First addendum EIA for proposed coastal protection works in DH. Maaenboodhoo

Abstract

This is the First Addendum to the project’s approved main EIA, which has been prepared for obtaining permit and environmental clearance for a new burrow site that will be used for obtaining all required fill material for the proposed revetments to be developed in Dh. Maaenboodhoo. The Proponent of the project is Ministry of Environment and Energy and the contractor of the project is SAS e Senok JV Pvt. Ltd. It is a legal requirement under the Amended EIA Regulation 2012 EIAs/Addendums for projects that are believed to generate negative environmental impacts. This Addendum has been prepared as per the approved Terms of Reference (TOR) on 3 December 2015. The scope of this Addendum is to assess the existing environmental condition of the proposed project areas and surrounding environment, identify potential environmental impacts, propose environmental management and mitigation measures to minimize environmental impacts as well as propose an environmental monitoring plan with appropriate environmental parameters to monitor changes on a regular basis. The proposed new burrow site is located on the southern side of the island within the EPA guideline buffer boundary of 50m from the shoreline and 100m from the outer reef line as implemented under the Dredging and Reclamation Regulation 2013. A detailed environmental assessment was undertaken as part of the main EIA and marine and coastal environmental assessments relevant for the proposed project have been used as the baseline environmental condition in this Addendum. Main environmental impacts from the proposed project will be from sedimentation including water quality deterioration, reef damage as well as direct destruction of lagoon habitats within the new burrow site boundary. Although, these impacts are inevitable, it is effects can be reduced by implementing various environmental management and mitigation measures such as undertaking dredging operations coinciding with low tide and on calm days as well as undertaking the operations in the quickest possible timeframe to reduce impact exposure period. Environmental monitoring has been planned to undertaken in conjunction with the main EIA environmental monitoring plan. Although there are a number of environmental impacts from the proposed development, some of these can bring permanent changes to the environment of the island, other impacts can be reduced and mitigated by use of appropriate methodology. The effectiveness of these methodologies can be documented by implementing a comprehensive monitoring programme. Also, with positive social outlook of the project and considering the overall need for the project, it is concluded that the project should go ahead as planned.