Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Project in Assam

Transcription

1 Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & March 2013 DRAFT FINAL REPORT VOLUME I Submitted To: Chief Engineer (PHE), Assam. World Bank Project, Hengrabari,Guwahati Submitted By: IPE Global Pvt. Ltd. (Formerly Infrastructure Professionals Enterprise (P) Ltd.) Address: IPE Towers, B-84, Defence Colony, Bhisham Pitamah Marg, New Delhi , India Tel: , ; Fax:

2 Table of Contents Abbreviations and Acronyms...9 Executive Summary INTRODUCTION Background Present World Bank Assisted Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project Components Scope of the Project Need for Environmental Assessment and Environment Management Framework Objectives of Environmental Assessment Methodology Adopted for the Study Data Collection and Review Secondary Data Collection and Analysis Sample Habitations for Pilot Study Preliminary Site Visits Public Consultations and focus group discussions Organisation of the Report RWSS Policy, Regulatory Framework, Missions and Programmes State RWSS Vision RWSS at National Context Sector Reforms Project Swajaladhara Sub Mission Project (SMP) Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission and the National Rural Drinking Water Programme Bharat Nirman Total Sanitation Campaign Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan Other Sanitation Programmes RWSS Coverage in State Drinking Water

3 2.2.2 Sanitation Regulatory and Policy Framework National and State Environmental Policies and Regulations Environmental Protection Act 1986 and EIA Notification The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, its Rules and amendments The Biological Diversity Act, Biological Diversity Rules, The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Its Amendments The Forest (Conservation) Act, Assam Forest Policy, Assam Forest Regulation, 1891, Government of Assam The Assam Ancient Monuments and Records Act, 1959 (Assam Act No. XXV of 1959) The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act Land Policy 1989, Revenue Department, Government of Assam Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, its Rules and amendments Public Liability Insurance Act, The National Environment Tribunal Act, Insecticide Act, Wetlands (Management and Conservation) Rules, Draft Guidelines for Integrated Water Resource Development and Management, 2010, Central Water Commission The World Bank Safeguard Policies State Sector Institutions Environment Department of Environment and Forests Assam Pollution Control Board Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Assam Public Health Engineering Department

4 2.4.3 Other Relevant Departments Central Ground Water Board Department of Water Resources Nodal Institutions Implementing Departments Converging Departments and Ministries RWSS Implementation Procedures Implementation Capacity Proposed World Bank Assisted Project Baseline Environmental Status Brief profile of State Administration Demographic & Social Characteristics Physical Environmental Location Climate and Rainfall Physiographic The State of Assam can be divided into three main physiographic regions, which are as follows: Hydrology Hydrogeology Geomorphology Agriculture Forest Resources Ecologically Sensitive Areas Drainage Basins Water Resources Surface Water River System Wetlands Groundwater Groundwater Recharge Water Quality

5 Surface Water Quality Ground water Quality Current Water Supply Practices Current Water Treatment Practices Incidence of Water and Sanitation Related Diseases House Hold and Environmental Sanitation Status of Toilet Construction Status of Liquid Waste Management Status of Solid Waste Management Status of Power/Electricity Disasters Climate Change Environment Management Framework Environmental Assessment Key Environmental Issues Water Availability Water Quality Water Treatment Practice Other Water Related Issues Wastewater Disposal Solid Waste Disposal Sanitation and Hygiene Other Sanitation Related Issues Topography and land use Floods and river bank erosion Earthquakes Landslides Impact from wildlife corridors and impact on ecological resources Issues Identified during Field Visits and Consultations Environmental Impacts Design Stage Impacts Construction Stage Environmental Impacts

6 4.2.3 Operation & Maintenance Stage Environmental Impacts Objectives of Environment Management Framework Environmental Management Framework Key Elements of the EMF Application of EMF to Project Screening Tool for Categorizing Schemes Exclusion list of activities Environmental Supervision and Monitoring Institutional Arrangements Introduction National Level State Level District Level Village Level Support Organisations Performance Indicators Monitoring Plan Monitoring of project design Construction phase monitoring O&M phase monitoring Training and Capacity Building Objectives TNA (Training Needs Assessment) Training Approach Training Resources Training Programmes T1. Training on the Environmental Management Framework T2. Training on Environmental Management T3. Environmental Awareness and Sensitization T4. Quality Construction Practices for Artisans Budget for training on environmental management EMP for Design and Location Stage

7 4.6.8 EMP for Construction Stage Impacts of RWSS Projects EMP for O&M State Impacts of RWSS Projects Water safety planning and guidelines Guidelines / Environmental Code of Practices List of Tables Table 1: Number of GPs and Villages selected for the survey in the planned project districts Table 2: Status of Piped Water Supply Schemes Table 3: Distribution of Households by sanitation facilities and caste Table 4: Environmental Compliance Requirements Legislative Needs Table 5: Summary of Environment Safeguard Requirements for the Project Table 6: National Rural Water Supply Programme norms for per capita per day Table 7: Checklist issued by GoI and DDWS on Sajal Gram Puruskar Table 8: Institutional Structure and Technical manpower Table 9: Details of Seven Schemes under the RWSS-LIS, World Bank funded project...0 Table 10: Demographic Profile of Assam State Table 11: Coverage of the Project in the Seven Districts of Assam Table 12: Schemes under the RWSS-LIS World Bank Project Table 13: Type of soil in the seven district of the scheme Table 14: District wise distribution of Agricultural land, Assam, Table 15: Area Under Forest in Assam (As On ) (Area in Ha.) Table 16: Distance of eco-sensitive areas from project areas Table 17: Details of the intake point and Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in the seven districts Table 18: Right Bank Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River and their annual discharge Table 19: Left Bank Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River and their annual discharge Table 20: Project District- wise distribution of wetlands in Assam Table 21: Size wise distribution of wetlands in Assam Table 22: Details of dynamic Ground Water Resources in Assam Table 23: Details of Ground Water Resource in the seven project districts of Assam Table 24: Number of Slipped Back Habitations Table 25: Average level of Ground Water Table in the seven project districts

8 Table 26: Results of Arsenic Screening and Surveillance Programme in 76 Blocks of Assam, by UNICEF, IIT_G and PHED (unpublished study ) Table 27: No Of Quality Affected Habitations & Population as On 01/04/ Table 28: Water Quality testing results carried at the nine intake points identified under the Project Table 29: District Quality Profile for FTK Testing Table 30: Distribution of Households by main source of drinking water and location: Assam Rural Census Table 31: Number of cases of ADD and BD recorded by IDSP-NRHM, in the Project Blocks Table 32: Distribution of Households by sanitation facilities and caste: Assam Rural Census Table 33: Report Card status of Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) as on 29 /1/ Table 34: Details of Bacteriological contamination in all the districts of Assam Table 35: Average Hours of electricity in rural areas of Assam Table 36: Erosion/deposition area along Brahmaputra for the period 1990 to Table 37: List of some of the Major Earthquakes in the North East Table 38: Major vulnerability indicators in Assam Table 39: Total Requirement of Surface Water under the RWSS-LIS, Assam Table 40: Total Requirement of Ground Water under the RWSS-LIS, Assam Table41: List of Design Stage Impacts Table 42: List of Major Impacts identified at construction Stage Table 43: List of impacts during the O&M Stage Table 44: Roles and Responsibilities for Implementation of EMF Table 45: Screening tools Table 46: Monitoring of the Project Design Table 47: Construction phase monitoring Table 48: O&M Phase Monitoring Table 49: Number of Training Programs Table 50: Estimated Cost of Training Table 51: Budget for Environmental Management

9 List of Figures Figure 3-1: Location of Project Areas in Assam Figure 3-2: Vegetation Cover with Reference to Project Areas Figure 3-3: Relief of Assam with Respect to Project Areas Figure 3-4: Types of Soil with Reference to Project Locations Figure 3-5: Wildlife Sanctuaries/National Park and Reserve Forests Near Project Areas Figure 3-6: Elephant Reserves in Assam Figure 3-7: Drainage System of Assam Figure 3-8: Location of Intake Points of Project Schemes Figure 3-9: Location of Intake Points on the base map of Assam Figure 3-10: Flood Affected Districts in Assam, List of Graphs Graph 3-1: Population growth in Assam Graph 3-2: Average Rainfall in the State of Assam Graph 3-3: Rainfall Pattern in the project Area during Monsoon Months from Graph 3-4: Details of Ground Water Table in the Project areas of RWSS-LIS Graph 3-5: Population affected by Iron in all Districts of Assam Graph 3-6: Population affected by Arsenic in all Districts of Assam Graph 3-7: Population affected by Fluoride in all Districts of Assam Graph 3-8: No of Sources affected by bacteria in all Districts of Assam Graph 3-9: Cases of Bacillary Dysentery and Acute Diarrheal Diseases in the project blocks ( ) Graph 3-10: Details of Erosion and deposition in the North Bank of River Brahmaputra Graph 3-11: Details of Erosion and deposition in the North Bank of River Brahmaputra

10 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS APHED Assam Public Health Engineering Department APL Above Poverty Line ARWSP Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme ASHA Accredited Social Health Activists BMC Billion Cubic Metres BPL Below Poverty Line CBO Community Based Organisation CGWB Central Ground Water Board CRSP Central Rural Sanitation Programme CSC Community Sanitary Complexes db Decibels DDL District Level Laboratories DFO Divisional Forest Officer DWSC District Water and Sanitation Committee DDWS Department of Drinking Water Supply EA Environmental Assessment EE Executive Engineer EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMF Environmental Management Framework EPA Environmental Protection Act ESA Ecologically Sensitive Areas FC Fully Covered GoI Government of India GP Gram Panchayat GPWSC Gram Panchayat Water and Sanitation Committee ha Hectare HRD Human Resource Development HQ Head Quarters IDSP Integrated Disease Surveillance Project IEC Information, Education and Communication IHHL Individual Household Latrines IIT Indian Institute of Technology INR Indian National Rupee Km Kilometre lpcd Litres per capita per day m Metre M-I Mark I M-II Mark 2 MCM Million Cubic Metres M&E Monitoring and Evaluation mg milligrams mha Million hectare MIS Management Information Systems mm Millimetre 9

11 MoEF MoU NBA NC NGO NGP NSSO NRDWP O&M OP PC PHE PHED PMGY RWSP ppm PRI RSM RW RWH RWSS SC SE SHG SLWM ST SRPP SPCB SSA SSHE SWSM Sq TA TSC UNICEF US UT WATSAN WSS WTP WHO WSSO Ministry of Environment and Forests Memorandum of Understanding Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan Not Covered Non-Governmental Organisation Nirmal Gram Puraskar National Sample Survey Organization National Rural Drinking Water Programme Operation and Maintenance Operation Policy Partially Covered Public Health Engineering Public Health and Engineering Department Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Jojna Rural Water Supply Programme parts per million Panchayati Raj Institute Rural Sanitary Mart Rain water Rainwater Harvesting Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Scheduled Caste Superintending Engineer Self Help Groups Solid and Liquid Waste Management Scheduled Tribe Sector Reform Pilot Projects State Pollution Control Board Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan School Sanitation and Hygiene Education State Water and Sanitation Mission Square Technical Assistance Total Sanitation Campaign United Nations Children s Fund United States Union Territory Water and Sanitation Water Supply and Sanitation Water Treatment Plant World Health Organisation Water and Sanitation Support organisation 10

12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Background Assam is one of the seven North Eastern states of India and has a total surface area of 78,438 Square Kilometre. The State includes the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys along with the Karbi Anglong and the N C Hills. Although, Assam receives abundant rainfall and has a large river network, complex environmental factors like geology, seismicity, precipitation variability, changing land use, and population pressures create constraints on the State s water resources. This, together with insufficient and unreliable hydro meteorological data; creates tremendous challenges for planning and management of the State s water resources. According to the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), there are a number of states with less than 10 % coverage of rural households with piped water supply and are lagging behind in many service parameters related to water and sanitation. To assist the lagging states, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS), Government of India (GoI) has developed a program for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation for Lagging States (RWSS-LS) 1 with World Bank assistance. In general, laggard states face constraints in institutional and technical capacity at the block and gram panchayat levels for implementing sustainable rural water supply projects. They also face constraints in involving communities and panchayats in planning, implementing and managing their own drinking water supply schemes. Other concerns include the need to strengthen the capacities of the State Rural Water Supply Departments to support and implement decentralized programes and improve operation and maintenance of schemes. Some areas also face problems of availability of safe water sources. In Assam projects under the RWSSP-LS will include few Large Multi Village Water Supply Scheme (LMVS). These projects will also be including programmes related to improved water quality monitoring as well as health & hygiene education. There are four components envisaged under this project. These are, Component 1: Technical Assistance (TA) for States and Panchayati Raj Institutes (PRIs) to prepare detailed RWSS program. Component 2: Development of improved and sustainable piped water supply and sanitation systems. Component 3: Capacity building for RWSS institutions for improved governance, operations and finance. Component 4: Capacity building for Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) for increasing Ministry s overall capacity for planning and managing the RWSS program. It will including strengthening the National Resource Centre, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and independent reviews of the sector program. A total of 7 districts of Assam s 27 Districts will be covered under this project. Seven projects, one in each project district, will cover 16 Blocks, either fully or partially, thereby serving about 13,06,133 people living in 1275 villages. It is envisaged that all the projects will be large multi-village, using surface water - rivers, as sources. The seven districts are Bongaigaon, Morigaon, Kamrup, Sonitpur, Jorhat, Sibsagar and Hailakandi. The budget estimated for the water supply and sanitation schemes is INR 1422 crores ( Million USD). 1 RWSS-LS now termed as Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Low Income States (RWSS-LIS) 11

13 The Environmental Assessment and its Methodology This Environmental Assessment (EA) has identified sector specific threats and issues associated with planned RWSS schemes which are part of the project. Although, there are likely to be only a few and mainly insignificant impacts from the project activities, the EA is to ensure that all likely impacts are identified well in time with appropriate mitigation measures and adhere to the mandatory understated, National legislations and World Bank safeguard policies. The Assessment has used both primary and secondary data. This includes primary surveys, village level discussions and consultations in 20 villages each for the 7 project districts. A total of 180 villages were covered through this process which has provided the report with primary data.. In each survey village a sample size of households were taken (5-10% representation of the entire village population). Secondary data analysis includes water resources availability and utilization, water quality and quantity concerns, demographic, socio economic and health issues, water supply and sanitation coverage. Preliminary field visits to all project districts, covering 2-3 villages per project areas including site visits to proposed intake points were also undertaken. The Environmental Assessment has been divided into two volumes. Volume I consists of a chapter each on study background, objectives, approach and methodology; relevant state and national policies, World Bank safeguards and programmes and institutional systems; the environmental status and baseline for the State and an analysis of the primary data. The last chapter of this volume is the Environmental Management Framework, which identifies the key environmental issues and their mitigation and management actions. It also explains the environmental safeguard practices to be followed for the projects; the institutional mechanism and capacity needs for the implementation of EMF. This section also identifies the screening process and tools for subprojects. Volume II of the report is the annexures which include the Environmental Code of Practices (ECoPs), project Terms of Reference (ToR), project details for each scheme and details of the primary data collected and public consultations. Status of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in Assam Assam is still dependent on water from rains, streams and shallow aquifers for drinking and other domestic purposes. Access to safe drinking water and the status of sanitation and hygiene in Assam is much below the National average. Comparisons indicate that the percent of rural population in Assam dependent on hand pumps for their drinking water is higher than the national average. However the proportion of population having treated source is much lower, while those using uncovered well is much higher than rural India as a whole. An Approximate 18.5% of the state s population is covered with piped water supply schemes. Environment Safeguard Requirements for the Project From the Environment Perspective, the World Bank s Operational Policies (OP) relevant for this project are (i) OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment, (ii) OP 4.04 Natural Habitats and (iii) OP 4.36 Forests. (i) OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment. This states that an Environment Assessment (EA) are to be conducted for all projects that fall into either World Bank Category A or Category B. (ii) OP Natural Habitats, The conservation of natural habitat is essential and thus to ensure their protection during various project cycle, the Environment Management Plan (EMP) should be included for all project schemes. 12

14 Appropriate mitigation measures are suggested under the Environment Management Framework (EMF) to ensure safeguard and their compliance, and are supported by the ECoPs given in the Annexure. Summary of Environment Safeguard Requirements for the Project Safeguard No Safeguard Description Application of Safeguard to Project OP 4.01 (Environmental Assessment). OP 4.04 (Natural Habitats) OP 4.36 (Forests). EA to be conducted for all projects that fall into either World Bank Category A or Category B. Potential environmental consequences of projects identified early in project cycle. EAs and mitigation plans required for projects with significant environmental impacts. EAs should include analysis of alternative designs and sites, or consideration of "no option" Requires public participation and information disclosure before Board approval. The conservation of natural habitat is essential for long- term sustainable development. The Bank does not support projects that involve significant conservation or degradation of critical natural habitats. Prohibits financing of projects involving "significant conversion of natural habitats unless there are no feasible alternatives". Requires environmental cost benefit analysis. Requires EA with mitigation measures. World Bank s lending operations in the forest sector are conditional on government commitment to undertake sustainable management and conservation-oriented forestry. Prohibits financing for commercial logging operations or acquisition of equipment for use in primary moist tropical forests. Triggered: The projects support the preparation of RWSS infrastructure, some of which may have adverse environmental impacts. The EMF will help identify these potential impacts, and propose practical ways of avoiding or mitigating them. Triggered: Assam has number of natural habitats in the reserved, national forests, wetlands and lakes, etc. However, none of the reserved forest or national parks, wetlands and lakes are falling within a ten km radius of the seven projects identified. Further, River itself is a big habitat for aquatic life and care must be taken at the time of water intake to safeguard especially the endangered species. A negative list is provided in the screening section to ensure exclusion of ecologically sensitive areas. Also, all changes in project design right from the planning stage should identify any potential impacts of projects on natural habitats, reserves or protected areas, and to develop appropriate mitigation measures to minimize or avoid damage, or compensate for it under EMP prepared for Category II projects. Triggered: Given the present plan, no acquisition is expected from reserved or protected forests, wildlife sanctuaries or national park under all seven schemes Also, the project is for the development of RWSS schemes; therefore it does not include any commercial logging. However, any future changes in project areas or design may also need to be reviewed for the application of the OP 4.36 given the high forest cover in the state. Under such circumstances, Government of India (GOI) as well as state governments has well laid out rules and 13

15 OP 7.50 (Projects in International Waterways). If a project has the potential to negatively affect the quality or quantity of water of a waterway shared with other nations the Bank will need a negotiated agreement be established between riparian nations invol ved. Covers riparian waterways that form boundary between two or more states and bays, gulfs, straits or channels bordered by two or more states. Applies to dams, irrigation, flood control, navigation, water, sewage and industrial projects. Requires notification, agreement between states, detailed maps, and feasibility surveys. procedures for making use of fores t lands for non-forest purposes, which are provided for, in the ECoPs. Also, any required felling of trees in the social forest or non-forest areas is to be carried with the permission of the Forest Department and in accordance with guidelines for compensatory afforestation. Not Triggered. In accordance with OP 7.50 (International Waterways) this is seen that the proposed project falls within the exceptions to the notification requirement under Para 7(a ) of the Policy. The project components in the context and relation to OP 7.50, will not adversely change the quality and quantity of water, both upstream and downstream and will not be adversely affected by the water use of the riparian countries. Baseline environment Data on Water Availability and Quality Assam has two major river valleys the Brahmaputra and Barak. Surface water sources include river, stream, lake, swamps and ponds. Ground water is available at low to moderate depths almost in the entire state. Although, there is seasonal and regional variation in the availability of water resources, the annual availability of water resource over the past century has remained almost same. However, in the last two decades, the use of ground water has been growing at a fast rate. With the increase of per capita consumption of water in domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors, there has been recorded reduction in the potential per capita availability of ground water. Also, due to the geology of Gangetic- Brahmaputra river basin, levels of arsenic have increased over the years in the ground water and when tested, a number of aquifers in Assam are found contaminated with Arsenic. Contamination from poor sanitary practices has also deteriorated the groundwater quality. Assam is rich in biodiversity with a large number of forests, wetlands, river systems, and wildlife. Manas National Park, Kaziranga National Park and Garbhanga Reserve Forest are close to the project areas, though it is unlikely that projects will be undertaken in these reserves. Assam has six protected areas of which two falls in the project district, Kamrup and Sonitpur. Suitable measures are identified under the EMF and recommended to be undertaken during project appraisal stage through comprehensive EMPs and ECoPs, to minimise impacts, if any. Public Consultations and focus group discussions Public Consultations for the project were held in February 2013, which included disclosure of project plans and probable environmental impacts. The consultations are detailed in Annexure The key issues identified through the consultation plan are as follows: 14

16 A) Existing: 1. Water Quality: Some of the ground water sources are affected by iron, arsenic and fluoride. 2. Water Availability: Some of the Piped Water Supply Schemes (PWSS) have become dysfunctional due to drying up of ground water sources, especially in Kamrup, Sonitpur and Morigaon. There are very few house hold connections and most villagers source their domestic water from community stand posts. B) Proposed Concerns: 1. Need for regular supply and monitoring of water quality was voiced in the villages. 2. Transmission issues - Network design. A need to take consent from the villagers while laying the piped network was highlighted during the meeting. 3. Operation and Maintenance was also highlighted in the meetings. Key findings from the overall assessment of the project areas Water quality for both surface and ground water sources may be impacted due to existing economic activities, such as; oil refineries, agriculture, tea estates and sand mining, in the state. Water supply networks may be impacted by (i) erosion of land and landslides damaging the network, and (ii) landslides and other degradation of hills resulting in pump houses and other infrastructure being damaged or destroyed due to the degradation. Floods and river bank erosion may impact water quality around intakes severely. However, floods can also impact other project infrastructure like (i) damage or destruction of the intakes along the rivers; (ii) flood waters entering toilets resulting in contamination of surface and groundwater systems; and (iii) damage hand pumps as well as water entering shallow aquifers through hand pumps during floods may pollute these reserves. Possible impact from wildlife corridors and impact on ecological resources during the construction phase of the project, and may need to be considered during the project design and construction activities. There are a number of vector and water borne diseases in the project area. These include diarrhoeal diseases, cholera and malaria. Cases of Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis syndrome have also been noted in a few of the project districts. Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) in some areas are poorly managed with leakages, poor drainage and inadequate waste disposal facilities. Poor management of the disinfection such as chlorine tablets or bleaching powder, results in inadequate treatment prior to distribution, as observed, for the existing Piped Water Supply Systems (PWSS). Poor personal hygiene and environmental sanitation in all project villages visited was a concern. Overall there is low open defecation except in Bongaigaon District. However, it was observed that Kutccha toilets, which are prevalent in all seven project districts, are not always spaced at an appropriate distance from hand pumps. This may have serious implication on the quality of water 15

17 and diseases like diarrhoea, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, etc., found to be prevalent in some of the project districts, can be attributed to the contamination of shallow aquifers. There is no systematic solid waste management system in the project areas, with waste either burnt or buried as a means of disposal. There is little evidence of a systematic waste water disposal system in villages visited with many areas having mud roads without any drains constructed alongside. Environmental Impacts Overall there are expected to be a number of positive impacts from the project. However, a few adverse impacts were identified as a part of project design, construction and operation and maintenance activities. Major adverse impacts highlighted above through key findings during each project cycle are listed below. Major design related impacts Excess water in the project area with inadequate drainage provision and sanitation facilities resulting in water logging, soil toxicity and increased vector habitats. Inadequately identified waste disposal system resulting in spillage and unsanitary waste dumping. Damage to infrastructure due to landslides, flooding, etc., due to poor location of infrastructure or poorly identified borrow sites. Poorly identified project sites resulting in destruction or damage of natural habitats, either terrestrial or aquatic. Two important aquatic species exist near the project sites the Gangetic Dolphin in River Brahmaputra at Jorhat and the Indian Gaharial in River Dikhow. Introduction of alien species due to project plantation activities may lead to degradation of the local environment. Poorly designed management plan, resulting in damage to locally significant cultural areas or archaeological sites. Further, adverse Impacts on water quality, natural habitats, cultural or heritage sites, etc., may occur due to wrong selection of sites for intake, WTP and transmission line locations. Care must be taken while selecting appropriate sites, ensuring they are at a safe distance from protected forest, animal corridors, heritage sites, wetlands, flood prone areas, tea estate, or downstream of oil ref inery, waste disposal, etc. However, if the selection cannot be avoided, especially in case of flood prone areas, all mitigation measures should be effectively taken to minimize adverse impacts both on the project and on the ecology. Major construction related impacts Poor site management at all construction and material procurement sites leading to waste dumping, toxicity and accidents. Health and safety concerns of labour due to poor site management, lack of facilities and inadequate safety measures for labour. 16

18 Disturbance to local population from construction sites noise and air pollution, inadequate safety measures, excess traffic, competing resource needs for labour and local population, and use of local lands for construction material and labour camps. Disturbance to local fauna and flora due to excess removal of fauna and flora during site clearance. Further, construction during migratory season, leading to disturbance in their routes, or procurement of material from ecological sensitive areas in Sonitpur, Sibsagar, Jorhat, Kamrup and Hailakandi district which have number of reserve forest, wetlands, national parks, etc. Damage to existing infrastructure due to construction activities. Major operation and maintenance related impacts Poor management of the WTP and Rain Water Harvesting Systems (RWHS) resulting in contamination of water, increase in waterlogging and vector habitats, as well as leading to damage of existing infrastructure and cultural property. Poor management of water treatment chemicals as well as heavy equipment s resulting in accidents, especially for workers at the WTP, intakes or floating barges. Inadequate finances or skills resulting in poor management of systems. Based on the impact assessment, a number of Environmental Code of Practices (ECoPs) has been identified in the migration plan. These ECoPs include guidelines for Sanitary Protection of Water Supply Sources, Sustainability of Ground water Sources, Selection of Safe Sanitation Technologies, Environmental Considerations in Location of Toilets, Construction Practice and Pollution Safeguards for Twin Pit Pour Flush Latrines, Guidelines for Safe Sullage Disposal at Household and Community Levels, Guidelines for Drainage Management in Villages, Guidelines for Community Solid Waste Management, Sullage and biodegradable waste be managed in a non-polluting manner, exclusion list and negative list of activities as well as the General building safety provisions are incorporated under the Annexures. Environment Management Framework Environmental Management Framework (EMF) essentially consists of Environmental Screening, Environmental Assessment (EA), Environmental Management Planning and monitoring of compliance with the plan of actions recommended for mitigating environmental risks. The Environmental Screening was carried out under this assessment to determine the appropriate environmental category for the proposed projects. Based on the outcome of screening, an Environmental Assessment (EA) respective to the attached environmental category will be applied for each proposals. The PHED as recommended in the Environment Data Sheets (EDS) will be responsible for carrying out the required EA and for confirming that any clearances necessary for the proposed RWSS projects are obtained from the relevant authorities as prescribed by the national and state legislations which should also meet with the World Bank procedures as described in the EA/EMF document. Once the EA is performed and recommendations incorporated into the sub-project, the project can be appraised and sanctioned. Depending on the environmental category, the package would include one of the following: a) a full scale Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and an Environmental Management Plan (EMP), b) Environmental Management Plan (EMP), c) a simplified environmental assessment, so called EMP checklist, or d) a justified statement that no EA are required. To ensure that environmental management 17

19 is an integral part of project activities, the EMF needs to be incorporated in the project and scheme s management. The following are the components of EMF, elaborated under the EA/EMF Report. 1. Collection of Basic Environmental Data: To ensure adequate and proper identification of local needs and monitoring of RWSS projects, the EMF needs environmental data for each scheme. To do this and ensure a standard format for the project, an Environmental Data Sheet (EDS) for schemes on water supply, sanitation, solid and liquid waste management, will be made available through the EA/EMF document. The Assistant Executive Engineer/Executive Engineer (AEE/EE - for each district) of the scheme fills up the EDS in consultation with the GPWSCs, Gram Panchayat or other local civil society organisations who are involved in the project. 2. Environmental Classification of Schemes: At the Detailed Scheme Report (DSR) preparation stage, the available environmental information in the EDS will be evaluated and based on the level of expected environmental and public health impacts, the proposed scheme would be classif ied as either Category I (basic) or Category II (detailed environmental appraisal required). The overall in charge for the identification of the environmental classification of schemes with the help of the screening tool is the responsibility of the EE (District) of each scheme. 3. Environmental Appraisal and Approval: For all category I schemes, there shall be no separate environment appraisal other than filling up of EDS included in the DSR. For category II schemes, a detailed environmental appraisal of the proposed scheme is required. This will be done by the EE and his team who is in charge of the scheme. This team can be supported by the state level environmental expert attached to PMU, for any technical help required. The environmental appraisal for category II schemes shall not take more than 30 days. The DPR of Category I schemes should be accompanied by the Environmental Data Sheet (EDS). The DPR for Category II schemes should be accompanied by the Environmental Data Sheet (EDS) and the Category II environmental appraisal. The EE of the RWSS will ensure this. All documentation will be finally checked for consistency and quality by the PMU environmental specialist. 4. Environmental Compliance Monitoring during Implementation and O&M phases: The EMF will ensure the following; i) the prescribed environmental mitigation measures (including construction stage measures) as identified through the environmental appraisal process are adequately implemented. The Implementation Completion Report of each scheme will include an Environmental Compliance Certificate given by the GPWSC/GP or other identified appropriate authority. ii) Monitoring and Supervision: There will be periodic supervision and monitoring conducted to ensure compliance to the EMF and identification of any additional concerns that may have risen since. Iii) Capacity building needs to be undertaken to ensure the proper execution of the EMF. It has been noted that some issues of poor management of systems at the local level can be rectified by training and capacity building activities. iv) IEC for the management of water, sanitation, environmental sanitation, drainage etc., will be needed at the local level. This is imperative to ensure the proper management of village sanitation and reduce health burden from water and sanitation related diseases. 18

20 Implementation through Institutional System and Capacity Building The implementation of the EMF is to be done through a series of different actors. At the state level the State Project Management Unit (SPMU) will have an environmental specialist who has the overall responsibility for the implementation of the project s EMF. At the scheme level the actual implementation will be the responsibility of the scheme Executive Engineer s along with his staff. Day to day running of the scheme will be the responsibility of the GPWSC/VWSCs or whoever is identified as the appropriate authority, depending upon the area. The Assistant Executive Engineers and Assistant Engineers will be overall in charge for the completion of the Environmental Data Sheets (EDS), and will receive support from the support organizations for the project, who would be local agencies working in the sector in the area. To ensure the appropriate implementation of the EMF the EA has also identifi ed a capacity building programme. The major areas of capacity building are: Awareness on World Bank environmental procedures, monitoring and EMP needs and compliance to WB safeguards. O&M for systems. Refreshers programme awareness training, on World Bank environmental procedures and compliance needs. Environmental Management on environmental sanitation, sanitation and hygiene. Environmental Awareness and Sensitization for project beneficiaries. Quality Construction Practices for Artisans. Training for Water quality monitoring & sanitary surveys. Training Approach and Programmes Systematic capacity building initiatives are to be introduced only after completion of Training Needs Assessment (TNA). The training will be in the cascade mode. All the trained staff and others will in turn conduct further trainings at state, district, block and GP levels, depending upon their roles. However, since capacity building goes beyond mere imparting training, institutionalization of best practices becomes a prerequisite for improved service delivery. The training programme should be based on the felt need, relevance and principle of sustainability as well as the recommendations from the Training Need Assessment workshops. An enabling condition should be created for stake holders to understand and implement programmes on rural drinking water and sanitation (as per NRDWP guidelines). Special emphasis needs to be given to participatory techniques, community facilitation and communication skills and gender based approaches. The number of suggested training programs is presented in table below. 19

21 Number of Training Programs Sl No Training Topic Number of trainings 1 T 1 - Environmental Management Framework 25 2 T2 - Environmental Management 44 3 T3 - Environmental Awareness and Sensitization 44 4 T4 - Quality Construction Practices for Artisans 44 5 Total 157 About 40 to 50 trainees would participate in each of the training programs. It is intended that these trained persons will in turn provide onsite training to PHED staff, SOs, GPWSCs, NGOs, Contractor staff, etc. onsite at village level. 20

22 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The Government of India (GoI) and State Governments have together spent more than Rs. 1,50,000 crore over the last 20 years to for Water and Sanitation Supply services (WSS) in rural India. This has resulted in the provision of domestic water to more than 70 crore people in 15 lakh rural habitation. Sanitation coverage has also risen to 69% for rural households. However, intrastate inequities still exist, as do emerging new demands. There is an increasing demand for the need to cover Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) population and peri-urban/rural areas. About 90% of surveyed households of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 65 th survey in received water from improved sources. Yet, only 30% of rural households have tap connections and less than 10% of Gram Panchayats (GPs) have received the Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) award for 100% sanitation coverage. However, even villages which have received the NGP slip back with about 30-40% of schemes that were fully or partially covered periodically slip back to partially covered or not covered status. This is mainly due to deteriorating quality and quantity, poor operations and maintenance (O&M) standards and weak cost recovery; formidable constraints in achieving and maintaining full coverage. One of the reasons for the disconnect between high levels of investment and the subsequent lack of sustainability is limited institutional reforms in the sector. Emphasis remains on asset creation rather than asset management and sustainable operations. The bulk of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation (RWSS) investments are undertaken in a top down manner through state level entities. These state level agencies are neither equipped for the job nor have incentives to deliver sustainable services. Sustainability, demand responsive approaches, working with communities and local governments has been demonstrated under the Sector Reform and Swajaldhara programmes. However, scaling up these approaches continues to be a challenge. This challenge becomes even more serious in states already suffering from poor piped water and sanitation coverage. The challenge is not only increasing the piped water connections and sanitation facilities in states that are lagging behind; but implementing community-driven, panchayat led institutional models for improving sustainability of service delivery. Along with the investment program, these states require huge capacity building, training, and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) awareness programs for establishing and making operational decentralized institutional arrangements. As part of its recent strategy, the Department of Drinking Water Supply (DDWS) has placed special emphasis on piped water and sanitation coverage in eight lagging states with low piped water coverage. The lagging states include Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh. These states face constraints in institutional and technical capacity at the state, district, block and GP levels for implementing sustainable rural water supply projects. The constraints include weak institutional capacity involve communities and panchayats in planning, implementing and managing their own drinking water supply schemes. The technical capacity of the State Rural Water Supply Departments for supporting and implementing the decentralization program also needs strengthening. O&M of existing schemes too is 21

23 inadequate, resulting in many schemes becoming dysfunctional. Some areas also face problems of water availability as safe sources are at great distance habitations. Key Elements of the RWSS Program for Lagging States The RWSS Program for lagging states is to be a separate component of NRDWP with different allocation criteria and funding components. However, it will be implemented within the framework of NRDWP. It will support the following key elements of the reform program: Placing GPs and communities in the central role, supported by higher levels of Panchayati Raj Institutes (PRIs), the State government and the local non-governmental and private sector, for facilitating, planning, implementing, monitoring and providing a range of O&M back-up services. Using sustainable, community or local government managed models for intra-gp RWSS schemes and using State- PRI partnership models for multi-gp schemes. Putting water resources security as a core theme of the new model, including increased community management of scarce resources. Moving the RWSS sector to recovery of at least 50% O&M and replacement costs and initiating contribution to capital costs keeping affordability and inclusiveness in mind.. Moving towards metered household connections, with 24/7 water supply where feasible, as a basic level of service. Promoting professionalized service provision management models, and/or back -up support functions, for the different market segments (simple/small single village/gp schemes; large single village/gp schemes; multi village/gp schemes). Integrating water supply and sanitation, with effective sanitation promotion programs for achieving clean villages. Establishing M&E systems with independent reviews and social audits. Service delivery through the PRI system; as envisaged for the laggard states, fits well with the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) of the Government of India. This is mainly as the NRDWP emphasises the involvement of the PRIs and communities in planning, implementing and managing drinking water supply schemes. The main objective of the programme is to deliver sustainable water services and improved sanitation through appropriate decentralized institutional models. The program is to be funded by DDWS under the NRDWP for the lagging States. The management of these schemes is to be eventually handed over to the PRIs. A separate component of support activities like IEC, Human Resources Development (HRD), Management Information Systems (MIS), Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance has been introduced. Recently, as part of the NRDWP, the state departments responsible for drinking water supply and sanitation has prepared their long term strategic plan ( ) to ensure drinking water security to all rural households. The strategic plans 22

24 aim to cover 90% of households with piped water and at least 80% of households with tap connections in this period. This forward looking strategy supports the creation of an enabling environment fo r the PRIs, Self Help Groups (SHG) and local communities to manage rural drinking water sources and systems. The strategy emphasizes achieving water security through decentralized governance with oversight and regulation, participatory planning and implementation of sources and schemes. Capacity building programs will be required for communities to monitor and prudently use their water resources. Sustainable service delivery mechanisms are a central feature of the program, with State institutions or Zilla Parishad implementing and managing large multi-village schemes, delivering bulk water to villages in water stressed areas, and GPs implementing and managing in-village and intra-panchayat schemes. The strategy highlights source sustainability measures, water quality safety, monitoring and surveillance, service agreements with operators, convergence of different development programs, and building professional capacity at all levels. 1.2 Present World Bank Assisted Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project The Government of India had approached the World Bank for assistance on a National Project for the lagging states particularly Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. The project is to include programmes related to improved water quality monitoring, health and hygiene education and ground water recharge for water supply source protection Components Possible components of a World Bank supported DDWS NRDWP Component for Lagging States are as follows: Component 1: Technical Assistance (TA) to States/PRIs: This component will finance TA required for participating States and PRIs, to prepare detailed RWSS program covering all aspects of the investment needs, reform activities, institutional changes and operational capacity improvements (including human capacity, systems and equipment) necessary to deliver sustainable water supply and sanitation coverage. Component 2: RWSS Investments: This component will finance activities aimed at achieving improved and sustainable piped water supply and sanitation coverage. These activities will include replacing and rehabilitating the existing RWSS infrastructure as well as new systems for water supply and sanitation coverage to new customers. Component 3: Capacity Building for RWSS Institutions: This will support improved performance in the sector and participating institutions through three dimensions: (i) Improving Operations: professional service delivery models according to size and scale of operations (single/multi village schemes); (ii) Improving Finance: O&M cost recovery, financial management and reporting, etc.; (iii) Improving Governance: Policy development at the State level with clarity of roles and responsibilities at State, district, village levels; PPP and regulatory arrangements; performance monitoring and independent assessments; etc. A learning program will complement the above capacity building activities, including (a) knowledge exchange; (b) structured learning; and (c) training of practitioners to enhance capacity. (d) strengthening WSSOs on lines of WASMO and DWSMs with infrastructural and other support 23

25 Component 4: Capacity Building for DDWS: This component will provide technical assistance to the DDWS with a view to increasing the Ministry s overall capacity for planning and managing the RWSS program, including strengthening the National Resource Centre, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and independent reviews of the sector program. 1.3 Scope of the Project The key feature of the project would be to work with lagging States for scaling up sustainable Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (RWSS) services and establishing new benchmarks and good practice models for adoption by other States. Within DDWS, the enhanced capacity resulting from the project will allow it to continue to lead the sector, advocate for reform, and introduce a higher quality of public policy debate, and more efficient allocation of resources, in the RWSS sector. Subsequently, the project also intends to take up the following activities under waste management in the villages. 1. Solid waste management. 2. Liquid waste management. It has been proposed that the segregation of solid waste at household level will be introduced through IEC campaigns and house-to-house awareness creation activities. Further, for managing bio-degradable waste, composting or vermi-composting at household level or community level, as required is proposed. All the recyclable waste will be segregated at household level itsel f and reused. The remaining nonrecyclable waste will be disposed at commonly identified places by the community, as this quantity is too small. For liquid waste, drains will be provided in the village and village households are encouraged to build soak pits. Where required liquid waste will be collected and disposed into waste stabilization ponds for stabilization. The present project is limited mainly to providing rural water supply and sanitation infrastructure and does not intend to de-contaminate or reduce existing contamination in the villages. However, any future contamination due to solid waste and liquid waste in the project villages will be taken care through using Environmental Code of Practice (ECoPs) and intensive awareness programs through Information Education and communication (IEC) campaigns proposed in the project. 1.4 Need for Environmental Assessment and Environment Management Framework To contribute to the environmental sustainability of the project, an Environmental Assessment (EA) Study is required based upon the World Bank s safeguards policies. The study will collect and analyze information regarding the environmental issues related to the project from each participating state in the first phase on sample and finally prepare an Environmental Management Framework (EMF) to be integrated in the overall project. The aim of the EA/EMF study is to analyze the existing environmental issues related to rural water supply and sanitation and ensure that these inadequacies are addressed or mitigated in the project design. The project itself is not expected to cause any major adverse environmental impacts. However, some key environmental concerns related to the project are: Water Quantity Issues 24

26 Availability of 'safe' drinking water, especially in the summer months Management of solid and liquid waste management and so on. Open Defecation Free (ODF) Gram Panchayat. Based upon the assessment of the project and its activities environmental impact and mitigation measures will be identified. These will be included in the project design. 1.5 Objectives of Environmental Assessment The key objective of the study is to undertake and prepare a state-specific EA/EMF Report with a view to identify the critical environmental concerns in the RWSS sector and address them as an integral part of project design. The specific objective includes: To assess the existing status of environment in the state and to identify threats and issues which have effect on RWSS sector To identify the environmental issues associated with implementation of RWSS schemes (single village and multi village schemes) and develop environmental codes of practices that need to be followed during various stages such as planning, construction and operation and maintenance. To identify generic environmental issues that are beyond the scope of RWSS schemes, but related to the sector and recommend remedial measures to address them as part of the project. To identify existing good behaviour in recycling of water, use of traditional method of liquid and solid waste management. To identify traditional habitation that result in lower per capita consumption of water. To identify household and environmental sanitation issues as well as to make an assessment of pollution level with regard to water supply and its usages & propose appropriate sanitation technology options. To prepare an Environment Management Framework including well -defined performance indicators for addressing the identified issues, through the various activities/tasks under the proposed project, and strategy for its implementation to achieve sustainable sources for water supply schemes and environmental sanitation benefits. 1.6 Methodology Adopted for the Study The EA/EMF analysis included a combination of primary and secondary data, which were used to identify key (possible) environmental impacts. Sources of primary data include village surveys, field visits and discussions with key stakeholders, including officials from following departments, Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) Water Supply, PHED-Sanitation, Central Ground Water Board, Health (NRHM IDSP Cell), WSSO, Irrigation, ASHA Workers, etc. Secondary data was also collected from published literature and web searches, especially data on official websites of the state especially for state level baseline information. Further details of the data sources and collections are given in the subsections below. 25

27 The review of the schemes is based upon existing situation analysis from field visits by the team, discussions with the PHED and also key stakeholders both at the village, district and block levels, as well as other relevant departments, agencies and civil society groups who are working in the Water and Sanitation sector in Assam. The team, with the help of PHED officials, undertook field visits and transact walks in few project villages, covering all the nine project areas. This preliminary assessment which was carried during the month of December 2012 till the end of January 2013, covered discussions, field observations, data collection, on major issues such as health, environment, water availability and quality, sanitation, etc., with the residents. Given that PRI elections were running parallel to the study, discussions with some of the key stakeholders members of the PRI were limited during the preliminary field visits and thus was undertaken again after the 14 th Feb 2013 through consultations and FGDs in all the project areas to include views given by representative of PRI s. Interaction was made with other concerned non-governmental organizations for dovetailing of efforts, which may help in mitigating or reducing the environmental problems. Discussions with the NGO s, stakeholders, Members of World Bank, PHED Staff have brought out certain useful suggestions and proposals to make RWSS sector a sustainable entity. The assessment includes both impact of the project on the environment and also possible impacts of the environment on the project. Details of the primary and secondary data collection and analysis are detailed below Data Collection and Review Secondary Data Collection and Analysis The main sources of data were the latest State Statistical Diaries/handbooks, Eleventh Five Year Plan document of the state, various proposal of the state regarding environment, water, sanitation and hygiene sectors, annual progress reports and departmental documents of the concerned departments, such as Public Health Engineering Department, Department of Forests, Land Survey Directorate, Agriculture, Horticulture, Soil and Water Conservation, Animal Husbandry, Ground Water Survey, National Rural Health Mission Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (NRHM IDSP), Pollution Control Board, Central Water Commission, Watershed Management Directorate, Botanical Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India and the like. Bhuvan, a Geo-portal of Indian Space Research Organisation, Google Earth, Google Pro were some of the mapping tools used to assess the Project areas with respect to existing topographical features. This helped in understanding the issues related to the location of the schemes viz a viz features like, Reserved and protected forest, wetlands, distances from the source (in case of Assam the source is the River from which the water will be taken), animal corridors, wildlife sanctuaries, cultural heritage buildings, etc. The data was also collected from government statistics and published documents, research documents and grey literature available on the internet. All attempts have been made to verify the quality of data by cross checking the information from other sources, such as PHED, Revenue Department, CGWB, etc. Research papers, books and monographs, annual reports and special study reports of various research 26

28 organizations working in the North East have been used. These include Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (Forest Research Institute), Forest Survey of India, Wildlife Institute of India, Survey of India, Geological Survey of India, Central Soil and Water Conservation Institute, were consulted to extract important information and to bring out important environmental and RWSS issues of the state. Studies on the RWSS and environment sector in Assam conducted by NGO s were also referred to in this assessment study. Apart from available literature, to identify project background and baseline, a review of RWSS standards and water quality and environment related legislation was also undertaken. This comprehensive review identified possible legal procedures that may be important for the project. Based on this, the EMF, detailed in the report advices on what is needed to be carried during, planning, implementation, operation & Maintenance to mitigate probable impacts on environment. Equally, discussions with the PHED and overlaying the planned scheme with its GPS location on Google Earth Maps has helped identify possible conflicts with the existing establishments. Subsequently, permissions from relevant departments have been identified under the legislative framework of the EMF. Primary Data Collection and Analysis A combination of surveys, focus group discussions and consultations were undertaken for identification of project concerns, environmental issues and possible project needs. In total 15 numbers of villages were visited for each of the identified project areas. Primary data collection includes qualitative and quantitative surveys at the GP, village and household level. The survey questions include parameters such as water availability, quality, piped water supply condition, sanitary surveys, health issues, etc.. Local survey teams were trained to undertake village level and household level filling of questionnaires. The survey formats were developed and tested in Panikhaiti Village of Kamrup district, and based on the survey team s feedback; required changes were incorporated in the final questionnaires for conducting the primary survey for the project. The field testing was also used as an opportunity to train the survey team. The questionnaires for the GP and household are attached in Annexure 1.3. Apart from the field surveys, water quality testing of all the intake points are conducted to identify any possible water quality concerns in the project area. The tests report is also given in Annexure 1.4. Sample Size: Selection of villages and GPs for field investigations is guided by such factors as population, particularly the total population considered under the RWSS Project; Environmental status such as water quality; Dysentery and Diarrhoeal cases reported in the block; ground water status and soil degradation; and distance from sources. Based on these criteria, and in consultation with the PHED, fifty six villages are selected for surveys. Details of the number of villages selected in each project area along with number of GPs are given in Annexure 1.2 (in Volume II). Subsequently, the team of experts conducting the EA undertook field visits to all nine districts. This was to undertake a rapid assessment of the existing scenario, possible location concerns and look at some of the existing water supply treatment systems and related infrastructure to identify major concerns and impacts on proposed project. The team also undertook transect walks in some of the villages and visited 27

29 a few households and discussed their water and sanitation needs and concerns. The details of the villages visited and dates are given in Annexure 1. 2 (in Volume II). Public consultation and disclosure process were conducted in all seven districts under the project schemes, which were attended by representatives of key stakeholders of RWSS. The details of the villages visited and dates are given in Table Sample Habitations for Pilot Study Minimum three GPs were selected per (nine) Project Area based on their distance from the intake point (Head, Middle and Tail) and minimum two villages per GP. The Primary Survey will be conducted in 30 House Holds (5-10% representation from each village) from each Village. Subsequently, the villages are selected to include issues such as, ground & surface water quality, Water Bourne disease outbreaks in the last five years, socio economic status (SC/ST/Gen), based on the secondary data in combination with the preliminary field visits to each project area in the seven district and respective consultation with the district Executive engineer. This is primarily done to ensure that all the environmental issues are addressed and an effective village sample is taken for the study. Table 1: Number of GPs and Villages selected for the survey in the planned project districts. Sampling S.No District Project Areas No of GPs No of Villages Composite Water Supply and Sanitation 2 (WSS) at Chandrapur & Dimoria Dev. 3 1 Kamrup Block 2 Composite WSS at Bezera Sibsagar Amguri Gaurisagar integrated WSS Gr. Sibsagar integrated WSS Jorhat 3 Composite WSS at Jorhat, Jorhat Central 5 2 & Jorhat North West Dev. Block 2 4 Sonitpur Composite WSS at Gohpur Morigaon Gr Mayang WSS Boigaingaon Gr Jogighopa WSS Hailakandi Gr. Hailakandi-Algapur WSS Preliminary Site Visits The project team conducting the EA undertook field visits between the mid December, 2012 and end January, This rapid assessment included visits to the project villages, where discussions were undertake with the residents, meeting with Scheme Level User Committee (SLUC) members, Gaon 28

30 Panchayat Water and Sanitation Committee (GPWSC) and where possible also discussions with members of the GP. The team also visited planned project intakes and sites under consideration for water treatment plants. The team had discussions with local officials that included PHED engineers, SLUC members, WTP employees, Block Panchayat members, tea estate managers and workers and anganwardi workers. The visits were facilitated by the PHED officials in charge of the project Public Consultations and focus group discussions Public Consultations were concluded by the team in all the seven, project districts. The consultations were held in the second half of February 2013, after the panchayat elections had been completed. The consultations were used to disclose the project plan and identify possible implications of the p roject on the environment, and understand their situation, needs and perspective with reference to water supply and sanitation. The details of the consultations are given in Annexure 1.9 along with the field plan for the consultations. Key Issues which were identified during the consultations. A) Existing: 3. Water Quality: Some of the ground water sources are affected by Iron, Arsenic and Fluoride. 4. Water Availability: Some of the PWSS have become dysfunctional due to drying up of ground water sources, especially in Kamrup, Sonitpur and Morigaon. There are very few house hold connections and most of the villagers are forced to fill water from the stand post provided at the community level. B) Proposed Concerns: 4. Regular supply as well as regular monitoring of water quality. 5. Transmission issues- Network design. The concerns were shown on how will the network for water supply be designed, will a consent be taken from the villagers at the planning process. 6. Operation and Maintenance. *Note: Some of the findings from the consultations were taken in account and incorporated in the revised Draft Report (Version II). 1.7 Organisation of the Report 1. Chapter-1: Introductory chapter presents a brief of project, the methodology followed, criteria for selection of sample habitations for preliminary site visits, schedule and the procedure followed for public consultations. 2. Chapter-2: This chapter provides Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Policy, Regulatory Framework, Missions and Programmes. This has information on the rural water policy and on the legal and regulatory framework relevant to the proposed project. This chapter describes rural water and sanitation institutions in the state, their roles and responsibilities with special focus on rural water supply and sanitation. Further it presents a profile of the proposed project and the rules for participation of the beneficiary community in the project. 29

31 3. Chapter-3: This chapter presents the baseline data on relevant environmental components in the Assam State. Based on a critical review and analysis of baseline data, the issues of environmental concern have been identified. *The seven districts with proposed schemes under RWSS-LIS, World Bank funded projects are in bold for the reader to register the specific impacts under each baseline parameters. 4. Chapter-4: Fourth chapter has the Environmental Management Framework. This analyses the potential environmental risks associated with the proposed project activities during the design, preparation, construction and operation phases as well as, the mitigation measures for removing/ reducing the adverse impacts and enhancing the beneficial impacts of the project. The institutional and capacity building arrangements, monitoring and supervision arrangements as well as the financial arrangements for the implementation of the EMF are presented in this chapter. Appropriate environmental performance indicators have been proposed which need to be integrated with other indicators as tools to assess the project performance. Chapter 1 to 4 are enclosed in Volume I This report has several annexures including detailed project schemes, detailed guidelines and codes of practice for improved environmental management, state and district level baseline data on water supply and sanitation etc., which are enclosed in Volume II. 30

32 2 RWSS POLICY, REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, MISSIONS AND PROGRAMMES 2.1 State RWSS Vision A clean and healthy Assam, in which each person individually and collectively owns and takes the responsibility to ensure an equitable and good quality of life through safe water supply, adequate sanitation facilities and best hygiene practices. Source: PHED, Assam RWSS at National Context The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, formerly under the Ministry of Rural Development as Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, is headed by the Minster for Rural Development. The Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) was the first major intervention in the water sector that started in To accelerate coverage, the Technology Mission on Drinking Water was launched in In , this mission was renamed Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission, and in 1999, the Department of Drinking Water Supply (DDWS) was formed under Ministry of Rural Development, for focused attention on drinking water and sanitation. The first major sector reform project (SRP) was started in the same year. Later was renamed as Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2010 and in 2011, it was given a Ministry status, due to the importance given to the sector by the ruling government. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is the nodal department for the overall policy, planning, funding and coordination of programmes of drinking water and sanitation in the country. A national water supply and sanitation programme was introduced in the social sector in the country in The Government of India assisted the States to establish special investigation divisions in the Fourth Five Year Plan to carry out identification of problem villages. Taking into account the magnitude of the problem, and to accelerate the pace of coverage of problem villages, the Government of India introduced the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) in to assist States and Union Territories with 100% grants-in-aid to implement drinking water supply schemes in such villages. The entire programme was given a Mission approach when the Technology Mission on Drinking Water Management, called the National Drinking Water Mission (NDWM), was introduced as one of the five Missions in social sector in NDWM was renamed as Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) in During the International Water and Sanitation Decade in 1980s, Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP) was launched in 1986 in the Ministry of Rural Development to accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas with the objective of improving quality of life of the rural people and to provide privacy and dignity to women. Presently, Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM), Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development administers the Centrally Sponsored programmes in Rural Drinking Water Supply and Rural Sanitation sectors. During the Ninth-Plan period, special initiative was taken to cover rural habitations with proper sanitation. The CRSP was restructured in 1999 with a provision for phasing out the allocation-based component by the end of the IX Plan i.e The Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), now named as Nirmal Bharat 31

33 Abhiyan (NBA) under the restructured CRSP was launched with effect from adopting a community led and people centred approach. TSC moves away from the principle of state-wise allocation to a demand driven approach. The programme gives emphasis on IEC for demand generation of sanitation facilities and offering a wide range of technological choices of sanitation hardware through an effective delivery mechanism of Rural Sanitary Mart and Production Centres to meet the demand for sanitation facilities so generated. It also lays emphasis on school sanitation and hygiene education for bringing about attitudinal and behavioural changes for relevant sanitation and hygiene practices from young age. The NDWM Plan accords the highest priority to providing the Not Covered (NC) habitations with sustainable and stipulated supply of drinking water. It is envisaged to cover all the rural habitations including those, which might have been slipped back to Not Covered or Partially Covered (NC/PC) category by the end of NDWM Plan. The Tenth Plan emphasizes the participatory approach where PRIs should be the key institutions for convergence of drinking water supply programmes at the ground level. Considerable success has been achieved in meeting drinking water needs of the rural population Sector Reforms Project In April 1999, the GOI decided to move from a target based and supply-driven to the actual practices and preferences of end users, to a demand-based approach where users get the service they want and are willing to pay for, in a new initiative called Sector Reform Pilot Projects (SRPP). Apart from demand - responsiveness, this approach stressed financial viability and sustainability of the schemes, through f ull cost recovery of operation and maintenance and replacement costs. These sector reforms were to be implemented on a pilot scale in selected villages in 67 districts spread over 26 states in the country. The strategies of the sector reform programme were that people will be willing to maintain and operate water supply schemes only if they, Owned the assets Had installed the hand pump themselves, or had been actively involved throughout Had been trained to do simple repairs Know the government will not maintain the asset Had sufficient funds for maintenance and Had to pay for operation and maintenance of the system Swajaladhara The Government of India has emphasized the need for taking up community based rural water supply programmes which resulted in the Sector Reforms Pilot Project in Using experiences gained in the pilot project the Swajaldhara programme was launched on 25 th December Principles of Swajaldhara Adoption of demand responsive, adaptable approach along with community parti cipation based on empowerment of villages to ensure their full participation in the project through a decision making role in the choice of the drinking water scheme, planning, design, implementation, control of finances and management arrangements; 32

34 Full ownership of drinking water assets with appropriate level of Panchayats; Panchayats/communities to have the powers to plan, implement, operate, maintain and manage all Water Supply and Sanitation schemes; Partial capital cost sharing either in cash or kind including labour or both, 100% responsibility of operation and maintenance by the users; Taking up conservation measures through rain water harvesting and ground water recharge systems for sustained drinking water supply; Shifting the role of Government from direct service delivery to that of planning, policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation, and partial financial support. Keeping in view the concept of decentralization of powers, the powers to sanction Swajaldhara projects have now been delegated to District Water and Sanitation Committee (DWSC) as envisaged in the revised guidelines issued in June As per the guidelines issued in June 2003, Swajaldhara will have two Dharas. First Dhara (Swajaldhara-I) will be for a Gram Panchayat (GP) or a group of GPs or an intermediate Panchayat (at block/tehsil level) and the second Dhara (Swajaldhara-II) will have a District as the project area. Guidelines for environmental safety as per Swajaldhara Projects States would need to enact and implement law on effective groundwater extraction control, regulation and recharge State Government should integrate water conservation and rainwater harvesting schemes with drinking water supply schemes Rural drinking water, sanitation, health and hygiene programmes need to be integrated at the State, District, Block and GP levels ARWSSA/PHED Assam should arrange for periodic monitoring and review of the functioning of completed water supply schemes by officers, experts, NGOs, Institutions etc. Suitable monitoring mechanism and systems may be put in place in this regard by State Government Funds under Swajaldhara are now allocated to the States/UTs and the allocated amount is intimated to the States/UTs. The States/UTs make district wise allocation and furnish the details to the Department of Drinking Water Supply. On receipt of such information, the funds are released directly to SWSM/DP/DWSM by Department of Drinking Water Supply. Guidelines on Swajaldhara (June 2003) The GOI, Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Drinking Water Supply issued the guidelines for Swajaldhara. The salient features are Full ownership of drinking water assets with appropriate levels of Panchayats. Panchayats/communities to have the powers to plan, implement, operate, maintain and 33

35 manage all water supply and sanitation schemes. Taking up of conservation measures through rainwater harvesting and ground water recharge systems, for sustained drinking water supply. State would need to enact and implement law on effective ground water extraction, regulation and recharge. State Govt. should integrate water conservation and rain water harvesting schemes with the drinking water supply schemes. The State Govt. would enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the GOI to obtain funds from the later. Issues to be included are also listed. The minimum share of community contribution for 40-lpcd service level will be 10% of estimated capital cost. The service level can be improved to 55 lpcd with 20% of capital cost to be borne by the community, provided all habitation of the state are fully covered by 40 lpcd drinking water facility. For still higher demand the community or the state will have to bear higher proportion of capital cost. Operation, Maintenance and Management will have to be fully borne by the community/ user groups etc. The institutional set-up, responsibilities of State Water and Sanitation Mission (SWSM), District Water and Sanitation Committee (DWSC) and Gram Panchayat (GP)/Village water and Sanitation Committee (GPWSC) is also proposed. The technology option for any village should be acceptable, adoptable and affordable for the community. The communities will be encouraged to identify and take up water harvesting/recharge activities. Such activities will be essential component of project funding Sub Mission Project (SMP) Sub-Mission projects are undertaken by the States for providing safe drinking water to the rural habitations facing water quality problems like excess fluoride, Arsenic, Brackishness, Iron, nitrate o r a combination of these. Sub Mission projects are also taken up for ensuring source sustainability through rain water harvesting, artificial recharge etc. Government of India in February 2006 has approved major policy changes for Sub-Mission programme on water quality, wherein, it has now been decided to retain upto 20% of ARWSP funds at the Centre to provide focused funding to those States which have reported drinking water quality problems. This ceiling could be exceeded in exceptional cases for providing focused funding to tackle severe contaminations of water. The funding pattern of all projects taken up after February 2006 shall remain as 75:25 between Centre and State. 34

36 (ii) Sub Mission projects taken up for ensuring source sustainability through rainw ater harvesting, artificial recharge etc., will continue to be taken up by the State Governments out of 5 % of ARWSP funds allocated to them for sustainability under the delegated powers. (iii) Funds to be allocated to States would be governed by the foll owing weightage criteria- Arsenic = 35%, Fluoride = 35%, Salinity = 15%, Nitrate = 5%, Iron = 5% and Multiple problems = 5%. (iv) Since coverage is dynamic and subsequent surveys may reveal new cases of contamination, the above weightage criteria may require change at regular intervals. The Department of Drinking Water Supply in consultation with Planning Commission and the Department s Integrated Finance Division will do the same whenever required. Hence forth, upto 20% of ARWSP funds would be retained by the Centre for focused funding to tackle water quality problems that will be assessed periodically. (v) Involvement of Gram Panchayats/GPWSC in selection, implementation and maintenance of the assets created will be the guiding principle for the new projects sanctioned under the Sub-Mission for water quality. To facilitate sustainability, community contribution towards capital cost for assets created for distribution network within the village (habitation in hilly/tribal/difficult area) shall be at least 10%. It may be only 2.5% for SC/ST habitations. This was decided in consultation with States in the State Minister s Conference held on 31st Jan-1st Feb The community contribution could be paid in cash, labour, land or material or a combination of these. The Gram Panchayats/Village Water and Sanitation Committees GPWSC) shall have the responsibility of mobilizing community participation. Completed single-village schemes and intra-village distribution network of multi-village schemes are to be transferred in a phased manner along with funds transfer to Gram Panchayats/GPWSCs for subsequent Operation & Maintenance. The GPs/GPWSCs would recover O&M cost through collection of user charges and by mobilizing resources. The user charges so collected would be used exclusively for the O&M of the assets for drinking water. For multi-village schemes, the State Government Department/ Board would maintain main water supply system to the village. For difficult single village schemes, particularly, in hilly/tribal/difficult areas the State Government Department/Board would maintain the water supply system to the habitation. However, the State Governments may devolve this responsibility to an appropriate level of the PRI, depending upon the technical requirements of the scheme. The Department/Board/PRI would maintain the main water supply system upto the village and could also charge the GPs/GPWSCs for bulk supply of water for drinking purposes Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission and the National Rural Drinking Water Programme The Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission of the Department of Drinking Water Supply, under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India has constituted a Technical Expert Group to examine various emerging issues in the water and sanitation sector and suggest measures to meet the challenges. The Government of India had introduced the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) in to support States and UTs with financial and technical assistance to implement drinking water supply schemes in problem villages. In 1986, a Technology Mission with stress on water 35

37 quality, appropriate technology intervention, human resource development support and other related activities were introduced. This was renamed as the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNDWM) in Scaled up in 2002 this was renamed Swajaldhara. Finally in 2009 the programme was revised and renamed the National Rural Drinking Water Programme. The National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), is a Centrally sponsored scheme aimed at providing adequate and safe drinking water to the rural population of the country. The NRDWP is the vehicle through which the rural water supply component of Bharat Nirman is implemented. Focus has been placed on the provision of adequate resources to the sector and for creating an enabling environment for the development of infrastructure and capacities for the successful operation of water supply schemes. The National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) guidelines that came into effect from April 2009, seek to correct this situation by emphasizing the involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutions and communities in planning, implementing and managing drinking water supply schemes. States are incentivized to hand over management of their schemes to PRIs. The strategic plan aims to cover 90% of households with piped water and at least 80% of households with tap connections during this period. This forward looking strategy supports the creation of an enabling environment for the Panchayati Raj Institutions and local communities to manage rural drinking water sources and systems. The strategy emphasizes achieving water security through decentralized governance with oversight and regulation, participatory planning and implementation of sources and schemes. Capacity building programs will be required for communities to monitor and prudently use their water resources. Sustainable service delivery mechanisms are a central feature of the program, with State institutions or Zilla Parishad implementing and managing large multi-village schemes, delivering bulk water to villages in water stressed areas, and GPs implementing and managing in-village and intra-panchayat schemes. The strategy highlights source sustainability measures, water quality safety, monitoring and surveillance, service agreements with operators, convergence of different development programs, and building professional capacity at all levels Bharat Nirman Bharat Nirman, a programme to build rural infrastructure, was launched by the Government of India in Phase I of the programme was implemented in the period to Phase II is being implemented from to Rural drinking water is one of the six components of Bharat Nirman. No additional funds are provided under Bharat Nirman. The Rural drinking water supply component of Bharat Nirman is implemented through the ARWSP/NRDWP. During the Bharat Nirman Phase I period, 55,067 un-covered and about 3.31 lakh slipped-back habitations were to be covered with provisions of drinking water facilities and 2.17 lakh quality-affected habitations were to be addressed for water quality problem. While prioritizing the addressal of the water quality problem, arsenic and fluoride affected habitations have been accorded priority followed by iron, salinity, nitrate and other contaminants. To ensure that habitations once provided with drinking water supply infrastructure do not slip back and face drinking water problems, sustainability of drinking water sources and systems has been accorded high priority. 36

38 To achieve drinking water security at village/ habitation level, conjunctive use of water i.e. judicious use of rainwater, surface water and ground water is promoted Total Sanitation Campaign Government started the Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP) in 1986 primarily with the objective of improving the quality of life of the rural people and also to provide privacy and dignity to women. Total Sanitation Campaign is a comprehensive programme to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with broader goal to eradicate the practice of open defecation. TSC as a part of reform principles was initiated in 1999 when Central Rural Sanitation Programme was restructured making it demand driven and people cantered. It follows a principle of low to no subsidy where a nominal subsidy in the form of incentive is given to rural poor households for construction of toilets. TSC placed strong emphasis on Information, Education and Communication (IEC), Capacity Building and Hygiene Education for effective behaviour change with involvement of PRIs, CBOs, and NGOs etc. The key intervention areas are Individual Household Latrines (IHHL), School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE), Community Sanitary Complex, Anganwadis toilets supported by Rural Sanitary Marts (RSMs) and Production Centres (PCs). The main goal of the GOI is to eradicate the practice of open defecation by To give fillip to this endeavour, GOI has launched Nirmal Gram Puraskar to recognize the efforts in terms of cash awards for fully covered PRIs and those individuals and institutions who have contributed significantly in ensuring full sanitation coverage in their area of operation. The main objectives of the TSC are as under Bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas Accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas Generate felt demand for sanitation facilities through awareness creation and health education Cover schools/ Anganwadis in rural areas with sanitation facilities and promote hygiene education and sanitary habits among students Encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies in sanitation Eliminate open defecation to minimize risk of contamination of drinking water sources and food Convert dry latrines to pour flush latrines, and eliminate manual scavenging practice, wherever in existence in rural areas. Strategy The strategy is to make the Programme community led and People centred. A demand driven approach is to be adopted with increased emphasis on awareness creation and demand generation for sanitary facilities in houses, schools and for cleaner environment. To give a fillip to the TSC, Government of India also launched the Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) that sought to recognise the achievements and efforts made in ensuring full sanitation coverage. The award gained immense popularity and contributed effectively in bringing about a movement in the community for attaining the Nirmal Status thereby significantly adding to the achievements made for increasing the sanitation coverage in the rural areas of the country. 37

39 GUIDELINES on Central Rural Sanitation Program (CRSP) & Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC):Jan The salient features of the guidelines issued by the Dept. of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development are given below under the main objectives a) The main objectives of TSC are i. Bring about an improvement in general quality of life in the rural areas. ii. Accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas. Generate felt demand for sanitation facilities through awareness creation and health education. iii. Cover schools/anganwadis in rural areas with sanitation facilities and promote hygiene education and sanitary habits among students. iv. Encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies in sanitation. v. Eliminate open defecation to minimize risk of contamination of drinking water sources and food. vi. Convert dry latrines to pour flush latrines and eliminate manual scavenging practice, wherever it exists in rural areas. vii. Constriction of Individual household latrines is recommended with cost sharing. viii. As per the constitution s 73rd Amendment Act 1992, Sanitation is included in 11th schedule. Accordingly Gram Panchayats have a pivotal role in the implementation of Total Sanitation Campaign Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan Encouraged by the success of NGP, the TSC is being renamed as Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA). The objective is to accelerate the sanitation coverage in the rural areas so as to comprehensively cover the rural community through renewed strategies and saturation approach. Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) envisages covering the entire community for saturated outcomes with a view to create Nirmal Gram Panchayats with following priorities: Provision of Individual Household Latrine (IHHL) of both Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Identified Above Poverty Line (APL) households within a Gram Panchayat (GP). Gram Panchayats where all habitations have access to water to be taken up. Priority may be given to Gram Panchayats having functional piped water supply. Provision of sanitation facilities in Government Schools and Anganwadis in Government buildings within these GPs. Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) for proposed and existing Nirmal Grams. Extensive capacity building of the stake holders like Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), Gram Panchayat Water and Sanitation Committees (GPWSCs) and field functionaries for sustainable sanitation. 38

40 Appropriate convergence with MNREGS with unskilled man-days and skilled man-days. Objectives : - The main objectives of the NBA are as under: Bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas. Accelerate sanitation coverage in rural areas to achieve the vision of Nirmal Bharat by 2022 with all gram Panchayats in the country attaining Nirmal status. Motivate communities and Panchayati Raj Institutions promoting sustainable sanitation facilities through awareness creation and health education. To cover the remaining schools not covered under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Anganwadi Centres in the rural areas with proper sanitation facilities and undertake proactive promotion of hygiene education and sanitary habits among students. Encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies for ecologically safe and sustainable sanitation. Develop community managed environmental sanitation systems focusing on solid & liquid waste management for overall cleanliness in the rural areas. Strategy : - The strategy is to transform rural India into Nirmal Bharat by adopting the 'community led' and 'people centred' strategies and community saturation approach. A "demand driven approach" is to be continued with emphasis on awareness creation and demand generation for sanitary facilities in houses, schools and for cleaner environment. Alternate delivery mechanisms would be adopted to meet the community needs. The provision of incentives for individual household latrine units to the poorest of the poor households has been widened to cover the other needy households too so as to attain community outcomes. Availability of water in the Gram Panchayat shall be an important factor for sustaining sanitation facilities created. Rural School Sanitation remains a major component and an entry point for wider acceptance of sanitation by the rural people. Wider technology options are being provided to meet the customer preferences and location- specific needs. Intensive IEC Campaign is the corner stone of the programme involving Panchayati Raj Institutions, Co-operatives, ASHA, Anganwadi workers, Women Groups, Self Help Groups, NGO s etc. A roadmap for engagement of corporate houses is being introduced. More transparent system involving social audit and active people s participation in the implementation process of NBA is being introduced. Convergence with MNREGS shall also be important to facilitate the rural households with fund availability for creating their own sanitation facilities. Implementation : - The Guidelines of NBA and the provisions hereunder are applicable with effect from Implementation of NBA is proposed with Gram Panchayat as the base unit. A project proposal that 39

41 emanates from a district is scrutinized and consolidated by the State Government and transmitted to the Government of India (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation) as a State Plan. NBA is to be implemented in phases with start-up activities. Funds are to be made available for preliminary IEC work. The physical implementation gets oriented towards satisfying the felt-needs, wherein individual households choose from a menu of options for their household latrines. The built-in flexibility in the menu of options gives the poor and the disadvantaged families opportunity for subsequent upgradation depending upon their requirements and financial position. In the campaign approach, a synergistic interaction between the Government agencies and other stakeholders is essential. To bring about the desired behavioural changes for relevant sanitary practices, intensive IEC and advocacy, with participation of NGOs/Panchayati Raj Institutions/resource organizations is envisaged. NBA will be implemented with a district as the project. The States/UTs are expected to prepare/revise NBA Projects for all the districts, consolidate at State level as State Plan and submit before the Government of India Other Sanitation Programmes Objective of Nirmal Gram Puraskar To promote safe sanitation and clean environment as a way of life in rural India To incentivise Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to make the villages open defecation free (ODF) and to adopt solid & liquid waste management (SLWM). To sustain the initiative of the clean environment To encourage organizations to play a catalytic role in social mobilization in the implementation of NBA. Government of India (GoI) has been promoting sanitation coverage in a campaign mode to ensure better health and quality of life for people in rural India. To add vigour to its implementation, GoI launched an award based incentive scheme for fully sanitized and open defecation free Gram Panchayats, Blocks, Districts and states called Nirmal Gram Purskar (NGP) in October 2003 and get away the first award in 2005 as a component of its flagship scheme Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC). Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) lays strong emphasis on Information, Education and Communication (IEC), capacity building and hygiene education for effective behaviour change covering the entire community for saturated outcomes with a view to create Nirmal Gram Panchayats with the involvement of PRIs, community based organizations (CBOs), NGOs, etc. NGP till 2011 was given by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDWS), Government of India at all levels of PRIs that is Gram Panchayat, Block Panchayat and District Panchayat. It has now been decided that with the transition to NBA, selection of GPs to award NGP from the year 2012 shall be taken up by the states, while selection of the Blocks and District Panchayats shall continue to be with the Centre. These guidelines have accordingly been formulated. The NGP is awarded to Gram Panchayats having total coverage of toilets in houses, school and Anganwadi, open defecation free status and clean and neat environment. The award is also extended to the Block Panchayats as well as District Panchayats. 40

42 2.2 RWSS Coverage in State The PHED in Assam is implementing three major GoI sponsored programmes in RWSS sector. These are (i) Minimum Need Programme (MNP), (ii) Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP), and Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Jojna Rural Water Supply Programme (PMGY RWSP). Rural Water supply has been included uner the MNP since the 5 th Five Year Plan. Also, the Scheduled Caste Component Plan and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) are integral component of MNP. The PMGY-RWSP is also included in the MNP. Assam PHED has also been implementing sanitation programmes. This No of districts 27 No. of blocks 237 No. of GPs 2580 No. of villages No. of habitations Total Population Rural Population (80%) No. of FC Habitation (56.4%) No. of Quality Affected Hab (17.5%) No. of Uncovered habitation (26 %) No of PWSS (01/04/12) 6,211 No. of IHHL constructed includes the Centrally Sponsored Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP). An Approximate 18.5% of the state s population is covered with piped water supply schemes Drinking Water Providing safe drinking water to the rural habitations and schools has been acknowledged as the most challenging and priority task by the Government of Assam. Public Health Engineering Department is the nodal Government Department for the rural water supply programmes in the State. The first nationwide rural habitation survey to assess the rural drinking water supply coverage was conducted through the State Governments in the year 1991 which were revalidated during Since then the major thrust has been shifted to cover the habitations with safe drinking water. Rural School Water Supply under the 10th Finance Commission Award 5272 Tara Hand Pumps have been installed in Lower Primary and Upper Schools in Assam. Availing UNICEF support up to , 3547 Tara hand Pumps are installed in the schools. For ensuring operation and maintenance of the Tara Hand Pumps necessary training has been imparted to school committee for enhancing their capacity. The PHED in Assam is implementing three major GoI sponsored programmes in RWSS sector. These are (i) Minimum Need Programme (MNP), (ii) Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP), and Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Jojna Rural Water Supply Programme (PMGY RWSP). Rural Water supply has been included uner the MNP since the 5th Five Year Plan. Also, the Scheduled Caste Component Plan and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) are integral component of MNP. The PMGY-RWSP is also included in the MNP. Assam PHED has also been implementing sanitation programmes. This includes the Centrally Sponsored Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP). There are approx piped water supply schemes functioning 2 in Assam. 2 Status of PWSS as on Nov 2012, PHED Assam 41

43 Table 2: Status of Piped Water Supply Schemes Total No. of Sanctioned PWSS Total No. of completed PWSS Total No. of Functioning PWSS Total No. of Non Functioning PWSS Source: Assam, PHED, Sanitation Under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA, earlier TSC) every household in rural areas should have sanitary individual latrines in their household premises. However, in Assam, less than 11 % of Gaon Panchayats have received the Nirmal Gram Puruskar (NGP) for achieving an Open Defecation Free environment. Table 3: Distribution of Households by sanitation facilities and caste. Total number of households Number of Households having latrine facilities within the premises Number of Households having closed drainage within the premises Number of Households having bathrooms within the premises Total (64.89) (3.61) (24.47) Rural (59.57) 76764(1.42) (15.75) ST Rural (7.08) 8243(1.01) 74530(9.15) SC Rural (60.48) 10114(1.87) (16.52) Source: Census of India, Regulatory and Policy Framework At the national level the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Central Pollution Control Board is responsible for setting standards and drafting regulations and policies. These standards, regulations and policies may be followed or new ones adapted to local needs developed at the state level. However, at the state level polices, standards and regulations need to have as high, if not a higher standard. Also, in case a state legislation or standard has been developed it will be followed instead of the nation one in the state where it is legislated National and State Environmental Policies and Regulations Environmental Protection Act 1986 and EIA Notification 2006 Enacted for the purpose of safeguarding and improving the environment, this legislation outlines standards for emission or discharge of pollutants form industries and other processes. It also lists a number of factors that may be taken into account for locating any industry or process. These include: Environmental quality standards laid down for an area; Maximum allowed limits on various environmental pollutants for an area; Likely emission or discharge of environmental pollutants; Topography and climate of an area; Biological diversity of an area which needs to be preserved, based on the opinion of the central government; Environmental compatible land use; Net adverse environmental impact to be caused by proximity to a protected area under the ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remnants act, 1958, or notified areas under the Wildlife 42

44 (Protection) Act, 1972, or a place protected under any treaty, agreement or convention or in perusal of any decision made in any international conference, association or other body; Proximity to human settlement; Any other factor considered relevant to the protection of the environment in an are a by the central government. This Act also lists 7 industrial processes along with the required emission standards in the Environmental (Protection) Rules, The project, prior to implementing any activity should refer to the act and its amendments in place in case it needs to take any permissions or may require changes in design The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act of 1974 This is one of the earliest environmental acts of the country. It has been drafted to prevent and control the pollution of water, and maintain and restore its wholeness. This law has also been responsible for the creation of the Central and State Pollution Control Boards which are in charge of setting standards and regulating the quality of water. The State level standards cannot however be more lenient than the Central standards. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act 1988 states that no person can discharge establish or take any steps to establish any industry, operation or process, or any treatment and disposal system, or any extension or addition thereto, which is likely to discharge sewage or trade effluents into a stream or well or sewer or on land; bring into use any new or altered outlet for discharge of sewage; or begin any new discharge of sewage without the consent of the State Pollution Control Board. Also, in case of any accident leading to the discharge of effluents or waste, the person in charge has the responsibility to advise the Board or the prescribed agency on the incident. The Act also lists possible penalties that can be attracted for non-compliance with this Act. This Act empowers the State Pollution Control Board to regulate the sector and take action against those breaking the law Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, its Rules and amendments This law is to control and prevent water pollution. This legislation also defines discharge standards and permit needs for any effluent/wastewater discharged. It includes surface and ground water and marine discharges. The Act also discusses possible water pollution, prevention and control are as for the application of this Act. The most likely source of pollution of water is likely to be from construction activities, when there are likely to be discharges from cement concrete mixing and other activities. There could also be some discharges during the cleaning and backwashing processes. All these must follow required standards as defined by the CPCB. Also, if any discharges into rivers or water bodies are considered, permission from the State Pollution Board will be required and must be taken. 43

45 The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 This Act is for ensuring the conservation, sustainable use, fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use and increased knowledge of the country s biological diversity. The Central Government has a number of duties to implement this Act. These include the following The Central Government is supposed to develop national strategies, plans, etc. for the conservation and management of biodiversity. This is to include monitoring of areas with rich biological resources, promotion of in-situ and ex-situ conservation of biological resources, incentives for research, training and public education to increase awareness with respect to biodiversity. In case the Central Government identifies biodiversity areas where habitats are threatened by overuse, neglect or mismanagement it is to issue directives to the concerned State Government to take immediate ameliorative measures. In such a case the Central Government will provide required technical and other assistance. To the extent possible the Central Government is to integrate the conservation, promotion and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sector or cross-sector plans, programmes and policies. If needed, the Central Government is to take measures to assess the environmental impact of projects that may have an impact on biodiversity, to minimise the negative impacts and include public participation in the assessment. Furthermore, any area considered rich in biodiversity and under threat, the Central Government can give directives to the State Government to take amelioration measures to halt the activities identified as causing harm Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 The rules state that the National Biological Diversity Authority may take appropriate action to restrict access to biological resources for various reasons; including those that may create genetic erosion or have a negative impact on ecosystem functions. The present project area is rich in biological diversity and the North East is one of the mega biodiversity hotspots. Therefore, developed design criteria for this project are going to address any issue identified through the analysis of data and discussions with experts in the area. Discussions in the field also highlighted that in some districts such as; Sonitpur, Sibsagar and Jorhat districts there are animal corridors and wildlife movement. At present, these areas are not included under the seven schemes but special considerations are made under EMF for all stages of the project cycle to ensure their safeguard. The animals found in the wildlife sanctuaries include elephants, leopards, pangolins, amongst others. Therefore, project design must ensure that neither are these animals disturbed nor the infrastructure damaged by them. Also, as needed the State Department of Environment and Forests must be consulted for required permissions and appropriate changes in the project design The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Its Amendments This law discusses the protection of plants in forest areas and states that there should be no damage or destruction of plants or other vegetation on forest lands. Also, it mentions that there will be no destruction of wildlife areas and any activities that need to be carried out in sanctuaries, wildlife parks 44

46 and other such protected areas will be with permission of the concerned authority in the area only, and in accordance to the local restrictions and procedures. This law will be applicable for schemes which have forests or if the pipelines has to pass through any protected area. At present, according to PHED, the identified project areas do not include any designated forest areas. However, during field visits it was observed that there might be practice of social forestry in some of the project blocks and thus appropriate measure must be taken during project design and construction to ensure minimum tree cutting. Subsequently, discussions with the Forest Department would need to be undertaken to identify any project requirements under this law The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 This Act is meant for the conservation of forests and related issues. According to this Act any area within reserved forests can be de-reserved, used for other than forest purposes, leased out or cleared, without the prior approval of the Central Government. The breaking of this law invites punitive action. This not only includes forest lands of the Forest Department but also private and village forests Assam Forest Policy, 2004 There are a number of issues discussed in this policy; those that could be relevant to the present project include: The objective to demarcate all forest lands, irrespective of ownership, for the purpose of scientific management through special measures; The protection of and improved productivity of all forests, both classed and un-classed State and community forests; Strengthening of elephant reserves and ensuring the peaceful co-existence of human beings and elephants, including the promotion of measures to mitigate human-elephant conflict in crucial areas; Viable, small-size protected areas acting as buffer zones, dispersion corridors and other appropriate measures, may be identified in order to reduce human-animal conflict; There should be no exotic species introduced without long term scientific trials undertaken by specialists, to ensure their suitability; Wetlands have been considered areas supporting the highest level of biodiversity and are to be brought under the Protected Area Network (PAN) for the development of efficient management plans; wetlands under heavy human use and important for biodiversity are to be covered by a separate agency; Studies on ecological risks in important wildlife habitat, including protected areas, is likely to be made mandatory; Afforesting lands for non-forestry purposes shall be subject to careful examination of social and environmental costs and benefits, and development activities shall be consistent with the need to conserve forests and trees Assam Forest Regulation, 1891, Government of Assam This law discusses forests, forest produce and duties on timber in Assam. The law also looks at ways to manage and safeguard the State s forests. According to this law if any the State Government needs to acquire land under the Forest Department for other public purposes it needs to follow the procedures 45

47 provided by the Land Acquisition Act, The law also states that, if required, the State Government can de-reserve any forest or a part of it through a notification in the official Gazette. This law also identified a number of trees which have been classified as Reserved Trees regardless of the ownership of the property they are growing upon. For all unclassified State Forests of the Plain Districts of Assam the Settlement Rules of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886 is applicable. These unclassified state forests include any land at the disposal of the State and not included in a reserved or village forest. Notification dated in WP (Civil) No 202 of 1995 and under the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 (Regulation VII of 1891) of Government of Assam for controlling the felling and removal of trees from non-forest lands. The non-forest land includes all lands that are not under reserved and protected forests or deemed as forests under the Supreme Court Orders dated This notification lists a few trees where there is no permission required from the Forest Department for felling of trees. These include aam, jamun, kathal, eucalyptus, poplar, all species of home brown bamboo, keteku, paniol and madhuraiam. Species can however be included or excluded to this list. For tree felling permission needs to be taken from the Principal Chief Conservation of Forests, Assam. In case of felling of trees for self-consumption permission is to be granted within 30 days of receipt of the application. Otherwise it is to be granted in 60 days. There is format for the application to fell trees and can be obtained from for office of the PPCF. Therefore, the project must ensure that if any forest areas are going to be included in the project, they must not be done without prior permission of the Forest Department. Furthermore, to the extent possible all forest lands must be avoided to ensure least delays in project implementation. This would also reduce costs on compensation and other activities required under the act. This should be an important consideration as discussions with the field PHED officials hi ghlighted that there were some village forests in the project area. In areas where trees are to be cut, there will be first a need to discuss this with the local For est Department representative the Divisional Forest Official (DFO) responsible for the area. Based upon the DFO s guidance and suggestions the compensation and procedures should be followed The Assam Ancient Monuments and Records Act, 1959 (Assam Act No. XXV of 1959). According to this Act an ancient monument is any structure, erection or monument or any tumulus or place of internment, or any cave, rock sculpture, inscription or monolith which is of historical, archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in existence for no less than one hundred years and includes: The remnants of ancient monuments; The site of an ancient monument; Such portion of land adjoining the site of an ancient monument as may be required for fencing or covering in or otherwise preserving such monument, and The means to access to, and convenient inspection of any ancient monument. 46

48 The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958 The Central Act further states that nobody, including the owner or occupier of a protected area, is to construct any building within the protected area or carry on any mining, quarrying, excavating, blasting or any operation of a similar nature in the protected area, or use the whole or part of the area without prior permission of the Central Government. This prohibited area has been further defined as an area near or adjoining a protected monument which the Central Government has, by notification in the Official Gazette, declared to be a prohibited area by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Rules of These laws are important for the project as field visits identified one area in Bongaigaon where an Archaeological Survey of India protected Monument exists within 100 meters of the planned intake structure system. The design of the structure, its intake and raising main will need to ensure that it follows the distance as prescribed by the law and also takes permission from the State Archaeological Department for any construction activity. Other future activities and systems will also need to ensure that the law is adhered to during the designing of the project Land Policy 1989, Revenue Department, Government of Assam According to this policy, under ordinary circumstances no agriculture land will be allocated or settled for the establishment of industries, construction of public institutions/offices, hospitals etc. The Policy also suggests that the State Government is to evolve a standard norm for the allocation of land for non - agriculture purposes. It also adds that the transfer of agriculture of land by cultivators for non - agricultural purposes is to be according to the Executive Instructions No 6 of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulations, Speaking on Ancient monuments and places of historical and archaeological importance the Policy states that sites should be preserved and not allocated to any individual or private organization. They should also be kept free from encroachment. This Land Policy has also given guidelines on the amount of land to be settled in case private person s lands are required for other activities to the individuals. The policy also identifies preferential categories among those eligible for land settlements. Speaking on the issues of encroachment the policy states that encroachers on government land, including that acquired under various land ceiling acts are not entitled to settlement of land and are to be evicted if required Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989 This Rule is for the management and transportation hazardous chemicals and substances that include toxic and flammable substances, their use, processing and storage. Schedule 1 to 4 of this rule describes what is categorized as hazardous, their quantities and levels of toxicity. Equally, any hazardous chemicals stored or transported need to be labelled as specified in the rules and an updated safety data sheet to be kept. 47

49 It applies to any industrial activity in which hazardous chemicals and listed criteria as identified in Schedule I exist of are stored to above the threshold level identified for each chemical in Schedule II. Chlorine has been listed in Part II of Schedule I of this Rule under hazardous and toxic chemicals. The threshold quantity identified under Schedule II of the Rules for storage of the chemical are Under this law there is a need by the management to; Identify accident hazards Take steps to prevent identified hazards and/or limit their impact. Provide training, information and equipment for the safety of the plant s workers. In case of an accident there is a need to notify the appropriate authority. The Rule also states no industrial activity is to start till a safety report is prepared for the activity and submitted as specified in Schedule 8 of the Rule. This could be relevant to the project as there would be certain chemicals and fuel likely to be stored for various project needs. Some of these could be flammable or toxic. Prior to starting any activity the project would need to identify if there are any chemicals as identified in Schedule 3 of the project. If so, appropriate handling procedures and safety permits etc would need to be developed and submitted to the concerned authority The Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 These rules apply to processes which are producing and handling hazardous waste. They outline processes for packaging, labelling, transporting and disposal of waste. Also given are instructions in case of accidents at hazardous waste facilities and the import of such waste. The Rules also list different categories of hazardous waste, along with the allowable quantities of different substances. While there is little likelihood that this Rule will apply to the current project, it shall been part of an environmental legislation filter of design options, as a safeguard. At present the re is little treatment of wastewater or effluents in the city, leading to high level of contamination of the environment, mainly groundwater resources. This constitutes a hazard to be considered in the process of identifying drinking water sources. A detailed assessment and analysis of the water quality should give a more accurate picture and will be a part of the design process. Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 This notification has identified Ambient Air Quality Standard for Noise Levels. These standards are given below: Area Category/Zone Limit in db (A) Leq Day time Night time Industrial Commercial Residential Silence Zone

50 Note: 1. Day time is from 6.00 am to pm 2. Night time is from pm to 6 am 3. Silence zone is defined as an area comprising not less than 100 meters around hospitals, educational institutes and courts. 4. Leq is an energy mean of the noise level over a specified period Similarly there are also legal provisions for noise and air pollution for running generators of different capacities. In case the project design includes the use of diesel generators the appropriate legislation would need to be consulted accordingly. This legislation will also be important for any construction work undertaken. Since the laying of pipelines would involve digging, drilling and other activities the noise levels must comply by the regulation. This could mean that construction in residential areas cannot take place at night hours unless the noise levels are within the permitted limit. Also, silence zones would need to be identified and the levels of noise during the construction phase kept well within these levels Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, its Rules and amendments Under this Act, Boards (Central and State) for the prevention and control of air pollution have been set up to monitor and manage activities that would lead to air pollution in India, declare air pollution control areas. The act also sets ambient air quality standards for industrial, residential and ecologically sensitive areas. This will be important during the construction phase, where there is likely to be use of diesel generators for provision of energy and other activities that may result in air pollution. Also, based upon the area the project activities are underway, the standards, as defined by the Act are to be adhered to. In case diesel generators are used for provision of energy for management of the systems, standards as defined in the act must be adhered to Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 Under the Public Liability Insurance Act an industry needs to take out a policy to cover any risks arising from the handling of hazardous substances. In case of an accident causing death or injury the industry is liable to pay compensation, even those persons not classified as the industries workers and any property that has been damaged by the accident. According to the Ministry of Environment and Forests notification of 24 March 1992 there is a list of chemicals with quantities to identify what comes under this Act. This list specifies 10 tonnes as the quantity at which the Act is applicable in the case of chlorine The National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995 This Act discusses compensation to any individual, property or the environment due to an accident or injury from any activity by the owner of the establishment or agency. It lays out procedures for the application of compensation and for the tribunal for providing relief and the governance of its ow n activities. The Act is limited to activities arising out of handling of hazardous substances. Hazardous 49

51 substances according to the Government of India (GoI) have been listed in the schedule of the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, This is important for the project in case any hazardous chemical is used in any process or project activity and includes the construction and day to day management of the planned systems. One of the listed hazardous chemicals according to the list is chlorine which is to be used during water purification. The list of hazardous chemicals should also be referred to for any other chemicals that might be used in any process and are a part of the list Insecticide Act, 1968 This act provides a list of pesticides which are restricted or banned for use in India. There is a list of 34 pesticides and formulations banned for use in India. There are another seven withdrawn pesticide, eighteen refused registration and thirteen for restricted use in India. No insecticide that is in this list should be used or stored during any of the processes in the project activities. Any cleaning or sanitation activities to be undertaken under this project should only include those chemicals that are not banned by the GoI Wetlands (Management and Conservation) Rules, 2010 This rule defines a wetland which according to the rule is an area of marsh, fen, peat land or water; natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters and includes all inland waters such as lakes, reservoirs, tanks, backwaters, lagoons, creeks, estuaries and manmade wetlands and zones of direct influence of wetlands that is to say drainage areas or catchment areas of the wetlands as determined by the authority, but does not include main river channels, paddy fields and the coastal wetlands covered under the notification of the Government of India in th e Ministry of Environment and Forests, S.O. 114 (E) dated 19 February, 1991 published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary, Section 3, Sub-Section (ii) of dated the 20th of February, The rules also identifies various types of wetlands including those in UNESCO World Heritage sites, ecologically sensitive areas, below 2500 metres with an area of at least 500 ha, or other notified wetlands or those identified by the Wetland Authority. Activities not permitted in such areas are identified and they include - reclamation, setting up of new or expansion of existing industries, dumping of waste or discharge of effluents, any activity that adversely impacts the wetland ecosystem, amongst others Draft Guidelines for Integrated Water Resource Development and Management, 2010, Central Water Commission The Guidelines mention the need to consider ecological needs of water and therefore the maintenance of appropriate minimum flows of rivers for ecological needs, aesthetics and other requirements. The guidelines go further and mention the need for catchment treatment, integrated watershed projects, restoration of ecological balance. No thumb rules or calculations to assessing minimum flows are given in the guidelines. 50

52 This could become important once it is finalised and implemented. Most sources in the future, it is understood will be from river sources. With changes in climate, increasing demand for water from competing sources and expanding population the overall availability of water to use in the rivers is l ikely to be reduced. Therefore, water conservation measures such as increased efficiency of the system and increased awareness not to waste water may also need to be considered. Table 4: Environmental Compliance Requirements Legislative Needs Component Applicable Action Required Legislation Any component where there is a need to acquire forest land or access any produce from forest. Forest Act Applicable: since Assam has a significant cover of forest, during project implementation, in case there is any forest land encountered, apply for permission and undertake all necessary actions as directed by the Forest Department before project design 3. Trees cut during project activities. Any impact on biodiversity hotspots or sensitive areas due to project activities. Biodiversity and Wildlife Protection Act. During construction period Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 Pollution due to vehicle and Water (Prevention construction activities and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 At time of construction, there is maximum probability in the use of diesel generators for energy as well as for the various vehicles and machinery at the site and during material transportation. Accidental Waste dumping in wetland during construction Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 Wetland (Management and Applicable: Considering the location of the seven projects, and the two biodiversity hotspots - the Indo- Burma and Himalayan, both traversing the state of Assam, there is a need to work with caution. While, there is expected to be minimal impact from project activities, in case of any conflict, the Biodiversity Board should be consulted to identify sensitive areas and appropriate actions to minimize impact from project activities. Make appropriate changes in design to ensure minimum damage to wildlife area and also infrastructure. ECoP s are provided in the annexures which gives guidelines on natural habitats and forests. Applicable: Ensure all activities to adhere to the prescribed noise limits. Applicable: Ensure any activity undertaken is within the existing discharge standards, based upon the designated use of a water body. Applicable: Ensure that all activities comply with the prescribed air quality levels. Vehicles should have required pollution control certification from appropriate authorities. Applicable: Assam has number of wetlands, though only one Ramsar site. There are also some wetlands in 3 Past experience of Rural Water Supply projects and as other projects implemented by other sector institutions indicate that a majority of schemes may not require more than 0.5 Ha (single village schemes) and 1-2 Ha (multivillage schemes). Based upon the requirements of individual projects, permission from the State and Regional office may be taken. 51

53 Component or in the O&M phase Applicable Legislation Conservation) Rules, 2010 Action Required the project districts. However, no protected wetland is within a five KM range of identified project areas 4. Nonetheless, to ensure safety of all water bodies and wetlands in the area, appropriate mechanisms, as identified in the EMF, will be adopted to protect them during the construction and O&M stages. This should be addressed through the EMPs developed for all schemes The World Bank Safeguard Policies The growing awareness of policymakers, in both the developing and industrialized worlds, that improving water and sanitation services is key to achieving broader poverty reduction goals has been accompanied by calls for more concerted efforts and additional resources from all stakeholders, including the World Bank Group. In this context, the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Board has elaborated a business strategy which identifies key areas on which the Bank should focus, strategic priorities at the regional and sub-sectoral levels, and operational choices in terms of instruments, levels of future World Bank assistance, and associated resource implications. The strategy is a document intended to guide the Bank s assistance to the water and sanitation sector over the FY period. Over the past three decades, World Bank assistance has incorporated many of the lessons in WSS around the world, drawing on a combination of approaches in order to improve the affordability and sustainability of water supply and sanitation services. These include: (i) incorporating community preferences regarding service levels, delivery modalities, and management arrangements; (ii) building local capacities to support communities in expressing their needs and managing services; and (iii) broadening the scope for public-private partnerships in service delivery, to improve responsiveness to users and operating efficiency. The lessons have influenced the nature of World Bank assistance for WSS, for example in India, experience from several rural WSS projects is being brought to scale through local government initiatives to expand service coverage by adopting the principles of community development. Based upon the discussions in the field possible implications of the World Bank s safeguard policies are summarised in Table 5 below. From the Environment Perspective the safeguards that may be relevant for this project are (i) OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment, (ii) OP 4.04 Natural Habitats and (iii) OP 4.36 Forests. The project is spread over seven different districts of Assam, which both has biodiversity hotspots and also a very diverse and sensitive ecosystem, where human being coexist with the natural environment. Although, the seven project areas identified in the seven districts do not encompass any reserve forest, wetland or lakes, it is possible that planned RWSS systems such as intakes and rising mains may be near the identified as well as unidentified natural habitats. Therefore, it is important to fully understand 4 Based on the preliminary assessment of the schemes, there are no wetlands, lakes or any other significant natural habitats found in the seven project areas (16 blocks) identified under the RWSS project. However, since Assam is endowed with number of natural habitats, including natural forests, wetlands and lakes, their protection are mandatory if they are within 10 km radius and thus should be addressed in the EMP. 52

54 the project coverage and analyse its impact on the existing natural systems and accordingly provide appropriate environmental management measures. Under the project three Operations Policies (OPs) as mentioned above, are important to be discussed to ensure they are not triggered or if triggered are appropriately addressed. Table 5: Summary of Environment Safeguard Requirements for the Project Safeguard No Safeguard Description Application of Safeguard to Project OP 4.01 (Environmental Assessment). OP 4.04 (Natural Habitats) EA to be conducted for all projects that fall into either World Bank Category A or Category B. Potential environmental consequences of projects identified early in project cycle. EAs and mitigation plans required for projects with significant environmental impacts. EAs should include analysis of alternative designs and sites, or consideration of "no option" Requires public participation and information disclosure before Board approval. The conservation of natural habitat is essential for long- term sustainable development. The Bank does not support projects that involve significant conservation or degradation of critical natural habitats. Prohibits financing of projects involving "significant conversion of natural habitats unless there are no feasible alternatives". Requires environmental cost benefit analysis. Requires EA with mitigation measures. Triggered: The projects support the preparation of RWSS infrastructure, some of which may have adverse environmental impacts. The EMF will help identify these potential impacts, and propose practical ways of avoiding or mitigating them. Triggered: Assam has number of natural habitats in the reserved, national forests, wetlands and lakes, etc. However, none of the reserved forest or national parks, wetlands and lakes are falling within a ten km radius of the seven projects identified. Further, River itself is a big habitat for aquatic life and care must be taken at the time of water intake to safeguard wild life, especially the endangered species. A negative list is provided in the screening section to ensure exclusion of ecologically sensitive areas. OP 4.09 (Pest Management). Projects financing operations, pests are controlled through IPM approaches, such as biological control, cultural practices, and the development and use of crop varieti es resistant or tolerant to the pest. The Bank may Finance the purchase of pesticides when their use is justified under an IPM approach. Supports environmentally sound pest management, including integrated pest management, but does not prohibit the use of highly hazardous pesticides. Pest management is the borrower's responsibility in the context of Also, all changes in project design right from the planning stage should identify any potential impacts of projects on natural habitats, reserves or protected areas, and to develop appropriate mitigation measures to minimize or avoid damage, or compensate for it under EMP prepared for Category II projects. Not Triggered: This is unlikely to be triggered given that the project is a Rural Water Supply and Sanitation project. 53

55 OP 4.11Cultural Property OP 4.12 (Involuntary Resettlement). OP 4.20 Indigenous Peoples OP 4.36 (Forests). a project's EA. The Bank supports the preservation of cultural properties which includes sites with archaeological, paleontological, historical, religious or unique natural values. It seeks to avoid impacts on such sites The Bank discourages financing of projects that will damage cultural property. People who have to be removed or who lose their livelihood as a result of the project must be resettled, compensated for all of their losses and they must be provided with a situation that is at least as good as the one from which they came. Implemented in projects which displace people. Requires public participation in resettlement planning as part of EA for project. Intended to restore or improve income earning capacity of displaced populations. This policy covers local indigenous people or distinct groups who are marginalized in society and who could be adversely affected by the project. The Bank does not support projects that negatively affect these peoples. Purpose is to ensure indigenous peoples benefit from Bank financed development and to avoid or mitigate adverse effects on indigenous peoples. Applies to projects that might adversely affect indigenous peoples or when they are targeted beneficiaries. Requires participation of indigenous peoples in creation of indigenous peoples development plans. World Bank s lending operations in the forest sector are conditional on government commitment to undertake sustainable management and conservation-oriented forestry. Prohibits financing for commercial logging operations or acquisition of equipment for use in primary moist tropical forests. Not Triggered: There is a section which will deal with Chance finds. Not Triggered: This would be addressed as a part of the social assessment for the project. Not Triggered: However, this would be addressed as a part of the social assessment for the project. Triggered: Given the present plan, no acquisition is expected from reserved or protected forests, wildlife sanctuaries or national park under all seven schemes Also, the project is for the development of RWSS schemes; therefore it does not include any commercial logging. However, any future changes in project areas or design may also need to be reviewed for the application of the OP 4.36 given the high forest cover in the state. Under such circumstances, Government of India (GOI) as well as state governments has well laid out rules and procedures for making use of forest lands for non-forest purposes, which are provided for in the ECoPs. Also, any required felling of trees in the social forest or non-forest areas is to be carried with the permission of the Forest Department and in accordance with guidelines for compensatory afforestation. 54

56 OP 4.37 (Safety of Dams). OP 7.50 (Projects in International Waterways). OP 7.60 Disputed areas Bank financed new dams must be designed and built under the supervision of competent professionals. Dams over 15 m in height are of concern particularly if there is a large flood handling requirement or the dam is in a zone of high seismicity and /or where foundations and other design features are complex. The OP requires review by independent experts throughout project cycle. Requires preparation of EA and detailed plans for construction and operation, and periodic inspection by the Bank. If a project has the potential to negatively affect the quality or quantity of water of a waterway shared with other nations the Bank will need a negotiated agreement be established between riparian nations involved. Covers riparian waterways that form boundary between two or more states and bays, gulfs, straits or channels bordered by two or more states. Applies to dams, irrigation, flood control, navigation, water, sewage and industrial projects. Requires notification, agreement between states, detailed maps, and feasibility surveys. Applies to projects where there are territorial disputes present. Projects in disputed areas could affect relations between the country within which the project is being developed and neighbouring countries. Disputes would be dealt with at the earliest opportunity. Allows Bank to proceed if governments agree to go forward without prejudice to claims. Requires early identification of territorial disputes and descriptions in all Bank documentation. 2.4 State Sector Institutions Not Triggered: No dams are planned as a part of the project. Not Triggered. In accordance with OP 7.50 (International Waterways) this is seen that the proposed project falls within the exceptions to the notification requirement under Para 7(a) 5 of the Policy. The project components in the context and relation to OP 7.50, will not adversely change the quality and quantity of water, both upstream and downstream and will not be adversely affected by the water use of the riparian countries. Not Triggered: It is unlikely that any disputed area will be involved or impacted by the project Environment All environments related activities at the state level are largely divided between the Department of Environment and Forests and the Assam Pollution Control Board. A broad outline of the role of these departments is given below. Together these look at various aspects of environment for the State. However, they are governed by the Regional Centre for the Ministry of Environment and Forests at Shillong. Therefore any clearances and matters for guidance are referred to Shillong. This Regional Centre has two divisions within it the environment division and the forest division. The environment department is largely involved in monitoring activities, along with the SPCB based on directives it 5 According to para 7(a) of OP 7.50, the exception applies: for any ongoing scheme, projects involving additions or alterations that require rehabilitation, construction or other cha nges that in the judgement of the bank (a) will not adversely change the quality and quantity of water flows to the other riparian s; and (b) will not be adversely affected by the other riparian s possible water use. 55

57 receives from the Central office. The forest division is in-charge of giving sanctions for forest clearances of up to 5 ha; and inspecting and processing clearances of areas between 5 and 40 ha before forwarding them to the Ministry in Delhi for further action. For areas between 40 and 100 ha the Central Ministry directly deals in the matters and for areas larger than 100 ha the Regional Office is supposed to provide its report before any clearance can be sanctioned Department of Environment and Forests The mission of the Department of Environment and Forests, Assam is to protect and improve the environment, to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the State, to preserve and add new dimensions to the state s culture, and to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife. The Department also works towards creating income generation activities though forestry in the state. The main functions and duties of the department are, To act as the Head Quarter of the Forest Department, Government of Assam; To coordinates with the state Government and Government of India and also with different agencies on matter related to Forest and wildlife of the state; To suggest Government on policy matters relating to Forest and environment; To oversee the management of Forest and wildlife of the state of Assam. Government of India (GOI) as well as State Government has well laid out rules and procedures for making use of forest lands for non-forest purposes. Key principle underpinning the land transactions are: i. Before awarding any work, an application will be made to the concerned Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) requesting lands specifying location and area required as well as purpose for which it will be used. ii. DFO will examine and recommends to the state government which has powers to accord approval for lands up to five hectare and area beyond needs approval by GOI Assam Pollution Control Board State Pollution Control Board, Assam is an autonomous statutory organization constituted to protecting the environment and preventing and controlling the pollution of water and air in Assam. The SPCB mainly regulates pollution control, advices the State Government on pollution related matters, inspects trade effluents and sewage treatment plant discharges, collects water cess, research and lays down standards for emission and effluent discharge. The major activities of the department are given below. Undertake comprehensive programme on water, air, land and other type of pollution and their control and management Advice and liaison with the State Government on any matter concerning environmental pollution. Collect and disseminate data and information and prepare reports on pollution and environmental problems Undertake investigation and research on pollution and environmental problems. Collaborate with the programmes of the Central Pollution Control Board, Ministry of Environment and Forests, State Government, NGOs and other organizations relating to pollution control and environment and organise Mass Education Programmes. Issue No Objection Certificates and consents to industries and other development projects. 56

58 Inspect sewage, trade effluent sites, industries, various industrial, plants and sewage treatment plants. Monitor industrial/trade effluents, water bodies, air and soil, and laboratory analysis. Develop or modify effluent and emission standards. Evolve economical and reliable methods of treatment of sewage and effluent. Establish or recognize laboratories to perform functions under the Acts and Rules. Assess and collect water cess. Undertake environmental education for public, students and others, and publish masseducation material. Advise State Government on location of industries, etc. Enforce the provisions of pollution control and other rules and monitor implementation Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Assam Public Health Engineering Department Assam Public Health Engineering Department (APHED) is the nodal State Government's department for the water supply and sanitation programmes for the rural areas of Assam. Mission To enhance quality of life of the people by ensuring sustainable safe water and sanitation facilities and services promoting hygiene practices Vision A clean and healthy Assam with safe water supply adequate sanitation facilities and best hygiene practices There are a number of different water supply schemes that have been implemented by the PHED under schemes like the NRDWP, State Plan, SCCP. These schemes include, PWSS for larger population and where water needs extensive treatment Spot Sources (SHP, THP, India M-II / M-III, RW) for smaller and scattered population with appropriate treatment Rainwater Harvesting schemes Under the National Rural Water Supply Programme (NRWSP), APHED Department provides 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd) for rural population to meet their following requirements. Table 6: National Rural Water Supply Programme norms for per capita per day Purpose Quantity (LPCD) Drinking 3 Cooking 5 Bathing 15 Washing utensils & house 7 Ablution 10 *Note: In addition, provision of 30 lpcd for animals in hot and cold desert/ecosystems in 227 blocks of 36 DDP districts are to be allowed. 57

59 The checklist for selection of blocks/villages/habitations followed by PHED in establishment of the new water supply and sanitations schemes has primarily three criteria s: 1. Habitation with less than 250 persons having no potable source of drinking water should be provided with atleast one handpump/standpost A rural habitation not having any safe water source with a permanently settled population of 20 households or 100 persons, whichever is more, may be taken as the unit for coverage with funds under the NRWSP. However, the State Government could cover any habitation regardless of its size/population/number of households with funds under the State Plan. 3. SC/ST habitations with less than 100 persons can, however, be covered under the NRWSP. Table 7: Checklist issued by GoI and DDWS on Sajal Gram Puruskar S.No Criteria Marks/Weightage 1 Availability of safe and adequate drinking water (40 lpcd) Total = 40 marks; Sustainability on equitable and sustainable basis catering to all sections through surface water or of the society during the last 3 years. ground water recharge = 25 marks. Sustainability through roofwater harvesting = 15 marks. 2 Absence of water borne and water-based diseases 10 during the last 3 years 3 Community initiative in water harvesting/ recharge and 10 budgeting for water, understanding the availability scenario during different months including revival of traditional ponds. 4 Sanitary protection of all drinking water sources and 5 catchments 5 Monitoring the water levels for quantity and checking 5 water quality through field test kits and district laboratories 6 Use of new and renewable energy sources and/or non- 5 utilization of electricity power 7 Recovering atleast 50% cost of O&M either through structured tariff plan and proper utilization of 12th. Finance Commission/ GP funds for taking up 100% O&M 8 Convergence of water conservation issues with activity of other departments for drought proofing measures (NREGA, DPAP, MOWR, MoA, MoEF, etc.) 9 Achieving Nirmal Gram Puraskar for environmentally safe sanitation status (This is compulsory to become eligible for Sajal Gram Puraskar 10 Through TFC = 5 Marks Through any tariff plan = 5 marks 5 Total 100 *Note: In order to qualify for the Puraskar, the Gram/Block/ District Panchayat should obtain at least 75 marks out of 100 as tabulated above Based on NRWSP Norms, one handpump or standpost with normal output of 12 litres per minute is estimated for every 250 persons. 58

60 2.4.3 Other Relevant Departments Central Ground Water Board Central Ground Water Authority has been constituted under Section 3 (3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to regulate and control development and management of ground water resources in the country. A Unit Office of CGWB is established at Guwahati. Its activities are as follows Exploration Drilling Ground water Management Studies Ground water level monitoring Artificial Recharge Studies Estimation of Ground water Resources Short term water supply investigations Photo geology & Remote Sensing Surface Geophysical Surveys Rajiv Gandhi Technology Mission Programme Department of Water Resources The main purpose of the Department is to formulate State water policy fixing of water rates and integrated Irrigation Bill and also an Integrated Water resources Development pl an for Assam for irrigation, drinking water and electricity Maintenance of the completed projects, prepare Irrigation projects and execute them in time within the prevailing rules and regulations for the benefit of the people of the State. The Department is having plan schemes and Non-plan schemes. Plan schemes are either centrally sponsored or externally aided schemes. The Water Resources Department is the agency that investigates, designs, constructs, operates and maintains, minor, medium and major Irrigation Projects, Flood control works on river banks, coastal protection works, inland navigation, hydrological information system collection, drainage works, salinity extrusion and land reclamation works, engineering research, coastal, engineering, field studies etc., based on suitable budget provisions Major Activities Conducting Investigation of projects and prepare project reports for implementation for the benefit of the people. Implementation of the Irrigation projects after investigation. Operation and maintenance of the projects for the sustainable development through Project Advisory Committees of each project. Make the Irrigation system reliable, predictable and equitable involving users, planners and policy makers. Conducting sedimentation surveys in reservoirs and water resources surveys to monitor river water quality. Monitoring and Evaluation of the Irrigation Projects using remote Sensing Technique. 59

61 Conducting Model studies for Reservoirs, dams, Spillways etc., and also soil surveys for investigation of projects and coastal Engineering, Field Studies. To disseminate knowledge about the availability of water and its utilization to the general public. To assist other departments and the general public in preparing water utilization projects Nodal Institutions At the National and State level both UNICEF and IIT-Guwahati are involved in strengthening health and hygiene especially of children through awareness programme and education. Some of the other i ssues handled by these agencies are Water Quality, Sanitation, Health and Hygiene. These two institutions work closely with the State Government, civil society, media and communities. UNICEF also works actively with children and young people, to ensure children s rights and wellbeing. UNICEF supports efforts of Health workers in Assam to better manage pregnancies and deliveries and assist in effectively handling neonatal and childhood illnesses. Special efforts are being made to reach out to those who are most isolated and excluded, particularly communities on the vast Brahmaputra River and families working in tea plantations. Subsequently, providing better access to clean drinking water and sanitation through the promotion of sanitary toilets and water security is another key area of UNICEF s work. Further, Upgrading primary school infrastructure such as toilets and water supply are also key thrust areas. UNICEF is facilitating the state government to implement the Total Sanitation Campaign to promote rural and school sanitation and also support an action plan for fluoride mitigation in two districts. Kamrup district was the first one to receive the benefits of a district-wide School Sanitation and Health (SSHE) initiative that started in 1999 and was co-sponsored by the Government of Assam and UNICEF. 748 schools in the district have completed the program and 1,154 schools are currently in their final stages, since the program began. As part of disaster preparedness, UNICEF organised training of public health engineers and key representatives of major NGOs in the state on Disaster Preparedness on Public Health. The State Government has developed a proposal for Vulnerability Mapping for the state with UNICEF support. The Vulnerability Mapping exercise will generate a disaster preparedness database. IIT Guwahati on the other hand provides technical and academic support to the PHED, Government of Assam and UNICEF on Water Quality, Suitable designs for sustainable toilets, waste management practices, etc Implementing Departments PHED is the implementing department for all the schemes under RWSS-LIS. The Public Heath Engineering Dept. (PHED) was created in 1956 as public Health Engineering Organization under the Directorate of Health services to look after the implementation of rural and urban water supply. The dept. starts functioning as major department since 1981 and separate secretariat was created for Public Health Engineering Department in the year The main activities of the department are: 1. Water Supply (Both rural and urban) 2. Sanitation 3. Water quality testing and monitoring. 60

62 The Assam Public Health Engineering Department comprises of double staged organizational setup, one is administrative and the other is directorate set-up. The secretariat is headed by Commissioner & Secretary. He is assisted by one Deputy Secretary, two Under Secretaries and other officers & staff. At the directorate level, there are two Chief Engineer(PHE)s in the APHED-one is Chief Engineer(PHE), Assam and the other is Chief Engineer(PHE), Sanitation cum Cell Coordinator, Communication and Sanitation Cell. Chief Engineer (PHE), Assam is head of the APHED who looks after the Water Supply Sector while Chief Engineer(PHE), Sanitation basically looks after the Sanitation Sector. Roles and responsibility of PHED staff Chief Engineer, Assam is responsible for preparation of the annual budget for the three main activities mentioned above. He is responsible to monitor the progress of work and also monitors where the budget allotment for the year is fully utilized. Finally, see the overall functioning of the department and its employees. Chief Engineer (PHE), Sanitation, Looks after the Total Sanitation Campaign(TSC), Swajaldhara Programme, Communication & capacity Development Unit(CCDU). He is also responsible to look after, National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Programme (NRDWQM&SP). Additional Chief Engineer (PHE): He is responsible to assist the Chief Engineers in all respect. He is posted in the Zonal office and is responsible for inspection of works, Progress of works and submission of reports to the Chief Engineer. Superintending Engineer (PHE) is posted in Circle Office and is primarily responsible to inspect works. Compile Monthly progress reports under his jurisdiction and is responsible for the progress of works. All important matters regarding Water Supply, sanitation, etc., are recorded in his inspection note and are timely intimated to the higher authority. Executive Engineer (PHE): EE are the officers in executive charges and is a responsible disbursing officer of a division. They are responsible for the execution & management of all the works by taking proper measures for preservation of all PHE assets under his jurisdiction. For the works carried under him, he is responsible for maintaining records. Assistant Executive Engineer (PHE): is responsible for execution and management of works & supervision of personnel with the sub division. He can exercise powers as delegated by Executive Engineer (PHE). Assistance Engineer (PHE): He is primarily engaged in preparation of plan & estimate of works, DPR, tenders, design of water supply and sanitation schemes, departmental buildings, roads etc. Junior Engineer (PHE): He is entrusted with maintenance of works, preparation of plan & estimates etc. Sub Engineer and Section Assistant: They are engaged in supervision of works and their duty is to assist the assistance engineer (PHE) for maintenance and supervision of works. Establishment & ministerial staff: They are engaged in carrying out administrative works and responsible for establishment matters like preparation of pay bills, pension etc. of the employees. However, based on the WATSAN Report by WASH Institute, 2009, the capacities with the PHED Department is inadequate, mainly due to the frequency and duration of training programme for the 61

63 government employees being limited or sometimes unsatisfactory. In the absence of regular trainings the Engineers do not have the appropriate skills to implement water supply and sanitation projects with respect to environmental parameters and in co-ordination with the Gaon Panchayats, User Committee and local people participation Converging Departments and Ministries NRHM, Department of Health; MoEF, MoA, MoWR, Panchayat and Rural Development Department. Forest; Inland Waterways; Water resource; Public Works Department; National and State Highway Authority; Central Ground Water Board RWSS Implementation Procedures The 73 rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution gives the responsibility of implementing rural water supply and sanitation projects and programmes to the local governance system - the PRIs. At the revenue village level this translates to the Gram Panchayat (GP), which is to provide RWSS services to the local. In many villages of Assam Gram Panchayat Water and Sanitation Committees (GPWSCs) coexist with GPs, sometimes as sub-committees but many times independently with 10-50% representation of women. GPWSCs are user groups of a particular RWSS service and they are meant to maximize user involvement in all phases of a water and sanitation project. This has generated a debate as to which is the most appropriate and sustainable institution at village -level for delivery of RWSS services. In reality there is a complex relationship between these two village-level organizations and it may not be an either-or situation but rather a both relationship Implementation Capacity In WSS sector, the majority of manpower deployed at different levels across v arious types of organizations is having purely technical skills i.e. majority of human resource hail from the technical background having degrees or diplomas in Engineering, Agriculture specialists, Geologists/Hydrogeologist, etc. And, it is mainly government institutions that employ such technical staff. Public Health Engineering Department is acting as a nodal agency for Rural water Supply and Sanitation in Assam. There are also a various non-government players and they are the ones which engage a combination of engineering an non- engineering professionals and work in the RWSS. The major donors include the World Bank, ADB, JICA/ There are also a number of NGOs/CBOs and other agencies too supporting the implementation of RWSS in the state. These agencies provide technical, strategic, consultancy inputs and financial assistance to the programmes/schemes to the WSS sector in India. 62

64 Table 8: Institutional Structure and Technical manpower Agency Name Institutional Structure and Key Stakeholders Role & Responsibility The Commissioner (PHED) is PHED, Assam the administrative head of State Level PHED providing all administrative support while The Chief Engineer is the executive and technical head. Thus, at the state level, Chief Engineer is assisted by Additional Chief Engineer, Surveyor of Works, Engineering Officer looking after PHED, Assam District Level PHED, Assam Block Level Administrative matters, Accounts Officer who is in charge of the accounts. The additional chief engineer at the Zonal level, Superintendent Engineer at the circle level and at the division/ district level, there is Executive Engineer while at the sub-divisional/ Block level there is Junior Engineer who is in turn supported by District Executive Engineer, Assistance Executive Engineers, Junior Engineer, and Field Officer Assistant Engineer and other workers such as supervisors, surveyors, etc. at the grass-root level. The group of engineers in PHED are responsible for project sanctionings, fund mobilisation, etc.. They are also responsible for maintenance thereof for providing drinking water to rural population of the state. PHED also collaborates with other agencies for creating public awareness on public and personal hygiene. Role State release of funds, technical support, and development of State Action Plan, Inter-sectoral coordination with concerned departments, Training and capacity building. Apart from support to the state level project planning, the district PHED Engineers also performs activities like drilling tube wells, constructing, laying of pipelines, distribution network for providing safe drinking water and proper sanitary conditions, conserving water resources, etc., with the help og SULC and GPWSC. Support District and State PHED in project planning and implementation by identifying the gaps in demand and supply of WSS. They are responsible for grass root planning and mobilisation, Their number and existing capacities Chief Engineer (PHE), Assam Guwahati; Chief Engineer (PHE), Sanitation, Assam; Additional Chief Engineer (PHE) (HQ) - 2 No. SE (PHE) (HQ) - 3 Nos. EE (PHE) (HQ) - 9 Nos; EE (PHE) District : 9 Nos; Around 4 AEE per district at Block level. 63

65 Agency Name Gram/Gaon Panchayat Gaon Panchyat Water and Sanitation Committee (GPWSC) Scheme Level User Committees Commonly known as User Group Institutional Structure and Key Stakeholders The most recent Assam Panchayat Act came into effect from A three-tier system with Zilla Parishad has been introduced Gaon Panchayat, Anchalik Panchayat and Zilla Parishad. Presently Gaon Panchayats are having share in land revenue, local rates, revenue earned from the settlement of HJAT, fisheries, House taxes, fines, penalties etc. Gaon Panchayats: i. President directly elected by people. ii. One Vice President to be elected from among the members of Gaon Panchayat. iii. Ten members directly elected by people. SLUC comprises of member committee 9depending on the type of scheme, such as for multi village scheme the numbers are greater), they are elected by the villagers on consensus. VWSSCs play a very important role in assessing the status of existing installations, prepare a plan of operations, and compile a list of technological options. They are also instrumental in mobilizing funds for O&M besides keeping a network with local mechanics and other manpower available. In most districts the user committee functions on its own for water supply provisions with no help from GPs. Role & Responsibility (GPs) are mainly responsible for seeking project assistance, constituting a GP level GPWSC representing the user communities and empowering the GPWSCs to take responsibility for program implementation on their behalf. At present, the GPWSC are only looking at the sanitation sector (provision of Individual latrines) in the villages. Role Baseline survey & development of Action Plan, Inter sectoral coordination with concerned departments, placement of staff with defined role and responsibility, Training & capacity building, overall implementation, M&E. During the post-implementation phase, the GPs monitor the sustainability of operations and ensure that the GPWSCs satisfactorily discharge their O&M management function including levying and collecting user charges from the beneficiaries. For Multi - Village schemes, GPs are responsible for payment of bulk water charges to DWSS. At the village level the issues that are taken care by them primarily relate to operation and maintenance. SLUC are also responsible for identifying and water quality issue and reporting it to the PHED officials. In some Districts like Kamrup, they even collect the water samples and conduct the basic water quality testing. Role They collect monthly charges of around 40-50Rs from each household having individual connection. Their main role include, the following: - Institution Building, Construction of the hardware facility, Mobilization, Monitoring, Operations and Maintenance. Their number and existing capacities The State Government undertakes to complete the training of all Elected Panchayat Representatives within a period of 6 months of their election. At the grass root level the challenge is more in terms of operations and maintenance and its sustainability at the local level. Responsibility in this context is poorly defined, although it always includes O&M and only sometimes includes planning and implementation. 64

66 Agency Name NGOs/ Independent bodies like UNICEF Institutional Structure and Key Stakeholders NGO: Hopeline ; ARCH; Environ etc. Role & Responsibility Local NGOs play a critical role in networking among various type of stakeholders mobilizing the manpower and helping the existing manpower of PHED/boards in their activities. NGO make valuable contribution to the sector, which includes the capacity to: (i) reach the rural poor and remote areas, (ii) promote local participation; (iii) operate at low costs; and (iv) adapt and be innovative when needed. Their number and existing capacities Since, the PHED or Water boards have limitation in recruiting the required number and range of manpower at the community level they most often utilise the skills and manpower of local NGO in making not only supply driven programmes successful but also making demand driven programmes operational. Government institutions like PHED is largely housed by engineers. Engineering graduates join PHE departments and institutions as Assistant engineer/ Executive engineer at block/ district level. 2.5 Proposed World Bank Assisted Project The PHED has identified nine project areas 7 in seven districts of Assam, Kamrup, Sibsagar, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Morigaon, Bongaigaon, Hailakandi. To be covered under the World Bank Assisted Rural Water Supply and Sanitation project. A total 201 Gram panchyats identified, based on a demand driven exercise and existing ground water quality will be supplied with surface water at 55 LPCD per household from nineteen Blocks, spread across the above mentioned seven districts. The main elements under the WB aided RWSS scheme will be, Development of water sources: These may include both surface and groundwater sources, depending upon availability of good quality water, sustainability and other technical feasibility issues. If no suitable surface source in areas where water is contaminated with arseni c, fluoride, iron or other similar elements shallow dug-wells, ring wells may be considered. In areas of excess iron and no proper alternate sources a deep tube well with submersible will be used for water abstraction. In case of shallow source use, individual or small scale water supply systems would also need to be considered. Where source is not a constraint multi-village schemes would be considered. For surface water sources the intakes considered will include, either an i ntake- well or a floating barge fitted with a Centrifugal Pump is used to lift raw water. Water treatment: Depending upon the quality of the sourced water treatment will considered. Typically this will consist of Pre-sedimentation, Aeration, Coagulation & Flocculation, Sedimentation, Filtration and then Disinfection. 7 PHED, recently has changed the number of project areas considered under the World Bank funded RWSS project to seven in seven districts of Assam. 65

67 If the best available source is contaminated with iron beyond BSI permissible limits, the treatment process is likely to be a combination of - Aeration, Filtration and then Disinfection. Water distributed will be at a minimum terminal head of 5.0metre and a residual chlorine content of 0.2mgl. The project will also consider upgrading of existing schemes, where practicable. Costs will be shared in all projects, where the community is expected to pay part of the expenses. Upon implement of the schemes they will be handed over to the PRIs for the day to day management of the system It is planned that the water source for all large multi village schemes shall be from surface sources and perennial rivers. The project will ensure 100% household connections and me metering for collection of water charges. Bulk water meters will also be installed at village entry points for all schemes. Water supply is planned to be 24X7. In case of peri-urban areas, multi storied apartments will have shared connections with bulk meters. All customers covered under this scheme will be charged a connection charge. The connection charge is likely to be INR This connection charge is to include cost of meters, ferrule, saddle, 10 to 15 m. pipe length. A higher tariff shall be levied for commercial and institutional connection. The material used for the rising main will be ductile pipes and the transmission network will use the Ductile and Galvanized Iron (DI and GI) pipes along with PVC high density pipelines. The implementation of the project will be in a phased manner, where batch one will be covering three schemes. These schemes are as follows: 1. Chandrapur and Dimora block of Kamrup district 2. Jorhat, Jorhat Central and Jorhat North West blocks of Jorhat district, and 3. Hailakandi and Algapur blocks of Hailakandi district. This will be a total of 7 development blocks and 60 Gram Panchayats (GPs), which include 407 villages consisting of 1962 habitations. The first phase will benefit a total population of people. However, a total of 16 blocks will covered under this World Bank funded project in three batches. Under the seven identified blocks a total of 5041 habitations and people will be covered. 66

68 Final Report Draft Scheme Details of all the Seven Projects. Table 9: Details of Seven Schemes under the RWSS-LIS, World Bank funded project Sl. No Name of District Name of Scheme Name of Block No. of GP to be covered No. of Villages to be covered No. of Habs to be covered No. of existing scheme Population Treatment Plan Capacity Present Initial Interim Ultimate Initial Interim Ultimate 1 Kamrup Composite WSS for Sustainability & Quality in Chandrapur & Dimoria Dev. Block (B1) (a) Chandrapur (b) Dimoria Jorhat Hailakan di Morigao n Bongaig aon 6 Sonitpur 7 Sibsagar Total 7 (seven) District Composite WSS for Sustainability & Quality in Jorhat, Jorhat North West & Jorhat Central Dev. Block (B1) Greater Hailakandi - Algapur WSS (B1) Greater Mayang WSS (B2) Greater Jogighopa WSS (B2) Gohpur Composit WSS (B3) Amguri - Gaurisagar Integrated WSS (B3) 7 (seven) Large MVS (a) Jorhat (b) Jorhat Central (c) Jorhat N. West (a) Hailakandi (b) Algapur (a) Mayang (b) Bhurbondha (a) Boitamari (b) Tapatari (c) Srijangram (a) Chaiduar (b) Pub Chaiduar (a) Amguri (b) Gaurisagar (sixteen) Development Block Source: PHED, Assam 2013

69 3 BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS Assam is located in North East India with its capital in Dispur. The State has a large network of rivers and water bodies which includes the Brahamaputra and Barak river system, both of which form a part of international water systems. Assam is very rich in biodiversity and consists of tropical rainforests, deciduous forests, riverine grasslands, bamboo, orchards and wetland ecosystems. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, Assam is linked to the mainland by a flood and cyclone prone narrow corridor, known as the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck. 3.1 Brief profile of State Geographically, the State can be divided into three distinctive zones; the Brahmaputra valley, the Barak Valley and the Barail range and Karbi Plateau. The Brahmaputra or Assam valley is comparatively narrow and long with River Brahmaputra flowing from east to west. It flows for a length of about 700 km within the State. The Barak Valley comprises of River Barak and its tributaries and is located in southern Assam. The Barail range and Karbi Plateau separate these two river systems. Situated between degrees East and degrees North, Assam is bordered in the North and East by the Kingdom of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. Along the south, lie Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. Meghalaya lies to the South-West, Bengal and Bangladesh to the west. The population of Assam according to the 2011 census is million people. There are a total 5.91 million households 8. Approximately 87% of the population is rural. 3.2 Administration Assam has 27 administrative districts. These districts are further sub divided into 49 sub-divisions, Mohkuma Parishads 9. All districts are administered by the Deputy Commissioner, District Magistrate, Office of the District Panchayat and usually with a district court. Districts are mainly delineated on the basis of physical features like rivers, hills and forests. The local governance system is organised under the District Panchayat for a district, Panchayat for group of or individual rural areas and under the urban local bodies for the towns and cities. There are a total of 2489 Gaon/Gram Panchayats and villages in Assam. In urban areas there are town committees or nagar somiti for small towns, municipal boards or pouro sobha for medium towns and municipal corporations or pouro nigom for the cities. For the revenue purposes, the districts are divided into revenue circles and mouzas. Districts are divided into 219 development blocks for development projects, and police stations or thanas for law and order. There are 206 police thanas in Assam Census of India. 9 Mohkuma Parishad means a Mohkuma Parishad established under the Assam Panchayat Act, (Assam Act XXIV of 1959). They are equivalent to Sub Divisions, which comprises of few blocks, i.e. a district is divided into subdivisions or Mohkuma in the case of Assam which are further divided into Blocks. 68

70 3.3 Demographic & Social Characteristics According to the 2011 census, the total population of Assam was 31,169,272 persons. There has been an increase of The total population of the state has increased by 4,530,865 persons since the last census in 2001, a growth rate of 16.93%. Eight of Assam s 27 districts registered a rise in the decadal population growth rate. The growth rate of some districts like Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Morigaon, Nagaon and Hailakandi ranges from 20% to 24% from the last census count. Districts of eastern Assam such as Sivasagar and Jorhat saw about a 9% rise in population. According to the census population projections Assam s population is expeted to be million people in 2021 and reach million people by Table 10: Demographic Profile of Assam State Population Density: 396.8/km² Area: 78,438 km² State Boundaries: East : Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur West : West Bengal and Meghalaya North : Arunachal Pradesh South : Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura International Boundary: North : Bhutan West : Bangladesh Total Population: Million Million Male Million Million Female Million Million Literacy rate: 73.18% 63.3% Male 78.81% 71.3% Female 67.27% 54.6%. Sex Ratio: (Male : Female): 1000 : 954 Source: 2011 and 2001 Census Data. About, 73.18% of the population is literate. Of this 78.81% are men and 67.27% women. This is an increase in the total literacy rate from 2001, specifically for women, as can be seen from table 10. Graph 3-1: Population growth in Assam Source: Census of India The population growth rate of Assam has been very high since mid 20 th century. Population grew from 3.29 million in 1901 to 6.70 million in The growth in the western and southern districts has been attributed to the immigration of people from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The total rural population of Assam is 2,50,36,946 persons. Of this the World Bank project will cover a population of 16,07,880 persons, 6.4% of total rural population in Assam. Table 10 details the districts to be covered under this project in comparison of the total in each of the project districts. 69

71 Table 11: Coverage of the Project in the Seven Districts of Assam S.N Total Proposed to be Covered under the Project District o Blocks Panchayats Village Habitation Blocks Panchayats Village Habitation 1 Kamrup Sibsagar Jorhat Sonitpur Marigaon Bongaigaon Hailakandi Total Source: NRDWP, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, 2012 (PHED, Assam for the figures under Proposed project) 3.4 Physical Environmental Location Assam lies in the middle reach of the river Brahmaputra and Barak. The total area of the state is 78,438 sq. kms, which is around 2.4% of the country s total geographical area. About 70,634 sq. km of a total of 580,000 sq. km of the Brahmaputra basin is in Assam. The 7 districts under this project are Kamrup, Sibsagar, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Morigaon, Bongaigaon and Hailakandi. This will include a total of sixteen Blocks. The location of project areas is given in figure 3-1 below. Table 12: Schemes under the RWSS-LIS World Bank Project S.No District Project Areas Name of Blocks 1 Kamrup Composite Wss for sustainability & Quality at Chandrapur & Dimoria Dev. Block Chandrapur Dimoria Composite WSS for sustainability & Quality at Bezera Bezera 10 2 Sibsagar 3 Jorhat Amguri Gaurisagar integrated WSS Gr. Sibsagar integrated WSS for mitigation of Arsenic and Iron Composite WSS for sustainability & Quality at Jorhat & Jorhat Central & Jorhat N West Dev. Block 4 Sonitpur Composite WSS at Gohpur 5 Morigaon Gr Mayang WSS 6 Boigaingaon Gr Jogighopa WSS 7 Hailakandi Gr. Hailakandi-Algapur WSS Source: PHED, Assam Amguri Gaurisagar Sibsagar Dimow Jorhat Jorhat Central Jorhat North West Chariduar Purb Chariduar Mayong Bhurbondha Boitamari Tapatari Srijangram Algapur Hailakandi 10 Bezera, Sibsagar and Dimow are not included in the present RWSS-LIS Project. 70

72 Figure 3-1: Location of Project Areas in Assam Base Map Source: Administrative boundary Map and Google Earth Satellite Map The humidity that is brought into Assam by the southwest monsoons, shower an average annual rainfall of 3050 mm or more on the Brahmaputra valley and the surrounding region. The monsoons are Assam's lifeline; creating a biodiversity that can compete with the equatorial rainforests (State profile, 2009). The Brahmaputra River flows through Assam from east to west over a length of approximately 650 kilometres. Its main branch originates in the Tibetan plateau, flowing from west to east as the River Tsangpo, and then turns south through Arunachal Pradesh as River Siang to enter Assam, where it is joined by other branches to form the Brahmaputra. The Barak River rises in the Indian state of Nagaland at an elevation of approximately 2,300 mete rs and passes through the Manipur Hills of Manipur state over a river length of nearly 400 kilometres. It then flows generally westward from Lakhipur through the Cachar Plains region of Assam over a river length of approximately 130 kilometres to enter Bangladesh near Bhanga (NHC, Background paper, 2006). Other than Hailakandi, all project districts are located in the Brahmaputra plains. Hilakandi, is situated in the plains of River Barak and is separated by the rest of the project districts by Barail range in the north. Each flood season, the Brahmaputra and its tributaries forsake their earlier channels to cut new swathes through the soil. As the water recedes, alluvial deposits remain in the river, giving rise to sandy islands. 71

73 Some of these islands are very large, and the annually enriched soil has attracted cultivation and semi - permanent settlement. The topography and the warm and humid climate are conducive to plant and vegetation growth. Assam is home to 51 forest and sub-forest types, and the confluence of diverse patterns of vegetation (Assam Human Development Report, 2003). The figure below shows the vegetation cover in Assam, indicating the forest areas in each district. Figure 3-2: Vegetation Cover with Reference to Project Areas Base Map Source: National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, Climate and Rainfall The region receives rainfall both during the summer and winter months from the south-west monsoon and the north-east monsoon. It forms the basis for monsoon onset and its prevalence over other parts of India due to the synoptic features prevalent over the state. The region is characterized by high rainfall but analysis of long-term trends in the annual rainfall indicates a slight decline in the total rainfall received in the region (Das, 2004; Mirza et al., 1998; Tiwari, 2006, ASTEC, 2011). Monsoon season in Assam starts from mid-june. Assam experiences heavy monsoon downpour till August. Assam is among the places which receive the highest amount of rainfall in the world. Spring and autumn seasons in Assam are characterized by moderate temperatures. 72

74 The pre-monsoon and post-monsoon thundershowers are very dominant over this region due to orography and the humidity available for convection. Kandalgaonkar et al 2005 in their study to address the relationship between thunderstorm activity and rainfall over different homogeneous regions of India also showed that over the North Eastern region the probability of association of thunderstorm wi th rainfall is quite high when compared to other regions. Also months with high rainfall have been observed to have more number of thunderstorms. Thunderstorms in post-monsoon season have been observed to be with higher intensities than during the pre-monsoon season. There is a distinct monsoon season in which a large part of the annual rainfall is concentrated. There are also two months of cyclonic activity preceding the monsoon, and rainfall at other times of the year as well. The rainy season in Assam lasts from May to October as indicated in the graph below. Graph 3-2: Average Rainfall in the State of Assam Source: Statistical Handbook of Assam, 2011 (for the year 2010) Graph 3-3: Rainfall Pattern in the project Area during Monsoon Months from (Source: Assam Gazetter, 2000) Physiographic The State of Assam can be divided into three main physiographic regions, which are as follows: 1. The vast alluvial plains of the Brahmaputra valley in the north, comprising the districts of Goalpara, Kamrup, Darrang, Nagaon, Sibsagar, North Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh. 2. The Central Assam hills comprising Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao (Earlier North Cachar Hills) districts. 73

75 3. The hilly and alluvial terrain in the south covering the Cachar district (Barak valley). Ranging in average elevation from 50 to 120 m above mean sea level the Brahmaputra valley represents a unique landscape about 800 km long and 130 km wide valley separated from the comparatively low lying Barak valley in the south by the Mikir Hills and Barail range in the central part. Thus bounded by the hill ranges in the north, east and south, Assam experiences the predominant influence of the south - west tropical monsoon which reigns from April to October with occasional winter showers. The low clouds of the southwest monsoon after being intercepted by the North Cachar range and Naga Patkai range, cause heavy rainfall in the southern part of Assam including Hailakandi Districts and precipitate in the Brahmaputra valley; their intensity increases towards the foothills of the Himalayas. The Map 3-3 shows the location of project areas on the Relief base map of Assam. All the nine project areas are located in the plains of River Brahmaputra and R. Katakhal (Barak Valley). On the basis of the physical relief, these areas are prone to high flood levels especially during monsoon months. The soil map will further elaborate on how the flooding will affect water logging in these areas. Figure 3-3: Relief of Assam with Respect to Project Areas Base Map Source: National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation,

76 3.4.4 Hydrology The Brahmaputra River and the 33 major tributaries joining it in Assam, including the main trans- Himalayan tributaries of Subansiri, Jia Bharali, and Manas, carry about 30% of the country s total surface water. Surface water bodies covering about 8,251 square kilometres account for 10.5% of the geographical area of the state. Of these, the river systems, including waterlogged areas, occupy 6,503 Sq Km (8.3% of the State). The annual surface water availability is more than 53 Million Hectare-Meters. Brahmaputra valley in Assam has 3,513 wetlands, covering 1,012.3 km2. Groundwater is also plentiful at shallow depth in the valley. Based on Central Ground Water Board Report, utilizable groundwater is estimated to exceed 2 million hectare-meters (in 2001). The hydrological characteristics of the Brahmaputra valley are dominated by the intensely powerful monsoon rainfall region of the eastern Himalayas, the freeze thaw cycle of Himalayan snow, and the immensely dynamic fluvial processes of the river and its tributaries. It is also influenced by the unique characteristics of the physical terrain and tectonic framework of the region Hydrogeology According to Central Ground Water Board, Hydrogeology of the state can be divided into three units namely consolidated formation, semi consolidated formation and unconsolidated formation. More than 75% of the state is underlain by unconsolidated formation comprising of clay, silt, sand, gravel, pebbl e and boulders. The old alluvial belt 11 is about 11 to 15 km wide; the tubewells yield 27 to 59 m 3 /hr in this zone. The new or young alluvial zone 12 follows immediately down slope of the old alluvial zone where the yield of the wells ranges between m3/hr. The flood plains follow the new alluvial soil in Brahmaputra valley where the shallow tubewells yield between m 3 /hr and deep tubewells between m 3 /hr. In the semi consolidated formations of Cachar district, the yield of the tubewell ranges between 50 to 100 m 3 /hr. Most of the project area falls under the new alluvial Belt along the flood plain of Brahmaputra River. (Source: Geomorphology The state of Assam, which treasures geological formations of wide age range, and has undergone diversified pedo-genesis depending upon the composition of the parent materials, paleo-geographical conditions and climatic conditions to which it was subjected. Soil in the project area is either young alluvial soil or Old Alluvial soil. In pub chariduar however, new alluvial soil is found in the northern part of the block. Also, Chandrapur block, in Kamrup District is majorly covered by Red loamy Soil. The soil groups can be broadly classified into the following soil types which are spatially indicated in the figure 3-4. Table 13: Type of soil in the seven district of the scheme S.No District Major Type of Soil 1 Kamrup Young alluvial soil in Bezera and Red Loamy in Chandrapur and Dimoria 2 Bongaigaon Forest Alluvial Soil in the north along with Red Loamy and Young Alluvial in the other parts 11 Old Alluvial Belt is adjoining to the foothills of the Himalayas and comprises of boulders and pebbles which have been carried down by the river streams. The streams flow underground due to high porosity and have narrow width ranging from 7 to 15 km. 12 New/young Alluvial Belt is found adjoining the old alluvial Belt. 75

77 3 Morigaon Younger Alluvial in northern region and Forest Alluvial Soil in the south 4 Sibsagar Young alluvial soil and Forest Alluvial in the small portion of the southern part 5 Jorhat Young alluvial soil 6 Sonitpur Young alluvial soils in the northern region and in the south 7 Hailakandi Younger Alluvial in northern region and Forest Alluvial Soil in the south Source: Assam Science Technology and Environmental Council Figure 3-4: Types of Soil with Reference to Project Locations Base Map Source: National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, Some of the major soils found in Assam are detailed in the section below. 1. Forest and hilly lateritic soil, deep reddish in colour, developed over the geological formations belonging to Achaean, Precambrian and Upper Tertiary age. The soil is characterized by low nitrogen, low phosphate and medium to high potash and ph is acidic. 2. Low level terrace, red and yellow soil, formed due to laterisation process of Upper Pleistocene fluvial sediments under favourable climatic conditions. Soil ph is acidic due to intensive leaching of bases and formation of clay minerals and ferric hydroxides. 76

78 3. Alluvial plain soil, light grey to dark grey of recent age occurring along the major river valleys. Based on the Russian system of classification, soils of Assam have been classified into zonal and azonal based mainly upon soil genesis. Most of the Project area have alluvial plain soil which has high water retention capacity and high water table. 4. Older Alluvial Soil, are developed almost entirely in Cachar district and is light grey to dark grey in colour. It is unaltered alluvium representing a broad spectrum of sand, silt and humus rich bog clay depending on land form component. 5. Red Loamy Soil, are developed in the entire Karbi Anglong district, parts of Duma Hasao and a little fringe in the northern border of North Lakhimpur district. These are deep red loamy soils with clay rich latasol profile. 6. Red and Yellow Soil, low level terrace, red yellow to brick red soil, restricted mainly in the northern border of the Duma Hasao (N C Hills) is having clayey plastic latasol with sedimentary structures and texture totally obliterated in the solum. Mottling and incipient development ferruginous nodules at places are quite common. 7. Lateritic Soil, the forested and lateritic Soils are brick red to brownish red in colour. They are developed in the vicinity of Haflong in Duma Hasao district, southern parts of Kamrup and Nagaon districts. 8. Alluvial Soil, are alluvial plain soils, developed along vast places of Brahmaputra basin. These are yellow to yellowish grey in colour and are unaltered alluvium representing sand, silt and humus rich bog clay depending on land form component. Mineral weathering and geochemical changes are nominal. Soil ph is generally feebly alkaline excepting bog soils Agriculture Agriculture is the dominant land use category in the state. It account for about for about 54.11% of the total geographical area of the state. Also, more than 80 per cent of the total population of Assam including population dependent on tea plantation, is dependent on agriculture. The net area sown as well as the gross cropped area increased significantly in the last few de cades due to better access to newer technologies. According to the Assam Gazetteer, 2001 the increase in agriculture and plantation practices has decreased area under forest. The agricultural land use pattern within the Project districts are as follows: Table 14: District wise distribution of Agricultural land, Assam, 1990 S.N o District Agricultural Land ( area in hectare) Area Kharif Rabi Double crop Net area sown Plantation Fallow land Total 1 Bongaigaon Hailakandi Jorhat Kamrup Morigaon Sibsagar Sonitpur Source: Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre 77

79 3.4.8 Forest Resources Assam is known for its extensive forest areas and availability of rich floras and faunas besides other valuable forest products. As per information available from the State Forest Department, the total area under forests in Assam was 26, Sq.km. at the end of March, 2003, out of which 15, Sq. Km. was under Reserved Forests and 2, Sq. Km. under Protected Forest Area. But this rich forest cover and valuable forest resources of the state are disappearing rapidly particularly from the last few decades due to massive deforestation, illegal felling, forest fragmentation, encroachment in the fringe areas, poaching, bio piracy and other unplanned development activities. The Forests area constitutes about % of the total geographical area of Assam. The forests in the plain districts are managed by the State Forest Department while the authorities for management of the forest in the two hill districts are their respective District Councils. The Table 15 below gives the area (in Ha) under Forest in the scheme districts. Table 15: Area Under Forest in Assam (As On ) (Area in Ha.) Forest Division Reserved Forest Proposed Reserved Forest Total Forest (Excluding unclassified Forest) ASSAM Kamrup East Nil Kamrup West North Kamrup Nil Jorhat Nil Sibsagar Nil Sonitpur East Nil Sonitpur West Hailakandi Aie Valley (Bongaigaon) Nil Manas Tiger Project Nil East Assam Wild life Nil Source: Office of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Assam. *Unclassified forest data Forest data showing forest extent only with no further information about their type and no restriction on the cutting of trees and cattle grazing. Social Forestry: The Social Forestry programme is an important programme being undertaken by the State Forest Department. The programme mainly aims at increasing area under Afforestation especially in Residential Area and otherwise Occupied Areas of the State. The achievement under Social Forestry scheme was 3871 hectares of area during The number of seedlings planted under this scheme was lakh during the year Ecologically Sensitive Areas Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs) have been identified and notified by the Indian Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) since Notifications declaring areas as ESAs are issued under the Environment (Protection) Act The clauses of the EPA which allow for the notification of ESAs hold the possibility of realizing landscape-level conservation. One of the landmark cases in recent years is Numaligarh in Assam. In July 1992, Numaligarh was declared a No Development Zone using the EPA s provisions. This was linked to the establishment of a refinery in Numaligarh in The Numaligarh 78

80 Refinery proposal was cleared by the MoEF, despite its close proximity to the Kaziranga National Park. This was objected to by civil society groups. In response, although the MoEF did not disallow the refinery, it placed restrictions on the expansion of the industrial area, townships, infrastructure facilities and such other activities which could lead to pollution and congestion in what it declared as the Numaligarh No Development Zone. Northeast States of India is blessed with a wide range of physiographic and eco-climatic conditions and the geographical gateway for much of India s endemic flora as well as fauna. This region represents an important part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot, one of the 25 global biodiversity hotspots recognized currently. Although Assam state border does not touch Myanmar, it is also home to many species of flora and fauna and has a rich biodiversity under the Indo-Myanmar region, especially the districts falling in south of River Brahmaputra. The Indo- Myanmar Hotspot is home to 13,500 plant species (2.3% of the global species) of which 7,000 are endemics and 2,185 vertebrates (1.9% of the global species) of which 528 are endemic. The species richness in terms of numbers of reptiles and amphibians are 484 and 202 with 201 and 114 endemics respectively. (Singh et al. P ). Specifically the wildlife sanctuaries in Assam are a heterogeneous mixture of a variety of landscapes, plants, birds and animals. The suitable climatic conditions, geographical location and vast forest reserves have made Assam a favourable destination for birds, animals and natural vegetation. Assam is home to several wildlife sanctuaries and national parks that are the breeding ground for some of the rarest global species. The many wildlife sanctuaries in Assam provide shelter to large number of wildlife right from the Golden Langur to the horned rhinoceros. Manas reserve falls under one of India s biologically sensitive Areas. The Brahmaputra river and several of its tributaries could still hold hope for the critically-endangered Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), which is on the verge of extinction across its once-widespread habitat in South East Asia with a global population of less than 200. The Indian gharial population recorded a decline of 96 per cent in the past three decades. The species was thought to be extinct in the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys of Assam but for a few instances of authentic sighting, including a couple of captures (in the Urpad lake and in the Manas river), in Dikhow river, Ghagar and Subansiri river, the Dehing-Brahmaputra confluence, Kareng Chapori of Dihingmukh some of those occurring during the period 2004 to According to a recent survey conducted by a team of zoologists from Guwahati University, the distribution of the Gharial in the State is mainly concentrated in the Brahmaputra Valley. In eastern Assam, it is chiefly confined to the districts of undivided Lakhimpur and Sibsagar, while in western Assam, it is restricted to the Brahmaputra and its tributaries such as Manas, Jinjiram, and the Urpad Beel (lake). The list below gives the names of the important ecologically sensitive areas such as Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks in Assam. Kaziranga National Park Manas National Park Dibru-Saikhowa National Park Orang (Rajib Gandhi) National Park Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary 79

81 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Bura-Chapori Wildlife Sanctuary Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary Pobha Or Milroy Sanctuary Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary Gorampani Wildlife Sanctuary, Golaghat Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary East Karbi Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary Karbi Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary Panidihing Bird Sanctuary, Sibsagar Deeporbeel Bird Sanctuary, Guwahati(Proposed) Bordoibam Bilmukh Bird Sanctuary, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji(Proposed) Figure 3-5: Wildlife Sanctuaries/National Park and Reserve Forests Near Project Areas Source: Base Map is from Google Maps, 2012 Since, Garbhanga Reserve Forest, Manas National Park and Kaziranga National Park are in a distance ranging from 3 to 10 kms from the project area, there may be some concerns of conflict due to wildlife movement and needs (figure 3.5). Another concern could be that of animal corridors, specifically elephant corridors (figure 3.6). Due to increasing pressures on forest areas, there have been increasing human-elephant conflicts, as settlements and other infrastructure gets sited in what are traditional 80

82 elephant corridors 13. Similarly, habitat of other species also have been reducing, increasing the number of conflicts and chance meeting with various wildlife species, or raiding of fields and settlements for food and other needs by wildlife species. Assam has six protected areas. Of these two falls in the project district, Kaziranga and Sonitpur. Figure 3-6: Elephant Reserves in Assam Source: Base map Department of Environment and Forest, Government of Assam ( During the field study, it was observed that none of the reserved forest or national Park are falling under the proposed project areas. Most of the Eco-senstive hotspots are beyond a minimum distance of 3-5 Kilometers from the project area. Table 16 below gives the details of the distances of major National Parks, Reserved Forest and wild life sanctuaries from the Project areas. Table 16: Distance of eco-sensitive areas from project areas S.No Ecological Sensitive Area Project Areas, District Distance (in Km) 1 Manas National Park Sirjangram, Bongaigaon Nameri National Park Chaiduar, Sonitpur Garbangha Reserve Forest Dimoria, Kamrup Around 5 13 Human-elephant conflict on the rise in Assam, Souce: 81

83 4 Kaziranga National Park Chaiduar, Sonitpur Dibru Saikhowa Dimow, Sibsagar Narpuh Reserve Forest Algapur, Hailakandi Deepor Beel Chandrapur, Kamrup *Based on the field study Drainage Basins The Central Assam hill range in the state forms approximately the watershed for Brahmaputra and Meghna Basins. The large part of the state including Brahmaputra valley falls under Brahmaputra basin while the Surma valley falls under the Meghna Basin. The Brahmaputra Basin is presently confined by the Eastern Himalayas on the north and east, the Naga- Patkai range on the southeast, Mikir Hills and Shillong Plateau on the southern and south western side. The Brahmaputra River is one of the largest rivers of the world and discharges about 30% of the total water resources of the world. The total length of river Brahmaputra from its origin in Tibet to its outfall in the Bay of Bengal is about 2880 km. It traverses its first 1625km in Tibet, the next 918 km in India and the rest in Bangladesh. Figure 3-7: Drainage System of Assam Source: Base Map Google Maps, 2012 River Brahmaputra is joined by 40 tributaries on its north bank and 20 on its south bank. All the north bank tributaries originate in the sub - Himalayan ranges except Subansiri, Jiabharali and Manas, which 82

84 are Trans Himalayan. The Subansiri, the Badeng- Pubnai, the Kameng- Jiabharali, the Dhansiri, the Manas and the Champamati are some of the important rivers on the north bank which are known as sub-basins. On the south bank, the Dholai, the Burhi Dihing, the Disang, the Dhansiri, the Kopili -Kalang and the Kulsi- Jinjiram rivers from separate sub- basins. These southern tributaries out crop from Khasi Hills and are generally not perennial nature. Most of these rivers maintain meagre base flow during dry winter months.out of nine, eight intake points which will draw water for the RWSS Scheme in the project areas are on River Brahmaputra and its tributaries and the last one will draw water from a tributary of R. Barak. Figure 3-8: Location of Intake Points of Project Schemes Source: Base Map Google Maps, 2012 Table 17: Details of the intake point and Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in the seven districts. S. No Name of District Proposed Intake point Location Source of water Proposed WTP Location GP-Mumaitamuli, Vil- 1 Sivsagar Amguri Gourijan Dikhow river Phukanphodia, Habitation- Namdang Kalita 2 Jorhat Nimati Ghat Bramhaputra river Nimati Ghat 3 Morigaon Tinikhutimukh Kopili river Tinikhutimukh Bihita Kopili river Bihita 83

85 S. No Name of District Proposed Intake point Location Source of water Proposed WTP Location Dharamtal Kopili river Dharamtal 4 Bongaigaon Jogighopa Bramhaputra river Jogighopa 5 Kamrup Chandrapur Bramhaputra river Chandrapur Kolongpar Bramhaputra river Kolongpar 6 Hailakandi Katakhal Katakhal river Katakhal 7 Sonitpur Dipora Bramhaputra river Dipora Source: Executive Engineers, District, PHED, Assam 3.5 Water Resources Assam is divided into two major river valleys the Brahmaputra and Barak and thus, Assam is endowed with enormous water resources. The large perennial rivers and other water bodies with the rich aquifer speak about vastness of its water resource. Surface water is available in the forms of rive r, stream, lake, swamps, pond etc. The ground water is available at low to moderate depth almost in entire state. Although there is seasonal and regional variation in the availability of water resources, the annual availability of water resource remain almost same. In the last few decades the use of water has been growing at a fast rate, which is more than twice the rate of the increase of human population. The consumption of water has increased due to the increase of human population as well as the diversification of human activities. With the increase of per capita consumption of water in domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors, cause the reduction of potential per capita availability of water. Moreover, it may cause the deterioration of water quality to a great extent. Besides the river, another important source of surface water is the wetlands of the state. There are about 3513 numbers of wetlands of different size and shape in the state. The total area under different categories of wetland in Assam is about Sq.km. during the pre-monsoon season. It constitutes 1.29% of the total geographical area of the state. Of the total wetlands, 1367 inland wetlands suffer due to the problem of invasion by aquatic weeds and need ameliorative steps for conservation. Out of this, 656 are swampy/marshy areas, 366 ox-bow lakes/cut-off meanders, 193 lakes/ponds, 133 water-logged, 13 tanks and 3 reservoirs. The wetlands of the state are facing serious threat from the human society. The large-scale encroachment, over fishing in wetlands, filing up of wetlands for other uses and dumping of wastes in the wetlands are some of the human activities causing serious damage to the wetland ecosystem. According to the ENVIS Centre, Assam, the pressure on the ground water is increasing in the state. The rate of groundwater extraction in the state has been increase by many folds in last decade of for irrigation through shallow tube wells. Unscientific dumping of municipal solid and industrial wastes on the ground and in the water body is increasing with the population growth. The excessive extraction of ground water especially for the irrigation and in densely settled areas for the domestic consumption the water table in winter season goes down beyond the reach of low and medium depth dug wells and tube wells and thereby causing water crises in some areas of the state. According to the Central Ground Water Board, Kamrup Metro has recorded excessive depletion of ground water especially in areas in and around Guwahati. 84

86 3.5.1 Surface Water Apart from the rain water received, the state is endowed with number of perennial rivers and lake locally known as beel. The state is drained by the dance networks of two river system, viz the Brahmaputra and the Barak. These rivers have large number of tributaries joining them from both the banks. There are about 73 important tributaries of the Brahmaputra River and 11 tributaries of Barak River. The vast potential surface water resource of the state is not yet properly utilized in the state. In the last few decades, the rate of consumption of water in the agricultural sector, industrial sector and in the urban centres has been increased significantly. The discharges of untreated domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater, run of from the agricultural fields and the urban sewage water posing threat to the water bodies of the state. Irrigation: Agriculture constitutes the largest share of water consumption amongst various uses followed by the domestic and industrial uses. The gross irrigation potential created up to March 2002 through govt. irrigation schemes in Assam was 5,13, hectare (includes both irrigation from surface water and ground water) against the irrigation potential of 2,40, hectare in This indicates the increasing trend of water utilization in agricultural sector. Apart from irrigation, the second most beneficial uses of water are drinking, cooking, bathing, washing, etc. domestic use. More than 75 per cent population of the state are living in the rural area and due to certain factors the direct use of river water is limited in the state. The ground water is the main source of water for most of the rural population of the state. The per capita abstraction would therefore be small and may be estimated at 25 litre per day River System i) Brahmaputra River System: The Brahmaputra is one of the biggest rivers of the world. The Brahmaputra basin covers an area of 5,80,000 Sq. Km of which 1,94,413 Sq. Km falls in India. In India, the basin lies in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim and West Bengal. Brahmaputra is a perennial river, feed by snow as well as by rain. The Brahmaputra rolls down the plain of Assam east to west for a distance of 640 km up to Bangladesh border. Through its course, the river receives innumerable tributaries (about 73) coming out of the northern, north eastern and the southern hill ranges. The mighty river with a well -knit network of tributaries drains an area of 56,480 Sq. Km of the state accounting for 72% of its total geographical area. Most of the right bank tributaries of Brahmaputra are snow as well rain feed and are perennial. Although the left bank tributaries are mainly rain feed but perennial in nature. It is the fourth largest river in the world in term of average water discharge at the mouth with a flow of 19,830 cubic meter per second. The river carries 82 per cent of its annual flow during the rainy season (May through October). The maximum discharge of the river at Pandu 14 (in Guwahati) was m3s-1 and the minimum discharge at the same point on was 1757 m3s-1. The mean annual flood discharge and dry season discharge of the river at Pandu is m3s-1and 4420 m3s-1and respectively. The discharge per unit 14 Source: Flood Control Department, Govt. of Assam, on

87 area of basin at Pandu is 0.03 m3s-1and. The principal tributaries of Brahmaputra River and their annual discharge is given in table 18 below. Table 18: Right Bank Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River and their annual discharge. Sl. No. Rivers Length (km) Average annual discharge (m 3 s -1) 1 Subansiri 442 7,55,771 2 Ranganadi ,309 3 Baroi 64 20,800 4 Bargang 42 16,000 5 Jia Bharali 247 3,49,487 6 Gabharu 61 8,450 7 Balsiri 110 9,300 8 Dhansiri ,577 9 Noa-Nadi 75 4, Nanoi , Barnadi 112 5, Puthimari , Pagladiya , Manas-Aye-Beki 215 3,07, Champamati Gaurang Tipkai Godadhar Source: Flood Control Department, Govt. of Assam. Table 19: Left Bank Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River and their annual discharge Sl. No. Rivers Length (km) Average annual discharge (m 3 s -1) 1 Buridihing Desang Dikhow Jhanji Bhogdoi Dhansiri Kopili Krishnai Kulsi Jinari Source: Flood Control Department, Govt. of Assam. ii) The Barak River System: Barak is the second largest river system in the North East India as well as in Assam. The river with a total length of 900 km from source to mouth drains an area of 52,000 sq. km. In India and traverses a distance of 532 km up to the Indo-Bangla border. Like Brahmaputra, the Barak is also a perennial river of the state. The important north bank tributaries of Barak River are Jiri, Siri, Madhura, Jatinga and Larang, while the important south bank tributaries include sonai, Ghagra, Katakhal, Dhaleswari, Singla and Longai. The flows of the rivers in Assam decrease considerably during the dry season. They maintained peak flow in summer rainy months (March-October). 86

88 Wetlands The valley of the river Brahmaputra with its innumerable fresh water lakes (locally called beel), or ox - bow lakes (era suti), marshy tracts and seasonally flooded plains and hundreds of riverine sandbars and islands was, till recently, an ideal wetland eco-system which contained specialised wetland animals like the fresh water dolphin, dugong and the great Indian one-horned rhino and reptiles like the crocodile, the winter monitor lizard and few species of turtles. All these creatures are either extinct or highly endangered at present. With the progressive destruction of the Brahmaputra valley wetlands, along with these animals and others, we have lost spectacular natural beauty - the hundreds of thousands of water birds all along the 800 km. of the river running through the plains of Assam according to the flood control department, GoA. The destruction of the Brahmaputra valley wetland system started with the arrival of the w ater hyacinth 15 from Central America more than a century ago. Later it heightened due to the raising of earthen bunds along the banks of almost the entire length of the river and many of its tributaries after the 1950 earthquake. These artificial levees cut off, to a great extent, the periodic flushing out of the wetlands by the monsoon flood. Also, due to the arrival of the human settlers in the sand bars and the minor riverine islands, mostly in the lower Assam, the wetland has been further affected. Such activates and others have resulted in a situation where the wetlands are transformed into agricultural zones rich in rice and vegetables but totally denuded of wildlife. Lakes / Ponds: In Assam, there are 690 lakes and ponds as recorded by the Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre. These lakes /ponds cover an area of ha which constitutes 0.20% of the total geographical area of the state and 15.30% of the total area under wetlands. The smallest of them measures 2.50 ha while the largest one has ha of areal coverage. Majority of these types of wetlands have water with low turbidity. Highest number of lakes / ponds are observed in Golaghat district (113 number) followed by Dhubri (73 number) and Nagaon (68 number) districts. But area wise, the highest area under this category is observed in Kamrup district ( ha) followed by Nagaon ( ha) and Dhubri ( ha) districts. Some of the important wetlands under this category are Deepor beel in Kamrup district, Dhir beel in Dhubri district, Tamaranga beel and Dalani beel in Bongaigaon district. However, none of these wetlands are coming in the project scheme areas. Nonetheless, their proximity to the project areas cannot be ignored during the Environmental Management Framework Design and Development. One of the Wetlands like Deepor Beel, is around Km from Kamrup Project areas and it a Ramsar Site 16. Deepor Beel (Ramsar site no. 1207, Area - 4,000 ha 'N 'E. Sanctuary). A permanent freshwater lake in a former channel of the Brahmaputra river, of great biological importance and also essential as the only major storm water storage basin for the city of Guwahati. The beel is a staging site on migratory flyways and some of the largest concentrations of aquatic birds in Assam. The beel 15 Extensive growth of this fast growing weed can cut out sun light from the micro flora and also pr oduces faster eutrophication by slowing down water current and depositing debris at the bottom. 16 The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance now includes 2,098 sites (known as Ramsar Sites). 87

89 supports, some globally threatened birds, including Spotbilled Pelican (Pelicanus philippensis), Lesser and Greater Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos javanicus and dubius), and Baer's Pochard (Aythya baeri). The 50 fish species present provide livelihoods for a number of surrounding villages, and nymphaea nuts and flowers, as well as ornamental fish, medicinal plants, and seeds of the Giant water lily Euryale ferox provide major revenue sources in local markets; orchids of commercial value are found in the neighbouring forest. Potential threats include over-fishing and hunting pressure upon water birds, pollution from pesticides and fertilizers, and infestation by water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes. A proposal to create a sewage canal from the city directly to the beel is considered to be disastrous in its potential effects. Google Image showing the location of Deepor Beel with respect to Intake points of Kamrup District Source: Google Satellite Map, 2012 Table 20: Project District- wise distribution of wetlands in Assam District Number Area (ha) Bongaigaon Hailakandi Jorhat Kamrup Morigaon Sibsagar Sonitpur Source: Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre, Assam Table 21: Size wise distribution of wetlands in Assam Area Class (Ha) Total Number Total Water spread Area (Ha) Total Vegetation Area (Ha) Total Wetland Area (Ha) > TOTAL Source: Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre, Assam. 88

90 iii) Ox-bow Lakes / Cut-off Meanders: A total 861 number of ox-bow lakes/cut-off meanders are present throughout the state of Assam, covering an area of ha which constitutes 0.20 % of the total geographical area of the state and % of the total area under wetlands. The smallest of them measures 5.0 ha while the largest one has ha of areal coverage. Highest number of ox -bow lakes / cut-off meanders are observed in Golaghat district (104 number) followed by Nagaon district (71 number) and Dhubri district (68 number). But area wise, the highest area under this category is observed in Morigaon district ( ha) followed by Nagaon ( ha) and Golaghat ( ha) districts. Some of the important wetlands under this category are Morikolong and Patoli beel in Nagaon district, Mer beel in Golaghat district and Guruajan in Morigaon district. In Assam, a total of 1125 number of waterlogged areas are observed which are distributed unevenly covering an area of ha which constitutes 0.30 % of the total geographical area of the state and % of the total area under wetlands. Highest number of water logged areas are observed in Cachar district (231 number) followed by Nagaon district (138 number) and Sonitpur district (110 number). But area wise, the highest area under this category is observed in Cachar district ( ha) followed by Karimganj ( ha) and Nagaon ( ha) districts. Some of the important wetlands under this category are Son beel in Karimganj district and Raumari beel in Darrang district. These water-logged areas play significant role in the region s economy as they are present in large numbers in the rural areas containing good amount of fishes and other aquatic fauna and providing habitat to a variety of migratory as well as domestic birds. Besides they have remarkable potential for supplying irrigation water to the nearby agricultural fields during the dry periods. There are some waterlogged areas which can be developed for recreational purposes and as tourist spots such as the Son beel in Karimganj district. iv) Swampy/Marshy areas : These swampy/marshy areas constitute another major group of wetlands in Assam. These are identifiable on satellite imagery by their reddish tone indicating the presence of vegetation, associated with dark blue tone inferring to the presence of water and their occurrence in the low lying areas. Due to the presence of varied quantities of minerals in the water, these swampy/marshy areas are either moderately or highly turbid. In most cases, there is no feeder channel to control the inflow or outflow of water. In Assam, as many as 712 number of swampy/marshy areas have been identified from satellite data which cover an area of ha constituting 0.55 % of the total geographical area of the state and % of the total area under wetlands. The smallest of them is 2.5 ha while the largest one has ha of areal coverage. Highest number of swampy/marshy areas are observed in Kamrup district (155 number) followed by Nagaon (92 number) and Goalpara (68 number) districts. But area wise, the highest area under this category is observed in Kamrup district ( ha) followed by Morigaon ( ha) and Nagaon ( ha) districts. Some of the important wetlands under this category are Nandan-Sonai beel in Morigaon district, Batha beel in Darrang district and Urpad beel in Goalpara district. 89

91 Unlike the water-logged areas, the swampy/marshy areas don t have much contribution to the state's economy. But with the help of proper developmental schemes by converting them into utilizable form, these may boost up the economy of the state to a significant level. v) Reservoirs: Reservoirs are artificial impoundments of water for irrigation, flood control, municipal water supplies, hydro-electric power generation and so forth. There are as many as 10 number of reservoirs covering an area of ha which constitutes 0.03 % of the total geographical area of the state and 2.63 % of the total area under wetlands. The smallest of them covers ha while the largest one has ha of areal coverage. Majority of these type of wetlands contains water with low turbidity. Highest number of reservoirs is observed in N.C.Hills district (4 nos.) followed by Golaghat and Nalbari districts (2 nos. each). But area wise, the highest area under this category is observed in Duma Hasao Hills district ( ha) followed by Kamrup ( ha) and Golaghat (37.50 ha) districts. Some of the important wetlands under this category are Garampani and Umrangsu in Duma Hasao Hills district. In Morigaon District, on Kopili River there is a Hydro Power Plant and a reservoir upstream of the Two blocks covered under the project, Mayang and Bhurbandha. Tanks: Assam has several thousands of family owned small size tanks, these have not entered into reckoning as far as this report is concerned because of the scale factor. In Assam, a total of 115 number of tanks are identified from satellite data. These tanks occupy an area of ha which constitutes 0.01 % of the total geographical area of the state and 0.74 % of the total area under wetlands. Highest number of tanks are observed in Sibsagar district (20 number) followed by Kamrup (18 number) and Sonitpur (16 number). But area wise, the highest area under this category is observed in Sibsagar district ( ha) followed by Sonitpur (83.50 ha) and Kamrup (80.00 ha) districts. Some of the important wetlands under this category are Gaurisagar Pukhuri, Sibsagar Pukhuri and Joysagar Pukhuri in Sibsagar district. Further, in Sibsagar District, there is a large tank also known as 'Borpukhuri', covering an area of about 257 acres. It is also a tourist destination and was built in the year This tank is surrounded by deep ditches and earthen moats, and is a heaven to the Siberian migratory ducks during the winter season. Besides providing water to the people of the nearby areas, these tanks can also be used for rearing fishes and raising plantation crops like coconut, arecanut, cashewnut etc. along the sides of the ponds. Ornamental gardens can also be developed on the banks of the ponds Groundwater The potential of ground water resources throughout the entire Brahmaputra valley, covering more than 70% of the total area of the state, contains prolific aquifer system. Diverse geological formations require different types of structures for tapping ground water to meet the human needs. Table 22: Details of dynamic Ground Water Resources in Assam Annual Replenishable Ground water BCM Resource Net Annual Ground Water Availability BCM Annual Ground Water Draft 5.44 BCM Stage of Ground Water Development 22 % Ground Water Development & Management Over Exploited NIL Critical NIL 90

92 Semi- critical NIL Artificial Recharge to Ground Water (AR) Feasible AR structures: 250 Check Dams, 500 weirs, 1000 Gabion structures, 250 development of springs 600 RWH in Urban Areas Source: Central Ground Water Board, India The water table in the Barak valley of Cachar district are influenced by the physiography, therefore in the synclinal valleys of Silchar, Hailakandi and Karimganj the movement of ground water is to the north towards the Barak River. But the master slope of ground water is to the west in the Sourthern Assam (Barak Valley Region). The Barak River and its tributaries is all effluent in nature and their base flow during the lean period is almost entirely due to the ground water discharge. Ground water development generally takes place from two types of zones viz. Shallow zone within the depth of 50m and deeper zone from 50 to 200m. The ground water development in the Shallow zone is generally through the private agencies aided by institutional sources and in the Deeper zone the Irrigation De partment and Corporation play an important role. Table 23: Details of Ground Water Resource in the seven project districts of Assam District Ground water resource (MCM)Dynamic Utilisable Ground Water Resource for Irrigation (MCM) Utilisable Ground Water Resource for drinking & allied (MCM) Gross Draft (MCM) Balance Available (MCM) State of Ground Water Development (%) Kamrup Sibsagar Jorhat Sonitpur Morigaon Boigaingaon Hailakandi Source: Central Ground Water Board, Report-1981*MCM: Million cubic metres; Groundwater Recharge The potential of ground water resources throughout the entire Brahmaputra valley, covering more than 70% of the total area of the state, contains prolific aquifer system. Diverse geological formations require different types of structures for tapping ground water to meet the irrigation needs. In Assam, the ground water is extracted through dug wells, dug - cum - bore wells and shallow tube wells. These structures yield enough water to meet the irrigation requirements of small farm holdings as well as the daily domestic need. However, in Kamrup, Sontpur and Morigaon District few of the existing schemes have become Dysfunctional due to drying up of low and middle level ground water source. These are attributed to causes such as extensive extraction and usage of Groundwater for irrigation and other purposes, Change in rainfall pattern, etc. The following table gives the reasons of slippages in the existing water supply schemes. 91

93 Table 24: Number of Slipped Back Habitations S.No. District Total Habitation Total Slip Habitation Population Migration Drying Of Sources Water Quality Poor O & M Less Supply at Del Pt Age Of Systems Shortage Of Electricity Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % Total % 1 Bongaigaon Kamrup Sonitpur Marigaon Jorhat Sibsagar Hailakandi Total Source: National Rural Drinking Water Programme, With respect to the project areas, both ground water and surface water are being used for daily needs by the villages in all the seven districts. Major rivers flowing in these selected districts is Brahmaputra, Dikhow, Digaru, Kopili, Kathakal. Ground water is extensively used with the help of shallow hand pumps as the water table in all the areas is very low. Table 25: Average level of Ground Water Table in the seven project districts District Site Average Water Table Bongaigaon Baitamari Hailakandi Panchgram Jorhat Kakojan Kamrup Chandrapur Morigaon Morigaon Sibsagar Sibsagar Sonitpur Charduar Source: Central Ground Water Board, Assam, 2011 Graph 3-4: Details of Ground Water Table in the Project areas of RWSS-LIS Source: Data Block wise from central Ground Water Board, Regional office, Guwahati. There has been reported variations in water table and ground water availability from most of the villages falling in the nine project areas. Number of existing water supply schemes dependent on ground water as a source are rendered defunct due to non-availability of water or above permissible levels of minerals such as Iron, Fluoride and Arsenic. However, for the identified nine schemes, surface water will be the source for Drinking water supply. The water will be taken from the nearby perennial river (River 92

94 Brahmaputra or its tributary) with the help of a floating barrage, which will be transported to a treatment plant, 500 meters away Water Quality Apart from the 55,067 villages, 2.8 lakh villages which have been estimated by the Planning Commission as slipped-back villages would also be covered of water becoming quality affected, are as cited as reasons for the slipping back of villages. Water quality issues emerging in the State point to a high content of iron, fluoride and arsenic in aquifers in many areas of Assam. In addition, there are concerns over the bacteriological contamination. Sanitation remains another significant challenge. Given the large population dependent upon agriculture, agrochemical contamination is also likely to be high. Equally, with a number of oil wells and refineries it is expected that pollution load from these industries will also add to the pollution load of the aquatic system. Out of the four 17 oil refineries in Assam, one is at Dhaligoan in Bongaigaon District near the proposed project area under the scheme, upstream River Aye (one of the tributaries of R. Brahmaputra). Graph 3-5: Population affected by Iron in all Districts of Assam Source: (National Rurla Drinking Water Programme Rajiv Gandhi National drinking Water Mission). Graph 3-6: Population affected by Arsenic in all Districts of Assam Source: (National Rurla Drinking Water Programme Rajiv Gandhi National drinking Water Mission) Arsenic Screening and surveillance programme in Assam has been carried jointly by PHED, UNICEF and IIT Guwahati 18 towards a comprehensive assessment of Arsenic contamination of Public water sources of drinking water in rural areas covering the period of The study was carried out in 76 blocks spread across 23 Divisions (in 18 Districts) pre-identified through a rapid assessment. Out of a total of 56,180 water samples which were tested 16, 742 (around 30%) were tested unsaf e for drinking 17 First, Digboi in Tinsukia district; second at Noonmati in Guwahati under the public sector; third refinery at Dhaligoan near Bongaigaon and fourth refinery in the state was established at Numaligarh of Golaghat district. 18 The information was shared by a UNICEF official as the study and the report i s under publishing at present. 93

95 based on WHO standards of Arsenic permissibility of less than 10 ppb concentrations. Around 1970 Habitations across 18 Districts were estimated to be exposed to the risk of arsenic contamination. Table 26: Results of Arsenic Screening and Surveillance Programme in 76 Blocks of Assam, by UNICEF, IIT_G and PHED (unpublished study ) S.No PHED Divisions Source Tested Safe Sources Unsafe Source as per WHO n(>10ppb concentration) of Unsafe sources as per WHO 1 Biswanath Chairali Bongaigaon Bokakhat Belsor BTAD Barpeta Dhubri Darrang Goalpara Golaghat Ghilamara Hailakandi Jorhat Kaliabor Karimganj Morigaon N.Lakhimpur Nalbari (Kamrup) Rangia (Kamrup) Sibsagar Silchar I Silchar II Tezpur TOTAL Source: Unpublished report on Arsenic Screening and Surveillance Programme in Assam, study jointly carried by PHED, UNICEF and IIT- G. Graph 3-7: Population affected by Fluoride in all Districts of Assam Source: (National Rurla Drinking Water Programme Rajiv Gandhi National drinking Water Mission) 94

96 Graph 3-8: No of Sources affected by bacteria in all Districts of Assam Source: (National Rurla Drinking Water Programme Rajiv Gandhi National drinking Water Mission) Water Quality has been a major environmental issue in the seven districts selected under the RWSS project scheme. Since, most of the schemes are dependent on ground water resource, presence of arsenic, due to the inherent characteristics of Brahmaputra belt has been recorded in most of the districts. Iron is usually found high in all the districts, apart from having few health implications it is aesthetical unacceptable as it decolours the clothes, utensils and other products in contact such as water pipes, hand pumps etc. Based on the Arsenic screening and surveillance Programme carried jointly by PHED, UNICEF and IIT-Guwahati in 76 blocks of Assam, 30% of sources had traces of Arsenic (above WHO limits of 10ppb) and around 722,633 population in these blocks were exposed to the risk of Arsenic contamination Table 27: No Of Quality Affected Habitations & Population as On 01/04/2012 Contamination Wise Number Of Habitations & Population S.No. District Total Fluoride Arsenic Iron Habs Population Habs Population Habs Population Habs Population 1 BONGAIGAON HAILAKANDI JORHAT KAMRUP MARIGAON SIBSAGAR SONITPUR Total Source: National Rural Drinking Water Programme, Surface Water Quality The vast potential surface water resource of the state is not yet properly utilized in the state. In the last few decades, the rate of consumption of water in the agricultural sector, industrial sector and i n the urban centres has been increased significantly. The discharges of untreated domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater, run of from the agricultural fields and the urban sewage water posing threat to the water bodies of the state. One of the major issues concerning surface quality is the River Erosion. Water samples from all the nine intake point were collected and tested. The parameters on which the water quality testing was carried are as follows, Colour and Odour, PH Value, Temperature, Pesticides, Turbidity, COD, BOD, Fluoride, Iron, Arsenic, Faecal Coliform, Coliform Organism and Pesticides. The 95

97 Intake Point Source Temperature ph Turbidity Total Hardness Iron (mg/l) Arsenic Fluoride 5 Days BOD (mg/l) COD (mg/l) Faecal Coliform (Nos per 100ml) Coliform Organism (Nos per 100ml) 9 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & table 28 below provides the water Quality results of the intake points and the figure 3-9 below shows the location of the intake point. Figure 3-9: Location of Intake Points on the base map of Assam Base Map Source: Google Earth map, 2012.*Note the location of Intake points were recorded using a GPS devise. This exercise was carried in the presence of PHED officials (EE/AEE of all seven project Districts). Table 28: Water Quality testing results carried at the nine intake points identified under the Project Bongaigaon, R. jogighopa Brahmaputra BDL BDL Hailakandi R. Katakhal BDL Nil Jorhat, R. Neamati Ghat Brahmaputra BDL Kamrup, R. Kolongpar Brahmaputra BDL BDL

98 Intake Point Source Temperature ph Turbidity Total Hardness Iron (mg/l) Arsenic Fluoride 5 Days BOD (mg/l) COD (mg/l) Faecal Coliform (Nos per 100ml) Coliform Organism (Nos per 100ml) 9 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Kamrup, R. Chandrapur Brahmaputra BDL BDL Morigaon, R. Kopili Tinikhutimukh BDL BDL Morigaon, R. Kopili Dhramtul BDL BDL Sibsagar, R. Dikhow Amguri Sonitpur, R. Dipora Brahmaputra BDL BDL *Water Quality Testing was carried under the Environmental Assessment RWSS, Assam Project. The Results are attached under Scheme details of all seven projects in Annexure Ground water Quality The ground water quality of Assam is feebly alkaline. Calcium, magnesium - the alkaline earth metals and sodium, potassium - the alkali metals, are the four important cations in ground water are present. Sulphate, chloride, bicarbonate and carbonate are the major anions present in the ground water of Assam. Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium content is also low in ground water of Assam. Among anions, sulphate is generally very low. Bicarbonates are also low in Barak valley. Ground water of Assam is mostly calcium bicarbonate type with low mineralisation. Distribution of Chloride: Chlorides are present in all natural waters. High chlorides in both surface and ground water are often due to contamination from ocean water and other brackish supplies. In Assam the chloride concentration in ground water is very low. Very low chloride as also low sodium concentrations point towards remarkably fresh nature of ground water which is almost comparable to that of rain water. Natural water is being replenished every year directly from rain water which is bei ng replenished every year directly from rain water together with efficient drainage facilities in the subsurface formations does not permit enrichment of chloride in ground water of Assam. Very high concentration of chloride are harmful in irrigation water applied to less resistant crops. Distribution of Iron: Iron occurs in two states of oxidation, the bivalent ferrous state and trivalent ferric ions. Under reducing conditions iron in water tends to be in the ferrous state which is unstable in the presence of oxygen and hence precipitates as ferric compound. The higher concentration of iron in ground water has been observed when ph of water ranges between 6.5 and 8.0. The distribution of iron in the shallow ground water shows high concentration of iron along the northern bank of the Brahmaputra River. Iron poses the lone chemical hazard in the ground water of Assam. In greater part of the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys iron content in the shallow ground water is more than the maximum permissible limit of 1.0 ppm for domestic purposes. Groundwater of Assam has low salinity hazard and low sodium hazard locally. The ground water is of excellent quality and is suitable for irrigation purposes except for 97

99 some iron hazard found in certain areas. Water of higher conductivity is used occasionally but crop production has not been satisfactory. All the districts covered in the seven record high content of Iron in the ground water, which is usually filtered with the help of dometic local filters made at home. Distribution of fluoride: The element, fluoride, may be found in nature in volcanic gases; as fluorite, or in fluorspar, which occurs in sedimentary rocks; or as cryolite, and apatite which occur in igneous and metamorphic rocks. Thus fluoride compounds are usually found in larger concentrations in ground waters than in surface waters. When present in amount more than the permissible limit, it causes diseases of bone deformities and mottled teeth. The fluoride content in the groundwater of Assam is generally very low. Distribution of Arsenic: From Assam two districts Dhemaji and Karimganj have been surveyed for groundwater arsenic contamination and both are found arsenic contaminated. A good portion of Assam is in the Brahmaputra Plain so most scientist as well as the WATSAN engineers suspects a lot much area falling under the plain with groundwater arsenic contamination, like Bangladesh. 98

100 Table 29: District Quality Profile for FTK Testing S.No. District Total Sources Tested Tested Sources Not Found Contaminated No. of Sources with Single Chemical Contaminants Iron Fluoride Salinity Nitrate Arsenic Other No. of Sources with Bacteriological Contaminants Faecal Coliform No. of Sources with Multiple Contaminants No. of Sources with Other Contaminants 1 BAKSHA BARPETA BONGAIGAON CACHAR CHIRANG DARRANG DHEMAJI DHUBRI DIBRUGARH GOALPARA GOLAGHAT HAILAKANDI JORHAT KAMRUP KARBI ANGLONG 16 KARIMGANJ KOKRAJHAR LAKHIMPUR MARIGAON NAGAON NALBARI DUMA HASAO HILLS 23 SIBSAGAR SONITPUR TINSUKIA UDALGURI Total Source: (National Rurla Drinking Water Programme)

101 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Current Water Supply Practices Assam is still dependent on water from rain, streams and rivers for drinking and other domestic purposes. These sources have proven to be unsafe. Access to safe drinking water and the status of sanitation & hygiene in Assam is substantially less than the national average. The population in Assam with access to safe drinking water is only 77.55% compared to the all India figure of 88% (the same is 84% in rural areas and 95% in urban areas) while the total sanitation coverage (rural plus urban) in India is 18% and in Assam 15.89%. Table 30: Distribution of Households by main source of drinking water and location: Assam Rural Census 2011 Total number of households Tap water from treated source Covered well Tap water from untreated source (1.03) Un- Covered well Handpump Tubewell / Borehole Spring River / Canal Tank / Pond / Lake Other Sources Total (5.78) (1.09) (17.97) (53.33) (8.17) (1.31) (3.88) (5.26) (2.14) Within the premises Near the premises Away Source: National Rurla Drinking Water Programme, 2012 The majority of rural people obtain their drinking water from hand pumps and this is higher than the All India Average. However the proportion of population having treated source is much lower and the proportion obtaining from uncovered well is much higher than rural India as a whole. Water is supplied to rural areas through various Government led schemes. These schemes can be single village or multi village schemes with both ground water and surface water as its prime source. PHED is the main government agency which is responsible for water supply. However, many international NGOs/CBOs, private organisations, and individuals fulfil the daily demand of rural population by utilising ground water source through, dug wells, dug - cum - bore wells and shallow tubewells. Villages with reported or observed presence of Arsenic, Iron and Flouride, are mainly relaying on surface water sources such as River Brahamputra and its tributaries, ponds, lakes, etc. The present norms adopted by PHED for coverage of Habitations in Assam are as follows: 40 litres of safe drinking water per capita per day (LPCD) for human being. A water source should exist within the habitation / within 1.60 km in the plains and within 100 m elevation in the hilly areas. Until the year the focus had been to cover the villages with problem of safe drinking water. Broad coverage status of problem villages is as follows. According to APHED, Govt of PE Global (P) Ltd. 100

102 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Assam, only Morigaon and Sibsagarh district out of all the seven districts have 6 and 21 Habitations which are Partially Covered (PC) 19 by water supply in Current Water Treatment Practices Twenty Five District Level Laboratories (DLL) in each of the districts of Assam have been established to facilitate Water Quality Analysis. The laboratories are equipped with different sophisticated instruments and facilities for testing different water quality parameters and the staffs of the laboratories are well trained in and outside the state of Assam. Each of the laboratories are to perform at least 150 Nos. of physical and chemical analysis and 60 Nos. of bacteriological analysis of water samples each month. To maintain the seasonal changes of the water quality different sources have been analysed at the interval of a weak. After analysing the water sample, if any water quality parameters is found beyond the permissible limit necessary steps have been taken to maintain the quality. The active performance of the laboratories has made the APHED capable of detecting various water quality problems. The APHED is equipped with five Nos. of Ion-meter distributed by UNICEF. These Ion-meters are being used by the department for accurate determination of various water quality parameters particularly content of fluoride in water samples. (Source: Apart from Iron removable systems installed in the PHED supplied shallow Handpumps, water treatment at the village level is mainly carried with the help of chlorination at the head of the distribution network. PHED is responsible for water treatment of water supplied through their initiatives. Further, water supplied through hand pumps is disinfected by the consumers using chlorine tablets or they are advised to use the water after boiling. In case of piped water supply schemes, the filtration and iron removal processes and disinfected before using bleaching powder before pumping to consumer. The following below indicates the treatment practice to remove Iron in general. At present there is no treatment carried for Arsenic and Fluoride. Line Diagram indicating the general process of Water Treatment. Tube Well Rapid Gravity Filter Iron Removal Plant Clear Water Reservoir Pump House Consumer Incidence of Water and Sanitation Related Diseases The ENVIS Report, 2009 states that the Available statistics indicate that at least 20,000 young people suffer from severe fluorosis in Assam. The affected areas reportedly include Tekelangjan, Dokmaka, Lungnit, Taradubi, Tuplem, Garampani, Ratiagaon, Haldiati, 19 PC (Partially Covered) habitation means the habitation which has a safe drinking water source / point (either public or private) within 1.60 km in plains and 100 m in hilly areas but the capacity of the system ranges between 10 lpcd to 40 lpcd. PE Global (P) Ltd. 101

103 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Parakhowa, and the Neelbagan area of Nagaon district. Fluoride has already engulfed the south-eastern part of Hojai subdivision though the north-western part still appears to be free from fluoridation. A preliminary random survey has indicated presence of fluoride in groundwater sources used for drinking purposes in a vast belt of almost hundred villages under Hojai subdivision. A total of 350 fluoride positive drinking water sources with excess fluoride beyond permissible limit have been identified and has put under red cross marks alerting people not to use those sources. According to a survey, about 800 water sources of Karbi Anglong and Nagaon are contaminated with fluoride. Also, Diseases like Malaria, Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) are also commonly found. Districts like, Barpeta, Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Tinisukia, Udalguri, Dhemaji and Lakhimpur are JE and AES affected districts. Besides, fluorosis, water borne diseases like, cholera, dysentery, Diarrhea, is commonly found in most of the villages of Assam. Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) under the National Rural Health Mission administers 20 diseases from every state of India. Under the project weekly disease surveillance data on epidemic prone disease are being collected from reporting units such as sub centres, primary health centres, community health centres, hospitals including government and private sector hospitals and medical colleges. The data are being collected on S syndromic; P probable; & L laboratory formats using standard case definitions. Presently, more than 90% districts report such weekly data through e - mail/portal ( The weekly data are analysed by SSU/DSU for disease trends. Whenever there is rising trend of illnesses, it is investigated by the RRT to diagnose and control the outbreak. According to IDSP Data on three water borne diseases namely, Bacterial Dysentery, Acute Diarrhoeal Disease and Cholera occurring in Assam, the number is highest during summer and rainy season. In 2010, Assam experienced incessant rains which led to flooding of most of the districts, which led to state wide outbreak of Cholera and other water borne diseases. Out of the Seven districts, six districts barring Hailakandi lies in the plain of River Brahmaputra and vulnerable to yearly flooding. With Bongaigaon Table 31: Number of cases of ADD and BD recorded by IDSP-NRHM, in the Project Blocks Blocks Total Populatio n Acute Diarrhoeal Disease Bacterial Dysentery Percentage of Population affected by ADD during Percentage of Population affected by BD during Algapur & Hailakandi 80, Tapatari & Srijangram 1,90, Boitamari 97, Mayong 1,33, Bhurband ha 9, Jorhat Central 58, Chariduar 46, Ambguri 62, Gaurisagar 58, PE Global (P) Ltd. 102

104 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Blocks Total Populatio n Acute Diarrhoeal Disease Bacterial Dysentery Percentage of Population affected by ADD during Percentage of Population affected by BD during Demow 1,54, Bezera 97, Dimoria 1,76, _ _ *The Blocks taken by the IDSP cell are based on the Revenue circle. Thus, it may not truly reflect the total population of the nine project areas since the blocks selected by PHED are based on the Habitation Record. Source: IDSP-Cell, NRHM, Assam Graph 3-9: Cases of Bacillary Dysentery and Acute Diarrheal Diseases in the project blocks ( ) Source: IDSP Cell NRHM, Assam 3.6 House Hold and Environmental Sanitation The state of Assam is in the north-eastern part of India. It is one of the very disadvantaged, poor and underdeveloped states in India, like the other North-Eastern states. Assam is falling behind all the major states in India on development since independence in The reasons are many. Assam, along with the other NE states, is having a serious handicap in communication with the rest of India since it is connected through a narrow strip of land with mainland India. Assam suffers from devastation caused by floods of the mighty river Brahmaputra and its tributaries every year and several times in the same year. There are 3 million households in rural Assam, which do not have sanitary latrines. Total Sanitation Campaign (now Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan) aims at providing 93,000 latrines in 5 year to help bridge the gap. 23 million people in rural Assam do not have the minimum required knowledge about hygiene. PE Global (P) Ltd. 103

105 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Status of Toilet Construction According to the census report 2011, Scheduled Tribe population in Assam lacks the facility of latrine within the premises severely compared to total rural population and the Scheduled Caste counterpart. However, in case of drainage facility the situation remains the same for the above sub- groups. Table 32: Distribution of Households by sanitation facilities and caste: Assam Rural Census 2011 Total number of households Number Households of having latrine facilities within the premises Number of Households having closed drainage within the premises Number Households of having bathrooms within the premises Total (64.89) (3.61) (24.47) Rural (59.57) 76764(1.42) (15.75) ST Rural (7.08) 8243(1.01) 74530(9.15) SC Rural (60.48) 10114(1.87) (16.52) Source: Census 2011 Subsequently, based on 2008 TARU report, Impact assessment of Nirmal Gram Puraskar (NGP) awarded panchayats the following are the main findings of the study in terms of the sanitation and hygiene situation: Of the 85% households having access to individual, community or shared toilets, only around 66% used them. Poor or unfinished installations, lack of super structure and reluctance to change behaviour led to this non-use of toilets. Although the NGP had led to almost 70% people using toilets, 30% of the people were still found to resort to open defecation. In case of toilets in schools, lack of gender considerations, poor functionality and inadequate number of toilets as compared to the number of children using it during peak hours led to lack of use of toilets among children. More than half the GPs and households visited lacked mechanisms for solid and liquid waste disposal. Table 33: Report Card status of Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) as on 29 /1/2013 Component Project Targets Project Achievements %age Achievement IHHL BPL IHHL APL IHHL TOTAL School Toilets Sanitary Complex Anganwadi Toilets RSM/PC Source: PE Global (P) Ltd. 104

106 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & *The Block and GP Wise Data on Total Sanitation Coverage is available from the webiste: Status of Liquid Waste Management There is no provision of drainage system or sewerage system in all the Villages of Assam. Most of the liquid waste is going to either Agricultural Land or to open ponds and open fields. This is a major cause of concern and based on the water quality data of surface water bodies, high contamination of bacteria is observed in some of the districts such as Dhubri, Cachar, Kamrup, Nagaon and Sonitpur. Table 34: Details of Bacteriological contamination in all the districts of Assam S.N o District No. of Sources with Bacteriological Contaminants Faecal Coliform 1 BAKSHA 1 2 BARPETA 0 3 BONGAIGAON 0 4 CACHAR CHIRANG 0 6 DARRANG 8 7 DHEMAJI 0 8 DHUBRI DIBRUGARH 0 10 GOALPARA GOLAGHAT 0 12 HAILAKANDI 0 13 JORHAT 0 14 KAMRUP KARBI ANGLONG 0 16 KARIMGANJ 0 17 KOKRAJHAR 5 18 LAKHIMPUR 0 19 MARIGAON 1 20 NAGAON NALBARI 0 22 DUMA HASAO HILLS 0 23 SIBSAGAR 0 24 SONITPUR TINSUKIA 0 26 UDALGURI 0 Source: Format E21- District Quality Profile For FTK Testing (National Rural Drinking Water Programme Rajiv Gandhi National drinking Water Mission) Status of Solid Waste Management There is no solid waste management in the rural areas of Assam. The solid waste is either burnt or buried (biodegradable waste) as a common practice by the villagers. Under health and hygiene trainings carried by PHED, NGO s and UNICEF for the villagers, decomposition of bio degradable waste is preached. Many of the households practice burning of non - biodegradable along the road side. PE Global (P) Ltd. 105

107 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Status of Power/Electricity In Assam as per census 2001, only 70% villages are electrified and only 16.5% rural households are electrified. The Govt. of Assam has been implementing rural electrification programme in Assam through Distribution Companies. With a view to achieve electrification of all villages of Assam and provide access to electricity to all households in line with the National Rural Electrification Policy 2004 & Rural Electrification Policy of Govt. of Assam, Rural Electrification works particularly under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) scheme have been carried out. Under this scheme all the census villages of Assam are proposed to be electrified by Electrification in 16 districts to be implemented by ASEB and in 7 districts by the Power Grid Corporation of India. District wise schemes for electrification of villages have been submitted to the Govt. of India and approval for 13 districts has already been received. Currently most villages in Assam have electricity, with variation in number of hours of supply. Table 35: Average Hours of electricity in rural areas of Assam Maximum 14 Minimum 10 Average 12 Source: Statistical Handbook, Disasters Natural calamity like flood is occurring almost every year in Assam and it poses a challenging task to the APHED with respect to ensuring safe drinking water to the flood affected population. Floods usually occur during monsoon (mid June till late August) and many a times can create trouble by destroying roads and railway linkages at places. Apart from being highly vulnerable to flooding, Assam experiences, river bank erosion, sand casting, landslides, cyclonic storms annually. The exposure to such hazards is also aggravated because of the location of the State in the north eastern region which is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Assam is said to receive high torrential rainfall ranging from 248cm to 635cm which also contribute to the flooding of the Brahmaputra River. The encroachment of a large number of wetlands that serve as natural reservoirs has decreased the retention capacity of the system causing floods to rise. The easily erodible geological formations also contribute to river expansion and increased sediment influx of the river. River Bank Erosion: The morphology of the Brahmaputra River is characterized by intense braiding and bar formation where channels exhibit successive bifurcation and re-joining of flow around sand bars and islands and highly dynamic river bank line and bed configuration. The morphology and behaviour of the river undergoes drastic changes in response to variations in the flow regime and pattern of sediment transport and deposition in the river following the seasonal rhythm of the monsoon. Multiple factors, such as excessive sediment load, large and variable flow, easily erodible bank materials, and aggradation of the channel, have been the possible underlying factors. Another striking feature of the river s morphology is the continuous shift of the thalweg (deep channel) from one location to another within the unstable bank lines of the river. Bank materials of the PE Global (P) Ltd. 106

108 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Brahmaputra consist mainly of fine sand and silt with only an occasional presence of clay. They have a relatively fine-grained top stratum and a coarser substratum. Graph 3-10: Details of Erosion and deposition in the North Bank of River Brahmaputra Graph 3-11: Details of Erosion and deposition in the North Bank of River Brahmaputra Source: RS-GIS Based Assessment of River Dynamics of Brahmaputra River in India, (Sarkar. A, 2011) Riverbank erosion is chronic problem caused by dynamic shifting of channels flowing through unconsolidated heavy sand or silt strata of the floodplain, with high sediment discharge. Since 1954, Assam s 17 riverine districts have lost 7% of their land area to erosion. Some 8,000 ha of land (valued at $20 million) is lost annually, which is accompanied by the appearance of low-lying unproductive sandbars. About 10,000 families are displaced each year and those who become landless are forced to move to increasingly congested nearby riverbank lines and dikes. More critically, progressive river erosion is threatening many flood embankments with possible devastating inundation and associated damage once it reaches and undercuts the embankments during the monsoon. The Graph below shows the erosion and depletion of river bank on the north and south of R. Brahmaputra. PE Global (P) Ltd. 107

109 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Table 36: Erosion/deposition area along Brahmaputra for the period 1990 to Reach Number Locations in Vicinity South (Left) Bank Total Erosion km2 Total Deposition km2 North (Right) Bank Total Erosion km2 Total Deposition km2 1 Dhubri Goalpara Palasbari Guwahati Morigaon (Near Mangaldai) Morigaon (Near Dhing) Tezpur U/s of Tezpur (Near Gohpur) Majuli (Near Bessamora) U/s of Majuli (Near Sibsagar) Dibrugarh U/s of Dibrugarh TOTAL Floods: An overall estimated 92.6% of cultivated land or 3.15 million ha of the area is prone to floods in the valley (SNC, 2010). Tenth five year plan indicates a crop loss of value of Rs lakhs. Flood damages to crops, cattle, houses and utilities from 1953 to 1995 is estimated at 4400 crore, with a peak of 664 crore in a single year (Staff College Report, 2005). An estimated 8,000 ha of riparian land are destroyed annually due to river bank erosion (SNC, 2010). Sand deposition /casting i.e. accumulation of enormous dunes of sand are seen to be more severe and devastating since the mid 1990 s especially in the northern banks of eastern Brahmaputra Valley. This had rendered fertile lands to be fully unproductive thus displacing people and causing loss of productivity and marginalization. It has increasingly caused deterioration of wetlands and farmlands (ICIMOD, 2009). Landslides, causes blocking of courses, bursting of these temporary bunds causes devastating floods downstream. It also acts an obstacle in the flow of the river, which upset regime of Brahmaputra Basin (Staff College Report, 2005) Damming of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra causing liquefaction damage where the river enters the plains. Landslides also increase the detritus content of the river causing increased water flow. The events of cyclonic storms have been observed to be more frequent in the western parts of Assam especially during monsoons causing colossal losses to lives and property (Staff Co llege Report, 2005). Major activities taken up by the APHED during and after flood are as follows :- Distribution of leaflets containing instruction regarding various dos and don ts to be followed during and after flood. Distribution of chemical packets (alum, bleaching powder and lime) for domestic level water purification. Disinfection of spot sources. PE Global (P) Ltd. 108

110 Consultancy Services for Undertaking Environmental Assessment for the Rural Water Supply & Installation of spot sources at the relief camps and raising of the hand pumps as required. Repairing and restoration piped water supply schemes and spot sources damaged by flood. Figure 3-10: Flood Affected Districts in Assam, 2012 Source: Down To Earth - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh face worst ever floods recorded in June, 2012 Earthquake: The great earthquake of 1950 created havoc, especially in the upper reaches of the Himalayas in and around the Siang and the Diboug river courses as well as in the upper Assam plains. There was considerable impact on the topography on both sides of the Brahmaputra Valley. This natural calamity was mainly responsible for the abrupt changes in the river ecology. The river Brahmaputra and its many tributaries in upper Assam badly suffered due to blockage caused by uprooted trees, boulders and soil erosion. North East India is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Part of the Indian Plate, the Himalayan Plate in the North and the Indo Burma Plate in the East form its borders. Pushing itself north-eastwards the Indian Plate is continuously moving against these two plates. The Plate on the eastern front forms a subduction zone as it slips under the Indo-Burma Plate. Also, due to these intense tectonic movements there are a number of faults, folds and other tectonic features formed in the area. The result of all this is the classification of North East India under earthquake Zone V by the Government of India. Although in general the Assam valley is considered seismi cally stable it is vulnerable to earthquakes due to its thick sedimentary cover which have suffered extensive damage through ground rupture and liquefaction, issues noted in past earthquakes. Also, these earthquakes have resulted in landslides. One such earthquake in 1950 has been responsible PE Global (P) Ltd. 109