar town, Madhu and Nanatta). Based on th e Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) checkl ist of the ADB classification, Northern Province roads are categorized as environmental category B. Thus the IEE serves as the complete Environment Assessment for the proposed project. Need for the Project The C class provincial roads located within the Northern Province belong to t he PRDD of North Provincial Co uncil of the co untry. Since large nu mbers of C an d D class roads ar e located within the province it is extremely difficult to rehabilitate or improve roads only with the financial assistance of the Provincial Coun cil.