Pakistan
Punjab Irrigated-Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project (PIPIP)
Environmental and Social Assessment
Directorate General Agriculture (Water Management), Agriculture Department
Government of Punjab, Lahore
November 2011
Environmental and Social Assessment
Punjab Irrigated-Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project
Executive Summary
The provincial government of the Punjab, Pakistan, through its Directorate General Agriculture (Water Management), Agriculture Department, is planning to undertake the Punjab Irrigated-Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project (PIPIP) in various parts of the Province, and seeking the World Bank assistance for this purpose. In line with the prevailing legislation in the Country, and WB safeguard policies, an environmental and social assessment (ESA) of the project has been carried out. This document presents the report of this assessment.
Study Methodology
The present study was conducted using a standard methodology prescribed by national and international agencies. Various phases of the study included screening, scoping, data collection and compilation, stakeholder consultations, impact assessment, and report compilation.
Legislative Framework
The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 (PEPA 1997) requires the proponents of every development project in the country to conduct an environmental assessment and submit its report to the relevant environmental protection agency.
In addition to the above, the World Bank Operational Policy 4.01 (OP 4.01) requires that environmental and social assessment be carried out before commencing projects being proposed for the Bank’s funding.
Project Overview
The proposed Project aims to improve the productivity of the irrigation activities in the Province. Improved water productivity will translate into greater agricultural output per unit of water used, and will be achieved through improved physical delivery efficiency, irrigation practices, crop diversification and effective application of inputs. The project’s objectives would contribute to increased agricultural production, employment and incomes, higher living standards and positive environmental outcomes.
The direct beneficiaries of Project would be about 650,000 farm families or about 4.5 million people all over the Punjab Province.
The key components of the Project include: i) installation of high efficiency irrigation systems; ii) strengthening of laser land leveling services in private sector; iii) improvement of water courses in canal command and non-canal commanded areas; and iv) adoption and promotion of modern irrigation technologies and practices.
Analysis of Alternatives
As part of the present study, various project alternatives and the associated environmental as well as social aspects were also analyzed. These included ‘no-project’ alternative, alternative methods of irrigation, alternative land leveling methods, alternatives for on-farm water conservation, and alternatives for project implementation mechanisms. The ‘no-project’ alternative is not acceptable because it would lead to continued wasteful usage of irrigation water; the irrigation and land leveling methods proposed under the Project would lead to greater water-use efficiency; and the selected implementation mechanism would ensure greater farmer participation and ownership.
Description of the Environment
The Punjab Province is located south of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Islamabad Capital Territory, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK); southwest of the Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir; west of the Indian States of Punjab and Rajasthan; north-northeast of the Sindh Province; and east-northeast of the Balochistan Province.
Punjab is Pakistan's second largest province having an area of 205,344 km2 (79,284 sqmiles) after Balochistan and is located at the north-western edge of the geologic Indian plate in South Asia. The capital and largest city is Lahore which was the historical capital of the wider Punjab region. Other important cities include Multan, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Jhelum and Rawalpindi. Undivided Punjab is home to six rivers, of which five flow through Pakistani Punjab. From west to east, these are: the Indus, Jhelum, Beas, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej. Nearly 60 percent of Pakistan's population lives in the Punjab. It is the nation's only province that touches every other province; it also surrounds the federal enclave of the national capital city at Islamabad. This geographical position and a large multi-ethnic population strongly influence Punjab's outlook on National affairs and induces in Punjab a keen awareness of the problems of the Pakistan's other important provinces and territories. [1]
The province is a mainly a fertile region along the river valleys, while sparse deserts can be found near the border with Rajasthan and the Sulaiman Range. The region contains the Thal and Cholistan deserts. The Indus River and its many tributaries traverse the Punjab from north to south.
The landscape is amongst the most heavily irrigated on earth and canals can be found throughout the province. Weather extremes are notable from the hot and barren south to the cool hills of the north. The foothills of the Himalayas are found in the extreme north as well.
Owing to its geographical disposition, the province exhibits wide variations of physical, ecological, socio-cultural, and environmental features down from north to south and across from east to west[2]. Topographically, Punjab can be divided into following five landforms[3]: Upper hilly region; Potohar (or Potwar) plateau; Central plain lands (Doab[4]); Desert like plains; and Cholistan and Thal deserts. The components of the project are likely to be located in most parts of the above regions.
Stakeholder Consultations
Stakeholder consultations were carried out as part of the ESA study. These consultations were conducted with the institutional as well as the grassroots stakeholders. The main objectives of the consultations were to apprise the stakeholders of the proposed project activities and to obtain their views, concerns, and recommendations so that these could be incorporated into the project design in order to enhance the environmental and social performance of the project.
Impact Assessment and Mitigation
The positive environmental and social impacts of the project include increased water conservation, enhanced social mobilization (ie, establishment of WUAs), and employment opportunities for skilled people. In addition, the project interventions such as high efficiency irrigation techniques will help discontinue usage of sewage water to irrigate crops particularly vegetables in the peri-urban areas – a practice that poses health risks to the population consuming these vegetables.
The key potentially negative environmental and social impacts of the proposed interventions under the project include changes in land use pattern particularly where barren/vacant land is brought under cultivation, contamination of soil and water caused by chemical inputs, salt build up in crop root zone, loss of natural vegetation and trees for water course improvement, damage to crops caused by water course improvement works, and reduced ground water recharge caused by water course lining.
Most of the above-mentioned potential impacts are temporary and reversible in nature and can be mitigated with the help of appropriate mitigation measures, such as avoiding environmental hot spots and wildlife protected areas when expanding the cultivation fields, awareness raising and capacity building of farmers for judicious use of chemical inputs, occasional flood irrigation in fields using high efficiency irrigation systems to avoid salt build-up in soil, tree plantation to compensate any tree cutting, avoiding cropped area while carrying out the water course improvement and other construction works during the project, and limiting the extent of water course lining in the sweet groundwater zone to minimize negative impacts on groundwater recharge.
Environmental and Social Management Plan
An environmental and social management plan (ESMP) has been developed to provide an implementation mechanism for the mitigation measures identified during the ESA. The ESMP provides the organization structure for the environmental and social management system during the project, and defines the roles and responsibilities of various players. The ESMP includes a mitigation plan, a monitoring plan, the communication and documentation requirements, and training needs, in the context of the environmental and social management of the project.
The cost of ESMP implementation over the project life of six years has been estimated to be Pak Rupees 19.2 million. This includes costs associated with environmental trainings and third party monitoring. This cost has been included in the overall project cost.
Directorate General Agriculture (Water Management), Government of Punjab ii
November 2011
Environmental and Social Assessment
Punjab Irrigated-Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project
Acronyms
Amsl / Above mean sea levelBHU / Basic Health Unit
BOD / Biological oxygen demand
CITES / Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
COD / Chemical oxygen demand
Cumecs / Cubic meters per second
Cusecs / Cubic feet per second
DC / Deputy Commissioner
DCO / District Coordination Officer
DGA (WM) / Director General Agriculture (Water Management)
DO / Dissolved oxygen
EDO / Executive District Officer
EIA / Environmental Impact Assessment
EMP / Environmental Management Plan
EPA / Environmental Protection Agency
ESA / Environmental and Social Assessment
GDP / Gross Domestic Product
GIS / Geographical informarion system
GoP / Government of Pakistan
GRM / Grievance Redressal Mechanism
Ha / Hectare
HEIS / High Efficiency Irrigation Systems
IBIS / Indus Basin Irrigation System
IEE / Initial Environmental Examination
IUCN / International Union for Conservation of Nature
LAA / Land Acquisition Act (of 1894)
LOS / Laws of Seas
MAF / Million acre feet
MARPOL / Marine Pollution (Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships)
MEA / Multilateral Environmental Agreements
M&E / Monitoring and Evaluation
NEQS / National Environmental Quality Standards
NGO / Non Governmental Organization
NOx / Oxides of nitrogen
OP / Operational Policy
O&M / Operation and Maintenance
PEPC / Pakistan Encl Protection Council
PEPA / Pakistan Environmental Protection Act
PERI / Punjab Economic Research Institute
PISC / Project Implementation and Supervision Consultants
PM / Particulate matter
PSC / Project Steering Committee
P&DD / Planning and Development Department
RHC / Rural Health Center
SSC / Sales and service company
TDS / Total dissolved solids
ToR / Terms of Reference
UNFCCC / United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
WAPDA / Water and Power Development Authority
WB / World Bank
WBG / World Bank Group
WMTI / Water Management Training Institute
WUA / Water user association
WWF / World Wide Fund for Nature
Directorate General Agriculture (Water Management), Government of Punjab ii
November 2011
Environmental and Social Assessment
Punjab Irrigated-Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project
Contents
Executive Summary ii
1 Introduction 1-1
1.1 Background 1-1
1.2 Earlier Projects of Similar Nature 1-2
1.3 Project Proponent 1-2
1.4 Project Overview 1-2
1.5 ESA Study 1-3
1.5.1 Need of the Study 1-3
1.5.2 Study Objectives 1-3
1.5.3 Study Scope 1-4
1.5.4 Study Methodology 1-4
1.5.5 Study Team 1-5
1.6 Document Structure 1-5
2 Legislative, Regulatory, and Policy Framework 2-1
2.1 National Laws and Regulations 2-1
2.1.1 Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 2-1
2.1.2 Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency Review of IEE and
EIA Regulations, 2000 2-2
2.1.3 National Environmental Quality Standards 2-2
2.1.4 Land Acquisition Act, 1894 2-2
2.1.5 Punjab Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act, 1974 2-3
2.1.6 Forest Act, 1927 2-3
2.1.7 Canal and Drainage Act, 1873 2-3
2.1.8 Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority Act, 1997 2-3
2.1.9 Punjab On-Farm Water Management and Water Users’
Associations Ordinance, 1981 2-3
2.1.10 Provincial Local Government Ordinances, 2001 2-4
2.1.11 Antiquity Act, 1975 2-4
2.1.12 Mines, Oil Fields and Mineral Development Act, 1948 2-4
2.1.13 Factories Act, 1934 2-4
2.1.14 Employment of Child Act, 1991 2-4
2.1.15 Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 2-5
2.2 The World Bank Operational Policies 2-5
2.2.1 Environmental Assessment (OP 4.01) 2-5
2.2.2 Involuntary Resettlement (OP 4.12) 2-5
2.2.3 Forestry (OP 4.36) 2-6
2.2.4 Natural Habitat (OP 4.04) 2-6
2.2.5 Pest Management (OP 4.09) 2-6
2.2.6 Safety of Dams (OP 4.37) 2-7
2.2.7 Projects on International Waterways (OP 7.50) 2-7
2.2.8 Cultural Property (OP 4.11) 2-7
2.2.9 Indigenous People (OP 4.10) 2-8
2.2.10 Projects in Disputed Areas (OP 7.60) 2-8
2.2.11 Applicability of Safeguard Policies 2-8
2.3 Obligations under International Treaties 2-9
2.4 Institutional Setup for Environmental Management 2-9
2.5 Environmental and Social Guidelines 2-10
2.5.1 Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental and
Social Guidelines 2-10
2.5.2 World Bank Environmental and Social Guidelines 2-10
3 Project Description 3-1
3.1 Project Background 3-1
3.2 Project Objectives 3-6
3.3 Project Beneficiaries 3-6
3.4 Project Components 3-6
3.4.1 Component A: Installation of High Efficient Irrigation Systems 3-7
3.4.2 Component B: Upgrading of Community Irrigation Systems 3-10
3.4.3 Component C: Improved Agriculture Technology/Practices and Monitoring and Evaluation 3-12
3.4.4 Component D: Project Management, Supervision, Technical
Assistance, Training and Strategic Studies. 3-13
3.5 Project Institutional and Implementation Arrangements 3-13
3.6 Description of Project Activities 3-16
3.6.1 Drip Irrigation 3-16
3.6.2 Sprinkler Irrigation 3-17
3.6.3 Laser Land Leveling 3-18
3.6.4 Water Course Improvement 3-18
4 Project Alternatives 4-1
4.1 No-project Alternative 4-1
4.2 Alternative Irrigation Methods 4-1
4.3 Alternative Land Leveling Methods 4-2
4.4 Alternative Methods of On-farm Water Conservation 4-2
4.5 Alternative Methods of Implementing the Proposed Initiatives 4-2
5 Environmental and Socioeconomic Profile 5-1
5.1 Location 5-1
5.2 Physical Environment 5-1
5.2.1 Geography 5-1
5.2.2 Geology and Seismology 5-2
5.2.3 Soil Morphology 5-2
5.2.4 Meteorology, Climate, and Air Quality 5-3
5.2.5 Surface Water Resources 5-4
5.2.6 Groundwater 5-5
5.3 Forests, Habitat, and Ecologically Sensitive Areas 5-7
5.3.1 Protected Areas 5-7
5.4 Socioeconomic Profile 5-7
5.4.1 Demographic Profile 5-7
5.4.2 Economy 5-8
5.4.3 Land Use / Agricultural Profile 5-9
5.4.4 Cultural Heritage 5-9
5.5 Environmental Hotspots 5-9
6 Stakeholder Consultations 6-1
6.1 Objectives 6-1
6.2 Participation Framework 6-1
6.3 Stakeholder Identification 6-1
6.4 Consultation Process 6-2
6.5 Consultations with Institutional Stakeholders 6-2
6.6 Grass Root Stakeholders Consultations 6-5
7 Impact Assessment 7-1
7.1 Positive Impacts 7-1
7.2 Environmental Screening 7-1
7.3 Assessment of Potential Impacts and Mitigation 7-6
7.3.1 Subproject Siting (Land Use, Landform, and Land Take) 7-6
7.3.2 Loss of Precious Ecological Values 7-7