Kali Gandaki 'A' Hydroelectric Project in Environmental ... - AECEN

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in Nepal to monitor and mitigate the adverseenvironmental impacts due to the projectconstruction and was established as per the provisionin the loan agreement between NEA and ADB.Considering multidimensional activities and mandate,KGEMU was staffed with a diverse group ofenvironmental professionals. The environmentaladvisor and trainer, an expatriate position, wasresponsible for reviewing the performance andmanage KGEMU for the first year. Moreover, anexpatriate manager and an International Panel ofExperts (environmental and social) were also engagedto guide and review the environmental and socialworks of the project throughout the projectconstruction stage.Monitoring activities were considered animportant aspect. KGEMU staff conductedcompliance monitoring of the internationalcontractors regarding environmental obligations asmentioned in the contract documents. About 108environmental and social clauses were incorporatedin tender documents of the civil contractor (IgL).Significant shortcomings on the part ofcontractors were documented and informed to therelevant contractors for necessary improvements.Several engineer’s instructions were issued to thecontractors to make them comply with theircontractual obligations. However, the contractors’environmental compliance status was satisfactory,but needs greater enforcement mechanism to achievebetter performance in future projects.Social research and impacts studiesThe professional staff of the KGEMU conductedseveral impacts monitoring studies among the affectedpopulace of the project areas during the period of theproject construction. This research effort paid offhandsomely, resulting in about 18-20 studies onvarious types of social impacts, a research recordrarely achieved in other hydropower projects (POE2002). The findings of these researches on impactsand issues were conveyed to the project director andthe ADB, through POE reports and ADB SupervisionMission reports.Mitigation implementation/adaptive managementThe project mostly followed the mitigationapproaches proposed by the project environmentaldocuments. Nevertheless, the project also espouseto adaptive management approach in order tominimize and/or mitigate the unforeseen adverseimpacts arises during the course of projectimplementation. Resettlement and Rehabilitationprogram for affected Bote (Fishermen) families andimplementation of Community Support Program weregood examples of adaptive management of theproject. Some of the major mitigation measuresimplemented and/or constructed during constructionstage of the project were as follows;Physical Environment• Installation of siren warning system in powerhouseand dam site.• Protection measures for water qu-ality atproject areas.• Restoration of the disturbed site using bioengineeringmeasures at head work site, powerhousesite, access road and transmission linetower locations.• Management and control of 6.2 million tonsexcavated materials were carried out as perthe approved plan submitted by the contractor.Biological environment• Establishment of project centralnursery with production capacity of 60,000seedlings/year and grass slip production(150,000-200,000/year) for bioengineeringand slope stabilization purposes inproject site.• Establishment of satellite nurseries toprovide seedlings to local communities.• Plantation of 319,694 seedlings of differentspecies at different project components andcommunity land.• Restriction on hunting and poaching duringconstruction period of the project.• Construction of fish hatchery.• Implementation of fish trapping and haulingprogram.• Construction of trash rack, fish bypasssystem and collector channel at headworksite.Social/cultural environment• Cash compensation for the loss of land, houseand other assets. The formal tenants of guthi(communal) land were paid an additional 42%compensation, totaling 75% vis-à-vis legalprovision of only 33% compensation.Compensation also provided for standingcrops and grass damaged during the projectconstruction.• Provided additional rehabilitat-ion grants(house rent) to the affected families at the rateof NRs 1,000 per month for 4 months.
• Grant to pay the government la-nd registrationfee provided as an incentive to those affectedfamilies who purchased replacement land.• House loss compensated at repl-acement cost.Affected households were also provided theconstruction materials from their old housefor reuse.• Priority of hiring affected family members includinglocal people. Provided employmentto 2,568 people during construction. Morethan three-fourths of the SPAFs/PAFs wereemployed and the local-outsider employmentratio in the project was 50-50% duringconstruction. Both the families’ standard ofliving and the local economy soon exhibitedthe positive impact of these regular cashinflows during the project constructionperiod.• Implementation of micro-credit revolving fundprogram with an earmarked budget of NRs2,900,000.• Protection of Setibeni Sheela, a holy stone religioussite, by constructing a gabion wall withheight ranging from 2 to 8 m, a walking pathwith railing around the sacred stone tofacilitate devotees to worship and encircle thestone.• Construction of cremation sheds and renovationof temples.• Implementation of skill developmenttraining program.• Resettlement and rehabilitation of Bote(fisherman) families.• Implementation of community support program,which includes conservation of localreligious and cultural sites, literacy programto local women, support to local schools,renovation and construction of drinkingwater, etc.• Establishment of a primary sch- ool at AndhimuhanBote village, as an important gestureof project mitigation attempts for the Botecommunity.• The study shows that the empl-oyed SPAF/PAFs have secured NRs 128,000 averageannual cash income compared to the 22,000rupees that families earned annually beforethe project started. This indicates that thecash income of the SPAF/PAFs was nearly sixtimes greater than the previous cash income.• Regular celebration of World EnvironmentDay to enhance environmental awarenessamong local public.Environmental aspects during operation phaseThe Kali Gandaki ‘A’ Hydroelectric Plant has beenunder commercial operation since August 2002. TheEnvironmental and Social Studies Department (ESSD)of the NEA carried out the post-constructionEnvironmental Impact Study of the project. ESSD staffhas recently completed operation phaseenvironmental and social monitoring activities of theproject for two year (2005-2006) and prepared anEnvironmental and Social Operation Manual for theproject. These activities have been carried out as perADB requirement, with reports submitted regularlyto ADB.FindingsMajor findings of environmental and socialmonitoring/studies during operation phase of theproject include;1. Release of 4 m 3 /s minimum of water duringdry season and 6 m 3 /s on religious days hasbeen observed.2. A siren warning system is in operation at thepowerhouse and dam site.3. Reduction in bed load below the dam afterconstruction has occurred. However, totalsediment loads downstream has not changedfrom the pre-existing conditions.4. The KGA project has had a positive effect onforests, with regards to energy consumption,as the use of alternative sources of energy hasincreased,5. The post-construction Environmental ImpactAudit study indicates that constructiondisturbances have settled down.6. The Reservoir Sedimentation Study is beingcarried out annually by the KGA department.A bathymetric survey of project reservoir byecho sounding technology has beenimplemented.7. The fish bypass system is under operation.8. Fish hatchery operations and management arebeing carried out smoothly by the NepalAgricultural Research Council (NARC).9. Release of different species of fingerling inProject reservoir has been implemented.10. Three has been a decrease in average landholding size of the affected families incomparison to pre-project levels.11. The quality of reconstructed houses appearsbetter than old houses. Some of the newhouses are roofed with iron-sheeting and are
Page 1 and 2: Kali Gandaki ‘A’ Hydroelectric
Page 3: EIA, ACRP and the Tender Documents.
Page 7: economist in the Environmental Mana

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