Bangladesh : Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation (Sector) Project.

Project Name

Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation (Sector) Project.

Project Number

41657-013

Country / Economy

• Bangladesh

Project Status

Closed

Project Type / Modality of Assistance

• Grant
• Loan
• Technical Assistance

Source of Funding / Amount

TA 7057-BAN: Financial Management and Monitoring

Source	Amount
Technical Assistance Special Fund	US$ 200,000.00

Loan 2409-BAN: Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation (Sector) Project.

Source	Amount
Asian Development Fund	US$ 120.00 million

Loan 8233-BAN: Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation (Sector) Project.

Source	Amount
Japan Bank for International Cooperation	US$ 60.00 million

Loan 8239-BAN: Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation (Sector) Project.

Source	Amount
OPEC Fund for International Development	US$ 20.00 million

Grant 0110-BAN: Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation (Sector) Project.

Source	Amount
Government of Canada	US$ 10.00 million

Grant 0146-BAN: Emergency Disaster Damage Rehabilitation (Sector) Project

Source	Amount
Government of the Netherlands	US$ 24.00 million

Strategic Agendas

• Environmentally sustainable growth
• Inclusive economic growth

Drivers of Change

• Gender Equity and Mainstreaming
• Partnerships

Sector / Subsector

• Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Irrigation - Rural flood protection

• Public sector management / Public expenditure and fiscal management - Social protection initiatives

• Transport / Road transport (non-urban) - Urban roads and traffic management

Gender

Effective gender mainstreaming

Description

The objective of the Project is to contribute to sustainable economic growth by minimizing the devastating impact of the severe floods and cyclone, and reducing future risk from similar hazard events. The Project will focus on priority areas identified through consultation with the Government, private sector, nongovernment organizations, and other civil society organizations; and involve community participation. The Project includes capacity building and training to strengthen the Government's disaster preparedness by adopting cost-effective flood and cyclone-resistant infrastructure design standards and improved early warning systems through increased subregional cooperation. It has five parts.

Part A: Quick-disbursing Component: Provide import financing for essential commodities and inputs, particularly for agriculture, needed to mitigate the adverse impact of the floods and cyclone, and facilitate quick recovery particularly of crop losses. In accordance with ADB's Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy (2004), the Project will only finance essential imports identified for an effective disaster recovery program.

Part B: Rural Infrastructure Component: Rehabilitate and restore rural infrastructure in 23 districts, including 3,000 kilometers (km) of rural roads and 9,000 meters of bridges and culverts; and build or repair 300 flood and cyclone shelters (including livestock shelters) with sanitary facilities to help communities, especially the poor, during future floods and cyclones.

Part C: Municipal Infrastructure Component: Rehabilitate urban infrastructure, including 700 km of roads, 65 km of drains, 850 meters of bridges and culverts, as well as footpaths located in 30 pouroshavas (municipalities).

Part D: Roads Component: Rehabilitate 800 km of damaged national, regional and district roads, and 64 bridges and culverts within the country's seven road zones.

Part E: Water Resources Component: Rehabilitate flood control, drainage, and irrigation facilities; repair embankment breaches; and repair or replace flood control structures, protective works, and canals under 331 subprojects in 47 districts.

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

The devastating 2007 floods and cyclone, affecting 25 million people in 51 districts, caused severe damage to livelihood, infrastructure, and other assets; and disrupted economic activities, inflicting heavy losses to crops and slowing expansion in industries and services. The combined losses of the floods and cyclone are estimated at over $3 billion. The losses to assets and output because of flooding amount to more than $1 billion. Preliminary assessment indicates that the cyclone caused extensive damage of over $2 billion. The floods and cyclone slowed progress in poverty reduction, with the poor and the vulnerable suffering most in terms of losses to crops, livestock, property, and housing; and reduced income opportunities. The flood and cyclone impact is likely to put pressure on external and domestic balances. The pressure on the current account will amplify, requiring additional assistance to reduce the external financing gap. Pressure on the fiscal balance will increase because of the rise in expenditures for relief efforts; expansion of food-assisted safety nets; and imports of food grains and agricultural inputs, particularly seeds and fertilizer.

Impact

Contribute to quick restoration of economic activities in 51 districts for about 25 million people seriously affected by the floods and cyclone.

Project Outcome

Description of Outcome

Restore economic and social activities in flood and cyclone affected areas for about 25 million people, and reduce damage from subsequent floods and cyclones.

Progress Toward Outcome

Complied

Implementation Progress

Description of Project Outputs

Part A: Quick-Disbursing Component. High unexpected expenditures by the Government for flood- and cyclone-related recovery and rehabilitation efforts are partially financed

Part B: RuralInfrastructure Rural infrastructure rehabilitated;

Part C: Municipal Infrastructure Rehabilitated municipal roads,drains, bridges, and culverts. Rehabilitated

municipal footpaths, and drains in slums

Part D: Roads Rehabilitated national, regional, and district roads and bridges

Part E: Water Resources Rehabilitated flood control, drainage, and irrigation facilities

Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)

Complied

Geographical Location

Safeguard Categories

Environment

B

Involuntary Resettlement

B

Indigenous Peoples

B

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

Poverty Impact. Basic facilities and key infrastructure must be restored if the affected communities are to recover from the effects of the 2007 floods and cyclone following the immediate relief support provided by the Government, UN agencies, and bilateral development partners. The Project will benefit the residents, especially the poor, in the disaster-affected areas by offsetting the food grain and inputs shortfall for effective restoration of livelihood and income. The poor will benefit from restored rural and urban infrastructure, and social services. By rehabilitating vital public and community infrastructure, the Project will help restore essential economic and social activities disrupted by the floods and cyclone. The repair of roads, bridges, and improvement of transport infrastructure will restore basic access and services to health and educational facilities. Timesavings will facilitate business and nonfarm employment. The greater access to markets for cash crops, vegetables, livestock, and employment; as well as the decline in the price of agricultural inputs will contribute to poverty reduction by accelerating growth in poor people's per capita income and assets. The flood control and irrigation measures will protect people exposed to risk of inundation from future flooding and raise agricultural output. Improved municipal infrastructure will improve health conditions particularly for slum dwellers with better water supply and sanitation, and create greater access to employment opportunities. The Project will benefit the entire population of the selected subproject area including women, men, children, and indigenous people. The Project will ensure participation of affected people including indigenous peoples, if any, in selection and implementation of the subprojects. The rehabilitation and construction of flood and cyclone shelters and provision of latrines will help communities, especially the poor, during floods and cyclones.

Employment Generation. The Project will provide significant employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled labor during implementation. It will create employment opportunities for the poor in the project areas, generating about 14 million person-days of skilled and unskilled labor employment, of which about 20% will be for local destitute women ensuring equal wage for work of equal value. The poverty reduction aspects will be enhanced by encouraging contractors to engage local workers, including women, in project areas; and by using labor-contracting societies for small earthworks, providing work for poor women in the project areas.

The proposed Project aims to rehabilitate disaster-damaged facilities and infrastructure so as to restore critical social and economic activities. As such the positive environmental impacts are substantial. Short-term minor negative impacts may be associated with the rehabilitation activities (material transportation, earthwork, operation of tar boiler/hot mix plant, operation and maintenance of construction machinery, etc.), which can be moderated with the adoption of appropriate mitigative measures. Generic mitigation measures and monitoring plans are proposed based on the type of rehabilitation works and preliminary environmental assessment conducted during the field visit. During implementation, detailed site-specific environmental and social impacts, mitigation measures, and monitoring plan will be assessed and developed for subprojects and included in the contract documents.

Air Quality and Noise. Handling of construction materials, equipment movement, and other construction activities may generate dust and noise. The impact will be temporary and restricted within the closed vicinity of the construction activities. All vehicles, equipment, and machinery used for construction will be regularly maintained. Water will be sprayed frequently on dry surfaces, earth mixing sites, and loose material and spoil soil storage areas. Vehicle delivering loose and fine material will be covered. Road embankments will be covered with vegetation. Hot mix plant/tar boilers will be located at least 500 meters away and will be located at the downwind direction with respect to human settlement. Vehicle and equipment will be fitted with silencers and maintained regularly. Diesel generators will be fitted with acoustic enclosures. Work will be restricted to daytime, reducing nuisance from noise.

Soil and Land. The rehabilitation activities under the Project may have adverse impacts on soil and land. Impacts may include loss of productive area, loss of productive soils due to borrowing of earth, soil contamination due to disposal of spoil soils, spread of waste during drains repair, and loss of rice fields within or adjacent to the road right-of-way due to clearance/material extraction/dumping of cut spoil. Selection of borrow areas will be based on topography, land use, and drainage pattern. The top soil will be preserved and reused. The extraction of construction materials from riverbeds will be minimized. Fuel and lubricants will be stored on paved surfaces, away from rivers and streams. Slope protection measures including vegetation will be adopted. Appropriate waste handling and management procedures will be developed and implemented. Septic tanks (adequately designed) will be provided at the construction camps.

Flora and Fauna. Transport of construction material by river may damage charland vegetation and animal habitat. Surface runoff and improper handling of construction waste may affect the water quality of rivers and canals, which may impact aquatic fauna. Charland will be protected from any damage due to cutting or dredging for ship movement for material transportation through river. Precautions will be taken to prevent surface runoff or construction waste finding its way to water bodies.

River Hydrology and Morphology. Reconstruction of embankments and protective works may have morphological impacts on river flow and resulting change in the shape of the riverbed and river course. It may also result in drainage congestion. Proper construction planning will be done to avoid drainage congestion. Embankments, protective work, and road design will consider factors such as highest flood level, river hydrology and morphology, river/channel siltation, drainage pattern, topography, seismicity, and channel encroachment by the population.

Economic Impacts. The Project will have various beneficial impacts due to early restoration of basic infrastructure facilities especially in rural areas. However, a civil work may cause some temporary damage to crops and agricultural land due to poor handling of solid wastes. All precautions will be taken to ensure that no damage occurs to crops and agriculture land due to construction activities. In unavoidable circumstances, the project implementing agency will follow the Government and ADB policies for compensation and involuntary resettlement. During implementation, local villagers will be recruited as much as possible to provide income opportunities and to minimize wastes and pollution generated from work camps.

Involuntary Resettlement

Indigenous Peoples

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

During Project Design

The Project was formulated and prepared in close consultation with the Government, and the development partners active in Bangladesh. The project design considers feedback from beneficiaries, including vulnerable groups, during the damage and needs assessment.

During Project Implementation

The project will ensure participation of the affected people including the IPs, if any in selection and implementation of the subprojects.

Business Opportunities

Consulting Services

The Project will require 178 person-months of international consulting and 1,905 person-months of national consulting services to assist the EAs in overall implementation and ensuring resistant quality of civil works, governance, risk management and assessment support, and other related areas. In addition, a TA team consisting of two national individual consultants working in parallel, a financial management specialist for 24 person-months and a civil engineer for 24 person-months, will be required. Consulting firms were, and individual consultants will be, recruited in accordance with ADB's Guidelines on the Use of Consultants and other arrangement satisfactory to ADB for engaging national consultants. Considering the urgency and the need to expedite project implementation, consulting firms were engaged through single source selection procedures as provided for under the Guidelines. At the request of the Borrower, ADB assisted in selection of the consulting firms.

Procurement

Subprojects will be identified during implementation. The flexibility provided in ADB's Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy will be used where applicable. National procurement of civil works will follow the Government's Public Procurement Regulations (2003) and Public Procurement Act 2006 and ADB's Guidelines for Procurement. This will not preclude international contractors participating in the bidding.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

Islam, Mohammad Nazrul

Responsible ADB Department

South Asia Department

Responsible ADB Division

Bangladesh Resident Mission (BRM)

Executing Agencies

Bangladesh Water Development Board

Finance Division, MOF (EA)

Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division

Local Government Engineering Department

Ministry of Finance

Roads and Highways Department

Timetable

Concept Clearance

26 Feb 2008

Fact Finding

27 Feb 2008 to 10 Mar 2008

MRM

-

Approval

31 Jan 2008

Last Review Mission

-

PDS Creation Date

09 Apr 2008

Last PDS Update

11 Nov 2011

Funding

Grant 0110-BAN

Grant 0146-BAN

Loan 2409-BAN

Loan 8233-BAN

Loan 8239-BAN

TA 7057-BAN