| Abstract: | Westore Pvt. Ltd. proposes to develop a 10-Storey Building with Basement at H. Loveside found on Abadahfehi Magu, Male’ for both commercial and residential use. The total area of the plot is 230.38sqm and proposed builtup area is 220.45sqm. 9.93sqm will be left as open space. Once completed, the basement area will have a car park with storage area, the ground and first floors will have commercial areas for shops and offices and around 20 residential units (comprising of 2 bedroom, 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom) from second to ninth floors. At the top level there will be a roof terrace.
The site will be excavated to a depth of 2.7m to lay the foundations and develop the basement area where the depth of the foundation will be 1.05m and the basement floor level will be 1.65m. The ground level will be raised to a height of 1.2m, hence the final floor height of the basement will be 2.85m. The entire boundary will be shored with corrugated sheets or concrete walls supported by iron beams as a safety measure while preparing the site ready for construction.
The EIA has been prepared as per the EIA Regulations 2012 developed directly under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act and identifies that development of such buildings with basements or over 10 storeys with greater than 5ft foundation require an EIA to be undertaken and approved by EPA before commencement of construction.
In order to understand existing environmental conditions of the proposed project area, assessments have been undertaken including ambient noise levels, traffic volume and movement, groundwater quality, vegetation, physical condition of the surrounding buildings and roads were undertaken.
The highest noise level recorded was at Site 1 having 55dB and the lowest noise level recorded was at Site 3 having 45dB. The main reason for high noise level is because the site was located close another road where there are combined traffic movement from Violet Goalhi east to west and from Abadhafehi Magu from south to north. The traffic flow was observed to be from south to north by the project site. The traffic volume near project site has some variations between day and night. It was observed that motorcycle volume increased at night while all other types of vehicles such as cars, pickups and bicycles decreased. However, during the day, motorcycles were slightly decreased on other types of vehicles were increased.
There is no vegetation present in the proposed plot.
There is only 1 building with 3 storeys on the adjacent of the proposed site, which is found at the back of the proposed plot. All other buildings are single storey. Only the building found on the south is used as godown for Fantasy Supermarket. All other buildings including the 3 storey building are used for residential purpose.
There are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed project, however, some of the environmental impacts from development activities such as dewatering, construction activities, operation of construction machinery, construction waste generating environmental impacts such as noise, dust and pollution are believed to occur. Social impacts such as traffic congestion, disturbance to nearby school operation have been predicted. During operation period of the project, household waste and traffic are believed to increase.
As part of the proposed project, a number of mitigation measures have been proposed in the EIA Report including using corrugated sheets supported by iron beams as a safety measure for protecting the excavated area for foundation, dewatering will be undertaken upon approval from EPA, while preparing the site ready for construction, measures such as installation of safety and dust protection nets, appropriate signage will be placed to make aware people on the development. Also, important mitigation measures that will be implemented include complete elimination of waste disposal during construction and operation stages of the development into the project boundaries.
Although during construction of the project, negative environmental impacts from construction activities have been envisaged, with appropriate environmental management and mitigation measures, these impacts will be reduced to a considerable level. Also, with positive socio-economic outlook of the project and considering the overall importance of housing in Male’, it is concluded that the project is an important development. |
