Academic Articles -- ޢިލްމީ ލިޔުންތަކުގެ ޖަމާ
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Item Environmental impact assessment for the sewerage facility in Hanimaadhoo, Haa Dhaalu Atoll, Maldives(2013-11) Energy ConsultancyThis report is based on the proposed Sewerage system in HDh. Hanimaadhoo. The island is located North of the Maldives, in Haa Dhaalu atoll. Access to the island is mainly through the recently built harbour and airport. The project is proposed by Noomadi Resorts and Residences, and construction works are undertaken by Wavelength Maldives Pvt. Ltd. This EIA study is carried out by the team at Energy Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. An Environmental Impact Assessment was necessary for the works outlined in this report as they fall under the ‘Jadhuvalu R’ of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations 2012 of the Maldives. In addition to meeting the regulatory requirements, the report would further assist the proponent and important stakeholders to make decisions in an environmentally sound manner. The study aims to assist in the sustainable development of the project. Considering other legislative issues, the client has obtained approval from the EPA for the preliminary design of the system, in addition to approval from the Land and Survey Authority and Maldives Energy Authority. The need for the project is borne out of the poor status of the current sewerage system in the island, consisting of decentralised septic tanks and soak pits. One of the main issues of the current system is the pollution of the groundwater aquifer due to the bacteria and other pollutants leaching out into the groundwater system. This is an issue faced by many islands in the Maldives, and therefore currently there is a lot of emphasis on developing centralised sewerage systems in all the islands. As part of the stakeholder consultation, discussion was held with the island council, NGOs and the local community, who all emphasised on the importance of implementing the project in the island as soon as possible. They further stated that they are willing to pay a monthly fee for the operation and maintenance of the pumps and the system in general. The overall environmental impacts of the project have been assessed using frameworks found on literature and the results indicate that the proposed project has minimum negative impact and thus have an overall net positive impact. The main positive impacts comes from the fact that the sewerage system will stop the pollution of the groundwater. However, alternatively, this system also leads to the salinization of the groundwater aquifer, since all the water in the sewage will be removed from the system. The solution to this issue is the implementation of a Sewage Treatment Plant. However, this is not feasible at this stage, due to the high capital costs incurred. More importantly, such a system will require rigorous monitoring and operation costs will be quite high. This would lead the system to be mismanaged, leading to a potential breakdown of the system. Therefore such an implementation is not recommended for this project. Considering other impacts to the vegetation and the marine environment, these are minor issues which can be effectively mitigated. Alternative options to the sewerage system are considered. As such the no project option is first discussed and discarded as a possible alternative. Given the dire state of the groundwater aquifer, it is recommended that the project takes place. The other option is on the Sewage Treatment Plant, which is also not feasible at this stage. The location of the pump stations and the sewage outfall is also considered, including changing the outfall into a more central area, in which removal of vegetation for pump station construction will be at a minimum. However, after considering the positives and negatives of each alternative, it is recommended that the proposed design and locations are considered. The methodology of construction as proposed by the contractor is recommended, since it has been successfully implemented in several other projects in the Maldives without significant detrimental impacts to the environment. It is recommended to continue to monitor the impacts of the proposed project by regular monitoring of ground water, marine water and marine environment. A 2 stage monitoring plan is given, which recommends quarterly monitoring during the 1st year and less frequent monitoring for the next 5 years. Undertaking the monitoring, along with the mitigation measures is necessary to ensure the sustainable development of the project with minimum harm to the environment. It is thus recommended that given the positive socio economic and environmental impacts from the project far outweighs the minor negative impacts, and since the project has major socio-economic benefits and environmental benefits, it is advisable to allow the project to proceed as proposed. It is also recommended that consideration is given to implement a Sewage Treatment Plant at a later stage as another project, when the council and community is able to properly carry out the operation and maintenance of the system.Item Environmental impact assessment report for playground reclamation project GA. Dhandhoo(2013-02) Energy ConsultancyDhaandhoo is located on the eastern rim of G.A Atoll, approximately at 0° 37’ 15.88’’ N and 73° 27’ 43.78’’ E. Dhaandhoo has a population of 1949 and all areas of the island is populated. The island teams host their practice in a nearby island Nilandhoo. Since for each practice of the football team, the local players have to take a sea transport to Nilandhoo, the practicing is very inconvenient. The proposal to reclamation for the development of a football ground was proposed due to difficulties on land allocation. From the survey conducted to examine existing environment, the coastal environment shows well developed natural beach associated with beach erosion is some places along the west side of the island. In some places the beach rock can be seen. The mean coastal current was found to be 7.9cm/s. In the marine environment the coral cover found to be 16.3 percent and at the time of the survey, some fishes were observed in the vicinity. It is expected that the project will be completed within 150 days. The main components in this project include mobilization, dredging, construction of breakwater and quay wall and demobilization. The proposed area to be reclaimed is 0.72 ha. A total of 18000 m3 of sand needed to be mined from the borrow area, which is located Northwest of the existing harbor. The land reclamation would take place in the Southwest of the existing harbor. The most suitable alternative location for the borrowing area would be the existing harbor. However from the dredging of the existing harbor might not accumulate enough volume of sand to reclaim 0.72 hectors of land area required for the football field. An alternative location for the football field is the site that has been proposed for the land reclamation located at the Northwest of the harbor. However from the community consultation it was found the proposed dredging site is to be used as a commercial harbor in future. The main impact from this project to the environment was identified to be sedimentation and loss of some marine habitat. The main mitigation measures are carrying out the project during low tide and complete the project in a shorter period of the time.Item Environmental impact assessment report for harbor construction project Ga. Kon’dey(2013-02) Energy ConsultancyKon’dey is located on the south-eastern part of G.A Atoll. The proposed harbor is 91 m long and 61 m wide with a 28 m wide entrance. The basin will be 5 m deep at mean sea level. This is a small size harbor relative to harbors in more populated islands. The proposed harbor site is located at the existing harbor area on thewestern side of the island.Since the basin area is already excavated, it is expected that the material removed from the basin and the entrance will be just enough to backfill and to reclaim the quay wall of the harbor. For the breakwater, armour rocks will be loaded and transferred to site from stock pile using excavator. Before backfilling the quay wall, a geo-textile layer will be placed between the quay wall blocks and back filled sand. In the proposed project area there is an existing temporary harbor used by the island community. In the deep area the survey showed a depth of 4 to 5 meters from the mean sea level meanwhile inthe shallower region of the proposed harbor site has 1 to 2 meters from mean sea level. Marine water quality was assessed in four deferent locations from the proposed area. According to the data collected, the sea water over the proposed location is clear. It was found from the survey that the percentage of the coral cover is less than 2 percent due to the pre-dragging for the harbor use. The island has a very long shoreline with its natural beach intact. However in some areas where economic activities are taking place, the problem of beach erosion can be found. In such areas the beach has eroded up to and beyond the vegetation line. The mean coastal current was found to be 7.8cm/s. The main impacts to the environment from the project include sedimentation silt deposition and loss of habitats in the sites where excavated materials has to be deposited. For monitoring the impacts that may arise from the proposedhabour project, shoreline, vegetation line beach profile and live coral cover should be monitored. These impacts can be mitigated through proper project planning and by taking proper precautions.