| Abstract: | This report discusses the findings of a social and environmental impact study undertaken by Water
Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and Al Habshi Consultants Office of Kuwait at the request of the Ministry of
Environment, Energy and Water. Although this is a rehabilitation project, the sewerage system in
Hinnavaru is beyond rehabilitation and needs a complete makeover. Therefore, in accordance with
the requirements of the EIA Regulation, an EIA is proposed to be done for the proposed project.
Also, since EIA was not a requirement at the time Hinnavaru sewerage system was initially built,
there has not been any EIA undertaken for the sewerage system. Consequently, an EIA would need
to be undertaken.
The project involves the decommissioning of the existing system and development of a new
sewerage system in Hinnavaru. This project is initiated by the government of Maldives with
funding from Kuwait Fund (KFAED) as part of the tsunami rehabilitation programme. The
sewerage system of Hinnavaru was one of the first sewerage systems installed in the inhabited
islands of the Maldives. The system is old and has a lot of environmental problems, which need to
be addressed. An environmental evaluation of the sewerage system in Hinnavaru was first
undertaken by Riyan in 1999. This study also highlighted various issues related to the sewerage
system in Hinnavaru, especially environmental degradation resulting from the sewerage system.
The environment of Hinnavaru may be described as poorly managed, with several environmental
problems including inappropriate solid waste management, damaged sewerage system with
nearshore outfalls, lagoon polluted with sewage and waste disposal including fish waste in the past
leading to eutrophication and excessive algal blooms, modest housing with little ventilation, poor or
no urban planning, lack of beach and recreational areas and contaminated groundwater and
inadequate water supply. However, there is an ongoing programme to improve water supply with a
10‐ton desalination plant, a solid waste management project and this project underway to replace
the existing sewerage system. These three projects are financed under tsunami assistance from
different donors.
Stakeholder consultations were held with various groups, including the community and the client in
order to incorporate the socio‐economic components in the project. It was observed that the
community of Hinnavaru is heavily dependent upon the government for reasons of bureaucratic
system of government people have been used to for their entire life. However, there are signs that people are ready to make a difference if community involvement, participation and empowerment
can be assured.
Environmental impacts were assessed for both the construction and operation phase of the project.
Most of the environmental impacts of the project have been identified as positive resulting mainly
from improvements to groundwater and lagoon water quality and resulting reduction in water‐
borne and water‐related diseases and general ill‐health. The main negative impact of the project
would be that of excessive drawdown on the aquifer resulting from the improved sewerage system.
There are other minor negative impacts such as small amount of excavation to lay the outfall pipe
and dewatering to lay the sewer network in some areas including dewatering for the construction of
manholes, lift stations and sumpwell at the pumping station. These impacts are considered to be
moderate but short‐term. The socio‐economic benefits of the project may be considered to outweigh
the negative impacts of the project.
Mitigation measures for anticipated negative impacts have been identified and outlined in detail,
including minimizing dewatering, laying the sewers properly including the outfall, locating the
outfall at adequate depth, including secondary treatment before discharging final effluent to sea,
removal of existing sewers and outfalls and improvements to lagoon and coastal conditions in order
to attain the benefits of the project. The main mitigation measure would be water conservation and
measures to minimize drawdown on the aquifer. This is considered necessary whatever the
sewerage system, if it uses groundwater for flushing. The proposed design for Hinnavaru sewerage
system has been prepared after considering all impacts, discussions with community and
consideration of mitigation measures.
It is inevitable that there would be some negative environmental impacts. However, these are minor
compared to the positive effects of the proposed system. Yet, monitoring to ensure the effectiveness
of the proposed system would be necessary. Therefore, a monitoring component has been suggested
which takes in to consideration, the most important elements that require regular checks. This
monitoring component will be adhered to and will allow the assessment of changes due to
construction and implementation of the proposed sewerage system. Monitoring is specifically
focussed on ground and surface water quality changes. Reef monitoring is considered inappropriate
given the scale of anthropogenic damage to the reefs of Hinnavaru.
In conclusion, it appears justified from a technical and environmental point of view, to carry out the
proposed project to improve sanitation in Hinnavaru. |
