The objective of the project is to develop reliable, affordable, and effective municipal infrastructure and to strengthening the capacity of municipalities and the central government for project management and operation. The project area is Biratnagar, Birgunj, Butwal municipalities and Kavre Valley (Panauti, Dhulikhel and Banepa municipalities). The project was approved in 6 July 2010 and the planned project closing date is 30 June 2016.
Project Name | Secondary Towns Integrated Urban Environmental Improvement Project | ||||||||
Project Number | 36188-023 | ||||||||
Country | Nepal |
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Project Status | Active | ||||||||
Project Type / Modality of Assistance | Loan |
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Source of Funding / Amount |
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Strategic Agendas | Environmentally sustainable growth Inclusive economic growth |
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Drivers of Change | Gender Equity and Mainstreaming Governance and capacity development Partnerships Private sector development |
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Sector / Subsector |
Transport / Urban roads and traffic management Water and other urban infrastructure and services / Other urban services - Urban policy, institutional and capacity development - Urban sewerage - Urban solid waste management - Urban water supply |
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Gender Equity and Mainstreaming | Effective gender mainstreaming | ||||||||
Description | The objective of the project is to develop reliable, affordable, and effective municipal infrastructure and to strengthening the capacity of municipalities and the central government for project management and operation. The project area is Biratnagar, Birgunj, Butwal municipalities and Kavre Valley (Panauti, Dhulikhel and Banepa municipalities). The project was approved in 6 July 2010 and the planned project closing date is 30 June 2016. | ||||||||
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy | The National Urban Policy adopted by the government in 2007 gives priority to (i) achieving a balanced national urban structure6 by directing infrastructure development and investment; (ii) improving the quality of urban life by building a clean, safe, and well-developed urban environment; and (iii) setting up effective urban management by empowering capable local institutions. The 3-year interim plan (FY2008 FY2010) under the policy looks forward to government investments in urban infrastructure and other services, and to local institutions empowered and strengthened to build a clean, safe, and prosperous urban environment. While productivity in the urban areas is higher and poverty substantially lower, infrastructure development and service delivery have fallen behind in those areas. Public investments have not kept pace with the growth of the urban population, swelled by internal conflicts and the dearth of economic and employment opportunities in the countryside. Urban environmental conditions, already deteriorating, have worsened: inaccessible and poor-quality drinking water and sanitation facilities, uncollected or improperly dumped waste, water pollution from untreated domestic and industrial wastewater, and waterlogging. Moreover, urban services outside the Kathmandu valley are scarce. As a result, premature death, disease, and associated economic burdens disproportionately affect the poor and the vulnerable. Poor health saps economic growth by reducing labor productivity and holding back educational attainment. Further development in the Kathmandu valley has its physical limits. New urban centers will inevitably emerge. But the urban environment in the urban centers urgently needs improvement to make up the lag in economic development in towns outside the valley and promote social and economic development in the regions of Nepal. The municipalities of Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Butwal were selected for the project on the basis of (i) economic growth potential, (ii) demand for urban services, and (iii) urban management capacity. Each town is the main urban center of an industrial corridor and of importance in external trade. The project is in line with ADB's Nepal country partnership strategy. The project focuses on a small number of physically integrated components (drainage, sewerage and road improvement, and solid waste management in the same area); is confined to a few larger municipalities with relatively higher technical and financial capacity to implement the project and create visible impact; and provides capacity development support before project implementation. |
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Impact | Improved quality of life and higher and more socially inclusive economic growth in key regional centers in Nepal. |
Project Outcome | |
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Description of Outcome | Improved and affordable municipal services delivered effectively, efficiently, and reliably by accountable project municipalities. |
Progress Toward Outcome | All nine consulting packages were awarded. Out of 7 civil works packages; 6 were awarded and 1 (Auto village) package for Butwal was dropped from ADB financing. Out of the awarded contracts, water supply contract and integrated solid waste management contract at Butwal were terminated. Construction of sewer, drain, road and lanes improvement and waste water treatment plant subproject at Biratnagar and Birgunj and integrated solid waste management at Birgunj completed. Construction of water supply subproject at Kavre is ongoing with about 98% physical progress. Mainly, interconnection of the newly constructed water supply system with the existing network and testing of the water supply network are ongoing. |
Implementation Progress | |
Description of Project Outputs | 1. Reliable, affordable and effective municipal infrastructure developed 1.1 Drainage and sewerage systems improved (Biratnagar, Birgunj) 1.2 Urban roads and lanes improved (Biratnagar, Birgunj) 1.3 Solid waste management systems improved (Birgunj, Butwal) 1.4 Water supply systems expanded (Kavre Valley, Butwal) 1.5 Other urban infrastructure facilities improved (Butwal) 1.6 Community development program undertaken, including health and hygiene education , 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) promotion, skills, training and investment in small-scale community facilities 2. Capacity of the municipalities and the central government strengthened for project management and operation 2.1 Municipalities strengthened in terms of financial, technical and institutional capacity |
Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues) | Sewer and drainage network; urban road and lanes improvement and waste water treatment plant subproject at Birgunj completed with completion of 46.31 km storm water drain; and 9.24 km sewer lines; construction of 10.45 km and rehabilitation of 13.66km roads/lanes. Similar subproject at Biratnagar completed with construction of 35.04 km roadside drains, 36.68km storm water drainage and 43.26 km sewer lines. 498 HHs of have been connected to the sewer network in Biratnagar while Birgunj municipality have developed phase wise connection plan and tariff modality to expedite HHs connection. About 20 HHs have been connected to the sewer network. Due to various local issues at Butwal works could not get initiated for integrated solid waste management contract and works could not get progressed for water supply contract. Therefore, these two contracts were terminated. Auto village subproject at Butwal was dropped from ADB financing due to local issues.Construction of integrated water supply contract at Kavre is being done, from the beginning, at low pace due to frequent local protests, unavailability of site possession by the contractor and inadequate human resource mobilization by the contractor. Recent physical progress of the contract is about 98%. 300 HHs have been connected to the water supply system and 10,399 HHs will be served once the system will be put into full operation. Under Community Development Program component of the Project awareness raising program completed in 163 (130 in Biratnagar, 28 in Birgunj and 5 in Butwal) target poor clusters on health and hygine education; 3Rs on solid waste management; skills development training. Construction of 627 (524 in Biratnagar and 103 in Birgunj) household toilets and 6 gender, child and disable people friendly public toilets and 1 mobile toilet completed in Biratnagar; 1 public toilet constructed in Butwal. The Project well addressed issues of gender, poverty and social inclusion. Women and vulnerable groups were given priority in the skill development training. 1,085 people from Dalit and poor communities in the project municipalities received skills development training. 983 people from poor clusters of Biratnagar (232); Birgunj (668); and Butwal (185) benefited through various skills development training on different trades. More than 33% of the women hold the leadership positions in users committee formed/ revived by the project.Comprehensive financial management improvement plan (CFMIP) is in implementation in Birgunj Municipality to strengthen fianancial capacities of the municipality by enhancing tax net and the tax base. Accordingly, Integrated property tax (IPT) is being implemented in Birgunj thereby increasing internal revenue of the municipality. CFMIP is in implementation also in Biratnagar municipality with introduction of infrastructures tax and IPT to increase internal revenue of the municipality.During the project implementation various trainings on procurement, contract management, project administration, GESI etc were conducted targeting project team of the executing agency and implementation agencies to enhance capacity on project management at central and local levels. |
Geographical Location | Banepa, Biratnagar, Birgunj, Butwal, Dhulikhel, Panauti |
Safeguard Categories | |
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Environment | B |
Involuntary Resettlement | B |
Indigenous Peoples | B |
Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects | |
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Environmental Aspects | The implementing agencies had done environmental examinations and prepared environmental management plans, (EMPs), for the subprojects during feasibility study. Accordingly environmental assessment and review framework (EARF) was prepared. The framework set out requirements for project screening and classification, subproject selection, information disclosure and consultation with the affected people, environmental assessment, EMP development and implementation, monitoring and reporting. EIA/IEE of the subprojects was prepared as per the Government's and ADB's Environment Safeguard Policy. Project implementation was done following the Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the Project. IEEs showed planned subprojects had only small and localized adverse impact on the environment, which can be managed with mitigation measures proposed in the EMPs. On the other hand, improvements in drainage and sewerage systems, solid waste management systems and community development programs were expected to have significant positive impact on hygiene and overall environmental sanitation situation of the project areas. PIUs updated IEE/ EIA based on final engineering design of the subproject and complied with the EMPs during implementation. PCO monitored compliance to environmental safeguard requirement by PIUs in accordance with approved EMPs, and reported its implementation status to ADB through quarterly and semiannual environmental safeguard monitoring report (SMR-Env). |
Involuntary Resettlement | Several subprojects involved land acquisition and involuntary resettlement, but involuntary resettlement impact was not considered significant. Draft resettlement plans were prepared for the subprojects in compliance with government's and ADB's policy requirements. Resettlement framework was prepared. PIUs updated the resettlement plan (RP) in coordination with PCO during detailed design phase and on need basis during implementation of the subprojects. PIUs implemented the RPs during implementation. PCO monitored compliance to the RPs by PIUs and reported compliance status to ADB through quarterly progress reports and semiannual social safeguard monitoring report (SMR-Social). |
Indigenous Peoples | Considering the nature and scale of the subprojects, impact on indigenous peoples was limited to a few involuntary resettlement and land acquisition cases. Accordingly combined RP and Indigenous People's Plan was prepared for Kavre Valley Water Supply Sub Project. The resettlement plan included indigenous peoples plan, and the resettlement framework included indigenous peoples planning framework, with special assistance measures for indigenous people and other vulnerable groups. PIUs implemented the subprojects in compliance with the prepared RPs. As the project contributed to improvement in overall environmental sanitation situation of the project municipalities there will be health benefits for indigenous people. In addition, the gender equality and social inclusion plan (GESI) contained specific actions favorable to indigenous people. The community development program were also conducted in the selected poverty clusters of Biratnagar, Birgunj , Butwal Municipalities and Kavre Valley to address awareness needs on health and hygiene; and solid waste management issues; capacity building needs; and small scale infrastructure need of marginalized and vulnerable people in the project area. |
Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation | |
During Project Design | Key stakeholders joined central-level workshops conducted to discuss project design during implementation of project preparatory TA. GESI action plan was developed to ensure effective participation of stakeholders in the project. In project municipalities, group discussions and workshops were organized to solicit views of the potential project beneficiaries, including vulnerable groups such as women, dalits, and indigenous people. Strong support for the project was confirmed at these workshops. The subprojects design incorporated inputs and suggestion received from the stakeholders during these workshops. |
During Project Implementation | During project implementation concerned stakeholdersl were consulted as and wen needed regarding the project progress, underlying issues and way forward. Stakeholder's consultation was often found effective to finalize the subprojects' environment and safeguard related issues. In case of community development program (CDP), subproject level activities were developed and implemented in consultation with beneficiaries and the local/municipal stakeholders. Several consultation meetings were held with the concerned stakeholders at Kavre valley and Butwal during project review missions and municipal based field visits. In addition, local level consultation meetings were done for Auto Village subproject at Butwal. These meeting were found effective to resolve issues with inputs from various stakeholders. However, ADB had to drop financing for the auto village subproject due to some crucial unresolved issues at the local level. Similarly, despite several efforts from ADB and the EA, consensus could not be reached at the local level for the ISWM subproject and water supply subproject at Butwal. Hence, contract for these subprojects needed to be terminated. In Bhumidanda-Kavre, there was a public demand for water supply and irrigation schemes (est. cost $60,000) as a compensatory measure for water diversion. ADB approved implementation of the schemes through water/irrigation users committees. With this, works at intake area was progressed. |
Business Opportunities | |
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Consulting Services | 1,585 person-months (86 international, 1,499 national) of consulting services was envisioned under the project to (i) facilitate project management and implementation including overall monitoring and evaluation at the central level; (ii) carry out detailed design and construction supervision for individual subprojects, including monitoring for safeguards compliance; and (iii) provide institutional development support for the establishment and operationalization of the Kavre Water Supply Management Board. About 831 person-months (all national) of local NGO services was provided to assist the implementation of the community development program. Consulting firms and local NGOs were engaged using quality- and cost-based selection (QCBS) method with a standard quality:cost ratio of 80:20. Selection criteria for local NGOs included (i) experience relevant to the project activities and objectives, (ii) experiences in the district where the Project municipalities are located, (iii) financial integrity, and (iv) record of proven competence in community mobilization and public health sensitization programs. A separate design and supervision consultant (DSC) services was procured for each project municipality. While construction supervision consultant (CSC) was procured for Kavre Valley for supporting PIU and the municipalities. DSC contracts for Birgunj, Biratnagar and Butwal municipality and Project management support consultant for Project Coordination Office were closed after completion of contract. For Butwal, remaining works after termination of the DSC contract was carried out through individual consultants, while CSC and PMC of Regional Urban Development Project supported Birgunj, Biratnagar PIUs and PCO respectively. NGO service for Biratnagar was completed since Dec 2016. Whereas, NGO contracts for Birgunj and Butwal were terminated. After termination of the NGO contracts, Butwal and Birgunj municipalities continued CDP activities through their social development section with technical support from social development expert of DSC and PMSC. |
Procurement | International competitive bidding procedures was used for civil works contracts estimated to cost more than $1 million and supply contracts valued at more than $500,000. There was provision of National competitive bidding procedures for civil works contracts equivalent to $1,000,000 or less; supply contracts equivalent to $500,000 or less; and for shopping contracts for procurement of works and equipment equivalent to $100,000 or less. Out of 7 planned contract packages, 6 packages were awarded. Civil works for construction of Road, Drainage and WWTP at Biratnagar and Birgunj and integrated solid waste management (ISWM) subproject at Birgunj completed. Construction works of Kavre Valley WSS is ongoing at slow pace. Auto village package at Butwal was dropped for ADB financing and ISWM contract and Water Supply contract at Butwal were terminated due to various local issues. |
Responsible ADB Officer | Giri, Naresh |
Responsible ADB Department | South Asia Department |
Responsible ADB Division | Nepal Resident Mission |
Executing Agencies |
Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport [email protected] Singha Durbar Kathmandu Nepal Ministry of Urban Development Singhadurbar, Kathmandu, Nepal |
Timetable | |
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Concept Clearance | 12 Mar 2010 |
Fact Finding | 15 Mar 2010 to 26 Mar 2010 |
MRM | 19 Aug 2010 |
Approval | 06 Jul 2010 |
Last Review Mission | - |
PDS Creation Date | 19 Jul 2010 |
Last PDS Update | 02 Dec 2020 |
Loan 2650-NEP
Milestones | |||||
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Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
Original | Revised | Actual | |||
06 Jul 2010 | 26 Oct 2010 | 18 Jan 2011 | 30 Jun 2016 | 31 Dec 2019 | - |
Financing Plan | Loan Utilization | ||||
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Total (Amount in US$ million) | Date | ADB | Others | Net Percentage | |
Project Cost | 89.33 | Cumulative Contract Awards | |||
ADB | 60.00 | 06 Jul 2010 | 52.90 | 0.00 | 95% |
Counterpart | 29.33 | Cumulative Disbursements | |||
Cofinancing | 0.00 | 06 Jul 2010 | 47.01 | 0.00 | 85% |
Status of Covenants | ||||||
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Category | Sector | Safeguards | Social | Financial | Economic | Others |
Rating | - | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | Satisfactory | - | Satisfactory |
Loan 8249-NEP
Milestones | |||||
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Approval | Signing Date | Effectivity Date | Closing | ||
Original | Revised | Actual | |||
18 Jun 2010 | 26 Nov 2010 | 25 Jan 2011 | 15 Dec 2015 | 31 Dec 2019 | - |
Financing Plan | Loan Utilization | ||||
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Total (Amount in US$ million) | Date | ADB | Others | Net Percentage | |
Project Cost | 17.00 | Cumulative Contract Awards | |||
ADB | 0.00 | 18 Jun 2010 | 0.00 | 16.92 | 100% |
Counterpart | 0.00 | Cumulative Disbursements | |||
Cofinancing | 17.00 | 18 Jun 2010 | 0.00 | 15.14 | 89% |
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Related Publications
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Tenders
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Contracts Awarded
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Procurement Plan
Title | Document Type | Document Date |
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Secondary Towns Integrated Urban Environmental Improvement Project: Procurement Plan | Procurement Plans | Feb 2015 |