Consultancy Services for Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) including Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and Environmental Survey & Quality Test, Biodiversity Assessment, GIS Mapping & Consultation

Under ADB Funded Dhaka Water Supply Network Improvement Project (DWSNIP); Consultancy for Project Development Facility (PDF) Contract No. DWSNIP / PDF / 03.5

The project area is the Rayer bazar Sewerage Catchment consists of approx. 26.9 km2, encompassing parts of five Thanas, namely Tejgaon, Mohammadpur, Hazaribagh, Dhanmondi and Kamrangirchar. The area is highly congested except for the planned residential area of Dhanmondi. The road network in Dhanmondi is well planned and in good order. The entire Mohammadpur area is served by a network of paved roads and is well drained.

In contrast, the road networks in Rayerbazar, Hazaribagh and Zigatola areas are narrow and congested. Most of the narrow lanes are sometimes submerged during rains, as no proper drainage system exists. It is shown that the project area is in good condition, easy to access urban facilities including gas, electricity, and water supply system. However, condition of the piped sewerage system is poor and largely inoperable, wherein it has become common practice to bypass the system and discharge untreated sewage directly to the surface drains and/or nearby canals and water bodies.

Services included:

§  Collection and review of all available relevant data and reports.

§  Collection of primary and secondary environmental and socio-economic data.

§  Establish the environmental and social baseline conditions of the project.

§  Assessment of the baseline environmental and social condition through field surveys and investigation (sampling & testing).

§  Conduct socio-economic field surveys through Semi-structured Questionnaire, Key Informant Interviews and/or Public Consultation through Focused Group Discussions.

§  Conduct environmental quality monitoring sampling and testing for air quality, surface & groundwater quality, soil quality, and noise & vibration level.

§  Conduct ambient air quality monitoring for 8 hours duration each at specified locations and carry out testing of defined parameters, such as, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5).

§  LATA Envirotech APM 250 with Combined PM₁₀/PM_2.5 Sampler was used for the measurement and monitoring of particulate matters and for gaseous pollutants.

§  Collection of surface water samples from specified locations and carry out testing of defined parameters, such as, pH, Total Suspended Solid (TSS), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Organic Carbon (TOC), Total Phosphate (PO₄), and Oil& Grease.

§  The surface water samples were tested at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), DPHE and Dhaka University (DU) laboratories.

§  Collection of groundwater samples from specified locations and carry out testing of defined parameters, such as, pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Alkalinity, Chloride (Cl-), Arsenic (As), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), and Sulfate (SO₄).

§  The groundwater samples were tested at BUET and DPHE laboratory.

§  Carry out ambient noise monitoring to determine the ambient noise levels at specified locations (both day and night-time).

§  The sound level was recorded using a calibrated HTC Sound Level Meter, set to A-weighting, slow response, and statistical analysis settings.

§  Carry out vibration assessment to determine the vibration levels at specified locations using HTC VB-8205 vibration meter.

§  Assess the existing physical environment, biological environment, and socio-economic environment.

§  Physical environment covered different physical natural features and included major parameters & factors, such as, climate (temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed, & cloud coverage), ambient air quality, noise level, physiography, topography, geology & hydrology, water resources (surface & ground water), soil quality, agro-ecological zones (soil condition, & floodplain/Coastal Plain), seismicity, etc.

§  Biological environment covered factors related to life and included major features, such as, bio-ecological zones (major rivers), terrestrial ecosystem, flora & fauna, protected areas & red book species, etc.

§  Socio-economic environment covered anthropological factors, such as, demography, age, sex/gender, household, nutrition, religion, ethnicity, land use ownership, cropping pattern, occupational pattern, livelihood, income, infrastructure, settlement plan & housing, transport & communication, education, sources of drinking water, sanitation facility, poverty, health, recreational activities, archaeological & cultural heritage, climate change & natural disaster, environmental & social hotspot, etc.

§  Analysis of the data to identity the potential environmental impacts.

§  Preparation of an EIA Report, including the EMP and the environmental monitoring plan, in compliance with the requirements of the Department of Environment of the Government of Bangladesh and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

§  As part of the EIA Report, preparation of Public Consultation Meeting Report with photographs, attendance list and summary of the meeting discussion and consultation.