Academic Articles -- ޢިލްމީ ލިޔުންތަކުގެ ޖަމާ
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Item Environmental impact assessment proposed access channel to arrival jetty Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, South Malé Atoll, Maldives(2011-02) SandcaysThis report addresses the environmental concerns of the proposed dredging of an access channel to the Arrival Jetty of Taj Exotica Resort and Spa located on Emboodhoofinolhu, South Malé Atoll. The primary objective of the project is to provide access to the island at all times. The project involves the excavation of a 30m long, 15m wide channel up to 3m from MSL on the western side between the arrival jetty and the deep lagoon to allow safe access to the island at all tides. The sand that is excavated will be used to replenish areas of the beach on the eastern and north end of the island where beach is easily eroded. The sand that will be placed on the beaches need to be sieved or graded to rid it of broken coral pieces and rubble. The remaining portion of the dredge material would be taken away in a barge and dumped somewhere offshore such as the deep lagoon or the sea. Since the process of sieving yield material that cannot be used for any purpose on the island (as per Tourism Regulations) and also the process involves access to several areas of the beach that would be in use by tourists, the process would require careful planning and supervision. Therefore, feasible alternatives such as creating a sand bank at a naturally shallow area close to the dredge location have been proposed. This is the initially proposed option, which was also discussed in the scoping meeting. However, the Ministry of Tourism has rejected the EIA report requesting the Proponent to “exclude the development of the sand bank from the EIA report and include an alternative way of disposing the dredged material”. The overall negative impacts of the project are mainly short term deterioration of marine water quality, impact on the coral patch at the end of the proposed channel and altered bathymetry in the area. In addition, the nourishment of beaches would directly and indirectly improve the quality of the tourism product that is being offered at least in the short term as no shore protection has been proposed in this project. The project also encompasses several positive impacts including employment opportunities, improved guest transfer and other ventures. Since the project takes place in a resort environment, it would be necessary to ensure that the aesthetics of the resort are not compromised. Therefore, using a sand pump would be more practicable than using an excavator. However, both methods are appropriate. In order to improve the EIA process and to assist in future projects, it would be necessary to undertake monitoring. It has been proposed to undertake monitoring of the shorelines of the island and oceanographic and hydrodynamic conditions (drogue studies) and water quality.Item Environmental impact assessment : coastal protection at Paradise Island Resort, Kaafu Atoll, Maldives(2010-08-01) SandcaysThis report addresses the environmental concerns of the proposed coastal protection at Paradise Island Resort located on Lankanfinolhu in North Malé Atoll. The primary objective of the project is to protect the coastal infrastructure of Paradise Island Resort and also enhance the natural environmental of Paradise and to improve the services offered to guests thereby minimizing operational and environmental costs. As such the project encompasses the replenishment of approximately 200m of beach at the arrival jetty and swimming pool area on the western side and about 300m of shoreline on the eastern side at the base of the water villas jetty. Paradise Island is surrounded by a large expanse of lagoon or reef flat on the eastern side and similar but not so great expanse of reef flat and lagoon on the western side. The western side beach is, therefore, much more prone to wave attack than the eastern side. The western side is exposed to wind generated waves during the southwest monsoon while the eastern side is exposed to wind generated waves during the northeast monsoon as well as swells during both monsoons. The eastern side reef flat has recently been subjected to anthropogenic changes during the construction of water villas which were destroyed by the tsunami of 2004 as a result of which the erosion of the eastern beaches at the foot of the water villa jetty has been severed. However, the western side beaches have been a victim of wave-induced erosion during the southwest monsoon for as long as the island existed. Therefore, regular beach nourishment by pumping sand from nearshore areas has helped to keep the beaches intact to some extent. Such frequent beach nourishment creates more sediment suspension and resuspension in the water column causing deterioration of the quality of the main product, which is the natural environment. Continuous beach nourishment would also provide little protection to these eroding areas without structural protection. Shore protection measures have, therefore, been evaluated and most practicable option(s) chosen to protect the eroding areas and minimize the frequency of beach nourishment. The proposed coastal protection structure is a breakwater that would be submerged at high tide. Such a breakwater is expected to provide adequate protection from wave induced erosion on both sides, which is the cause for concern at present. The overall environmental impacts of the project have been assessed using appropriate matrices and the results indicated that the proposed project has a net positive impact. That is, the project has no major adverse impacts on the environment as far as current knowledge is concerned. Given that the project has major socio-economic benefits and some environmental benefits, it is advisable to allow the project to proceed as proposed. It is also recommended to continue to monitor the impacts of the proposed project by regular monitoring of shorelines and nearshore currents for at least two years and communicate and feed the data into the EIA system in the country.Item Environmental impact assessment: coastal components of proposed refurbishment Chaaya Lagoon Hakuraa Huraa, Meemu Atoll, Maldives(2010-06-01) SandcaysThis report addresses the environmental concerns of the proposed coastal components of the refurbishment planned for 2010 for Chaaya Lagoon Hakuraa Huraa, Meemu Atoll. The primary objective of the project is to enhance the natural environmental of Hakuraa and to improve the services offered to guests thereby minimizing operational and environmental costs. As such the project encompasses modifications to the existing jetty head to incorporate a fixed seaplane platform that would bring an end to dhoni transfers from existing floating platform, deepening of the existing reef entrance channel so that it can be used by supply and other dhonis saving time and fuel and providing beach on the southside shoreline where there is no beach. Hence, different options for the proposed project, especially the beach enhancement component have been evaluated and the most practicable options not entailing excessive costs have been recommended. Since the resort is already closed for renovation, it may not be possible to get all the proposed activities done in time for reopening. Therefore, the beach enhancement and entrance channel deepening may have to be put off. Hakuraa is surrounded by a large expanse of lagoon. Therefore, only the proposed channel deepening activity is expected to impact the coral reef. The impact on the reef is not considerably large as the reef flat in the area has very low cover of live corals and the live corals on the reef slope is expected to be cleared of sediment within a short period by the current in the area. However, it would be useful to monitor such changes. It has also been recommended to transplant any coral that may be directly impacted and may not recover from the effects of sedimentation. In fact, all proposed activities would have short term sedimentation impacts, with the water quality returning to normal within weeks. The overall environmental impacts of the project have been assessed using appropriate matrices and the results indicated that the proposed project had net positive impact. That is, the project has no major adverse impacts on the environment as far as current knowledge is concerned. Given that the project has major socio-economic benefits and some environmental benefits, it is recommended to allow the project to proceed as proposed. However, alternative analysis for the coastal protection or beach enhancement component indicates that there is a strong argument for added coastal protection. It has, therefore, been recommended to consider headland revetments using geotextile containers in order to retain the sand that has been planned to be added to the southside shore. Other feasible alternatives also have been considered. Environmental monitoring recommended for the project includes the monitoring of the shorelines of Hakuraa and neighbouring island and water quality and drogue studies of the coastal area for three years from the onset of the proposed project implementation. Annual monitoring reports have to be submitted over the monitoring period.