Environment - ތިމާވެށި
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Item Post-tsunami infrastructure rehabilitation project : rehabilitation of 6 selected harbors : social and environmental impact assessment for the rehabilitation of the harbor in Makunudhoo island, Haa Dhaal atoll(2007-11) SOGREAH Consultants; Water SolutionsThis report discusses the findings of a social and environmental impact study undertaken by Water Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and SOGREAH consultants of France upon request from Ministry of Construction and Public Infrastructure. The project involves the rehabilitation of the existing harbour in Makunudhoo, Haa Dhaal Atoll with improved infrastructures. This project is initiated by the government of Maldives with funding from Agence Française de Dévelopement” (AFD) as part of the Tsunami rehabilitation programme. The harbour of Makunudhoo has been damaged to various extents and requires repair and upgrading, including deepening the harbour basin, and increasing slightly the size. A detail assessment of the environmental and social conditions was assessed based on which a rehabilitation project has been proposed. This EIA has been prepared to assess the social and environmental impacts of this proposed rehabilitation project. Major environmental impacts of the project have been identified as resulting mainly from dredging and disposal of dredged materials. Dredging will be undertaken in the harbour basin and to some extent in the access channel. In view of the assessment, the environmental damages to marine resources have not been considered major due to the limited boundary of the project and also due to confined nature of the project. The impacts are likely to be felt on an estimated 5% of the lagoon and reef‐flat of that extensive reef system. These environmental impacts were assessed for both construction and operation phase of the project. Mitigation measures for these anticipated impacts have been identified and outlined in detail, including sedimentation control methods and other measures. These mitigation measures will have to be followed in order to minimize environmental damage. Stakeholder consultations were held with various groups, including the community and the client in order to incorporate the socio‐ economic components in the project. The proposed rehabilitation plans for Makunudhoo has been prepared after considering the needs and requirements from the community by assessing and incorporating the outcomes from the extensive community consultations held during the data collection stage. It is inevitable that there would be some negative environmental impacts, especially when dredging is undertaken. However, these minor negative impacts out weight the socioeconomic benefits gained by rehabilitating the harbour. As a result, a comprehensive monitoring component has been suggested which takes in to consideration, the most important elements that require regular checks. This monitoring component will be adhered and will allow the assessment of long term changes, despite the limited nature of the impact. The most important consideration is the socioeconomic impacts that have been assessed mainly as positive in nature. Not only they are positive, but most importantly in the long term. Therefore, it appears justified from a technical and from an environmental point of view, to carry out the proposed rehabilitation project if the island is to absorb the economic gains achieved by the project.Item Environmental impact assessment for the proposed development of sewerage system at Eydhafushi, Baa Atoll, Maldives(2008-08) Oriental Consultants; Yachiyo EngineeringThis report discusses the findings of a social and environmental impact study undertaken by Oriental Consultants and Yachiyo Engineering of Japan at the request of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Water. Although this is a rehabilitation project, the sewerage system in Eydhafushi 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. The project involves the decommissioning of the existing system and development of a new sewerage system in Eydhafushi. This project is initiated by the government of Maldives with funding from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) as part of the tsunami rehabilitation programme. The existing sewerage system of Eydhafushi was built by the people on a need basis by different individuals connecting their septic tank systems to gravity flow sewer pipes disposing to the lagoon. The system is not so functionable and has some environmental problems, which need to be addressed. The system is similar to the “Small Bore Sewerage System”, which is basically a gravity flow system which the government in collaboration with UNICEF established in some of the most populous island such as Kandholhudhoo and Hinnavaru. The environment of Eydhafushi may be described as well managed, with few environmental problems with appropriate solid waste management, well maintained private sewer lines with nearshore outfalls, clear lagoon which is seeing increasing signs of pollution from nearshore disposal of sewage using multiple outfalls spread around the island, good housing with apropriate ventilation, sound level of urban planning, presence of beach and recreational areas and groundwater less contaminated compared to several islands of similar size and population density. 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 Eydhafushi is less dependent upon the government than many other islands, which are dependent for reasons of bureaucratic system of government people have been used to. 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 STP and outfall. 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 Eydhafushi 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 Eydhafushi. In conclusion, it appears justified from a technical and environmental point of view, to carry out the proposed project to improve sanitation in Eydhafushi.Item Addendum to environmental impact assessment for the proposed upgrading and redevelopment in Athuruga Resort, South Ari Atoll, Maldives(2009-12-01) Water SolutionsThis is an addendum to the EIA submitted in May 2009 for the redevelopment of Athuruga resort in South Ari Atoll. This Addendum highlights the different modification to the initial redevelopment project that was proposed in the EIA report. These includes, deepening the existing entrance channel, undertaking the coastal protection component including construction of the groynes, nourishment of eroded beach and construction of breakwaters, reuse of corals from demolition wastes as an effective waste management strategy and the relocation of the proposed overwater restaurant from the northern side of the walkway jetty to the southern side. The other changes that had been brought to the redevelopment project includes reducing the number of over water bungalows from 25 to 23, reduce the number of house‐keeping huts on the walkway jetty from 3 to 2, not developing the over‐water spa in the southern side of the walkway jetty and changing the reception at the centre of the northern walkway jetty to a bar. The new changes that had been brought to the master plan of the development would decrease the development foot print on the marine environment. The new component that had been included in the redevelopment project is the coastal protection component that was not initially proposed in the original project. Groynes had been built in Athuruga for many years. This has helped to retain the beach and prevent severe erosion of the island. However, since the re‐development project was initially proposed without the coastal protection component, this component has been proposed in this addendum in order to undertake the works as without coastal protection, it would be very challenging to manage erosion. The coastal protection component was not included in the redevelopment project, as the groynes existed on the island and these structures, which were made out of corals and coral rubbles, were moved around depending on the monsoon. Hence, it is proposed to build these groynes field around the island. Since Athuruga has lost large amount of beach, replenishment of sand is required to prevent further erosion and sustainably manage the coastline. The proposed project includes pumping of 6,900 m³ sand to the beach on the western, northern and eastern side of the island. Part of the materials for the beach replenishment would be obtained from the excavated spoil from the channel deepening component of the project. It is also proposed to build a submerged breakwater at the northern and western side of the island. This has been proposed as a additional defence to prevent the continuous erosion that the island endures. The project also proposes to deepen the existing entrance channel which is located on north western side of the island. The channel has become very shallow, causing difficulty for the boats to access the island during low tides. The project is proposed to deepen the existing channel to a depth of 3 meters at low tide. Since coral rubbles on a sandy sea floor is the main benthic substrate found in the existing channel, the channel deepening operations with an excavator is not expected to have a significant impact on the marine environment. The concept of redevelopment is to capture the architectural signature that was originally created at the island. Therefore, with this intention, the new buildings which are constructed with building blocks is being planned to be decorated with a layer of corals that have been recovered in the demolition waste stream. In the original EIA, this issue was not extensively elaborated. Hence, this addendum has included a section which deals with the reuse of the corals in the demolition waste stream. The proposed changes appears justified from an environmental point of view as there are no additional moderate to major impacts on the environment due to the proposed changes.