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RBOD ProjectEnvironmental Vista
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Stage-I Larkana and Shahdad Kot districts. Stage-II Kashmore, Jacobabad, Dadu ... LBOD changed whole regime of KPOD after construction of the Tidal Link Canal. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation
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Title: RBOD ProjectEnvironmental Vista
1
RBOD Project-Environmental Vista
- Naseer Memon
2
RBOD Project
- Stage-I Larkana and Shahdad Kot districts
- Stage-II Kashmore, Jacobabad, Dadu districts
and Balochistan - Stage-III IV Sindh and Balochistan
- Length of drain 273 kms
- Design discharge increased from 2,271 to 3,525
cusecs - Cost increased from Rs. 14 to 31 billion
- Expected completion-2008
3
Drainage projects are environmentally sensitive
development projects and need careful design
implementation, stringent mitigation measures and
effective long term monitoring
4
Outfall Options
- Manchar Lake
- River Indus
- Evaporation Ponds
- Via LBOD to Sea
- Via RBOD to Sea
- The last option is likely to be the least
damaging if socio-environmental impacts are
properly mitigated
5
Environmental Impact Assessment
- Conducting EIA is a pre-requisite for
environmentally sensitive large projects. - Public sector projects are generally implemented
without EIA. - It is appreciable that the IPD conducted an EIA
for RBOD project.
6
Review of the EIA
- EIA is a guiding document for environmental
management of the project. Therefore it would be
pertinent to review the stipulations of the EIA. - Stakeholder consultation on environmental issues
is missing which is mandatory under PEPA Act
1997. - Responsibilities in some areas are not clearly
defined. e.g. who will ensure pre-discharge
treatment of Kotri industrial effluent?
(proponent is responsible)
7
Review of the EIA
- The EIA proposes Environmental Biological
Management through plantation of 2 million trees
in Khirthar hills. - It is not clear as to who will implement this
huge undertaking and who will fund this plan. - Abstract of cost given in the PC-1 of the project
(page 35-36) is silent about this item. EIA also
does not give any rough estimates.
8
Review of the EIA
- The following aspects are also missing in the
- EIA
- Change Management
- Indicators for compliance and effect monitoring
- Selection of camp sites, waste disposal and
restoration plan - Transport management (speed limits, oil leakages,
washing etc.)
9
Impact on hill torrents ecosystem
- The project area is exposed to occasional
torrential flows from Khirthar range - The EIA document does not provide adequate
information on likely effects of the project on
hill torrent ecosystem and the drain structure
itself. - Lessons learnt from CBRC need to be analyzed and
incorporated.
10
Impact on hill torrents ecosystem
- The following aspects require further
investigation - Number of torrents interrupting the drain, their
maximum past discharges and frequency - Impact on downstream water users and resulting
socio-economic losses - Engineering risk involving training of flash
floods through narrow escapes
11
Impact on local aquifer
- Drainage projects pose serious environmental risk
for freshwater aquifers - The EIA does not adequately cover this very
important environmental aspect. - The project area runs closer to River Indus. It
is most likely that the area has freshwater
recharge zone with relatively higher water table,
which will become prone to saline seepage. - Revised PC-I provides stone pitching of bunds and
lining of bed
12
Impact on Gharo creek ecosystem
- Chapter 6 (page-6-11) mentions, No monitoring
was done for the Gharo Creek, therefore no
scientific statement can be made viz-a-viz
environmental impact of K.G drain on the Gharo
Creek. - However in conclusion it is said that The
current environmental assessment of Gharo Creek
does not indicate any serious state of
pollutionTherefore, it can be predicted that
with the discharge of RBOD into Gharo will not
have a negative impact
13
Impact on Gharo creek ecosystem
- It is not clear what sort of assessment is
referred here in absence of monitoring. - Gharo creek ecosystem merits scientific
assessment before jumping into conclusions like
no impact. - For long-term impact assessment baseline
information need to be collected. - EIA is silent about mitigation measure if such
monitoring establishes negative environmental
impact on the creek ecosystem.
14
Tidal Impact
- Page 6-11 article-vi mentions with the rising
tide the flow in the Khuhi-Gharo drain is
reversed up to almost 10 kms from the creek. - This reminds terrible failure of Tidal Link Canal
of LBOD. - LBOD changed whole regime of KPOD after
construction of the Tidal Link Canal. - The EIA is silent about the likely impact of the
backflow in KG drain after commissioning of the
RBOD. Also it does not give details of outfall
structure
15
Socio-economical Issues
- Socio-economical issues of any large development
project are long reaching and are integral part
of environment. This may include employment,
displacement, impact on means of livelihood,
historical rights of communities, gender
perspective etc. - The EIA has very superficially touched (only 7
lines (page 6-3) this very vital impact of the
project.
16
Socio-economical Issues
- The only aspect discussed is possibility of local
employment and termed it positive. It does not
even stipulate any terms for employment
distribution and other related issues. - There is no mention of impact on ground water,
loss of livelihood, women issues etc. - Absence of comprehensive socio-economic impact
assessment might eventually result in
complications for the project executants.
17
Recommendations-Impacts
- The following aspects should be studied in
greater details - Impact on hill torrents ecosystem
- Impact on freshwater lakes
- Impact on Gharo creek ecosystem
- Impact on ground water aquifer
- Impact on livelihood means of communities
- Impact of backflow during high tide
18
Recommendations-Monitoring
- Establishing Environmental Cell in IPD for the
project is appreciable. - Environmental impact monitoring should not be
restricted with the Environmental Cell. It should
be made broad based involving other stakeholders
like SEPA, SWD, Environmental NGOS e.g. WWF, IUCN
and universities. - Environmental monitoring reports should be made
public on quarterly basis.
19
Recommendations-Upstream Measures
- In order to mitigate environmental impacts,
upstream measures should also be considered. - Like treatment of industrial effluent of Kotri,
similar measures may also be adopted in the
districts releasing agricultural disposal in
MNVD. - In collaboration with the Agriculture department
use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides may be
restricted and gradually replaced with organic
alternatives to minimize pollutants in RBOD.
20
Recommendations-Upstream Measures
- Municipal effluent received by MNVD may also be
treated before releasing into the drain. - The environmental monitoring plan should also
encompass these aspect. - Future extension at upstream should only have
been considered after satisfactory performance of
the current phase of the project. - At suitable upstream locations localized
evaporation and recycling options should also be
investigated to reduce the discharges.
21
Recommendations-Learning from Past
- RBOD is the second largest drainage project in
Sindh after LBOD. - Issues, failures and successes registered in the
LBOD project should be carefully analyzed and
incorporated in RBOD project. - Implementing the project in shortest possible
time with lowest possible cost is appreciable
objective but not at the cost of increased risk
and higher cost for people
22
- Thank You
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