Nepal : Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project

Project Name

Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project

Project Number

43448-013

Country / Economy

• Nepal

Project Status

Active

Project Type / Modality of Assistance

• Grant
• Loan
• Technical Assistance

Source of Funding / Amount

Grant 0367-NEP: Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project

Source	Amount
Asian Development Fund	US$ 4.50 million

Loan 3057-NEP: Bagmati River Improvement Project

Source	Amount
Asian Development Fund	US$ 25.50 million

TA 8500-NEP: Institutional and Legal Support for Improved Water Management Systems in Nepal and Formation of the Bagmati River Basin Organization

Source	Amount
Water Innovation Trust Fund	US$ 500,000.00

TA 8500-NEP: Institutional and Legal Support for Improved Water Management Systems in Nepal and Formation of the Bagmati River Basin Organization (Supplementary)

Source	Amount
Technical Assistance Special Fund	US$ 500,000.00

Loan 3816-NEP: Bagmati River Basin Improvement - Additional Financing

Source	Amount
Concessional ordinary capital resources lending	US$ 63.00 million

TA 9803-NEP: Capacity Building of the Bagmati River Basin Water Management Institutions

Source	Amount
Technical Assistance Special Fund	US$ 600,000.00

Strategic Agendas

• Environmentally sustainable growth
• Inclusive economic growth

Drivers of Change

• Gender Equity and Mainstreaming
• Governance and capacity development
• Partnerships

Sector / Subsector

• Agriculture, natural resources and rural development / Rural flood protection - Water-based natural resources management

Gender

Effective gender mainstreaming

Description

The Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project aims to improve water security and resilience to potential climate change impact in the Bagmati River Basin. The project will complement ongoing efforts of the Government of Nepal and civil society to improve water management and the river environment in the Bagmati River Basin (BRB). The project will invest in forming a river basin organization with adequate capacity and decision support systems for integrated water resources management (IWRM). It will finance the construction of upstream water storage, riverbed oxygenating weirs, riverbank beautification, and community initiatives to improve the river environment in Kathmandu Valley

The impact will be increased water security in the BRB. The outcome will be improved river health and flood management. The project is the first attempt in Nepal to apply the concept and principles of IWRM since its adoption under the 2005 National Water Plan.

The project focuses on priority issues selected by the basin stakeholders from the basin strategic investment road map. The road map is based on the 2009 Bagmati Action Plan and further consultations with basin stakeholders. The project has five outputs:

(i)Established systems and capacity for integrated and participatory river basin management. Activities include (a) provide legal and institutional strengthening for IWRM and formation of a river basin organization (RBO), (b) mobilize basin stakeholders, (c) build capacity for increasing RBO competence, (d) establish a central water resources information system including a decision support system and an operating water quality monitoring network, and (e) prepare a 15-year participatory integrated river basin master plan.

(ii)Improved riverbank environment in urban areas. Activities include (a) remove contaminated riverbed material; (b) construct weirs and provide phyto-remediation to enhance the river's self-cleaning capacity; (c) stabilize and beautify the riverbank; (d) mobilize, raise awareness, and build capacity of local government and communities for riverbank management and maintenance; and (e) collaborate with the private sector, which has expressed interest in setting up recreational businesses along the riverbanks through publicprivate partnerships or finance maintenance as part of social corporate activities.

(iii)Increased water availability in the basin during the dry season and watershed conservation. Activities include (a) construct an 861,000 cubic meters (m3) Dhap dam and complete detail design of the 8 million m3 Nagmati dam, (b) provide rooftop rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge, and (c) implement upstream watershed management.

(iv)Functioning flood forecasting and early warning system for the Bagmati River Basin. Activities include (a) upgrade the existing flood forecasting system,

(b) install a flood early warning system, and (c) increase community awareness and build capacity for flood response.

(v)Efficient project management with effective stakeholder communication. Activities include (a) establish competent project management and project implementation units, (b) undertake timely procurement and disbursement, and (c) implement the project communication strategy and monitoring.

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

The Bagmati River holds a special place in the national culture. It is considered as a holy river and counts many cremation ghats and temples of great cultural value along its bank that attracts scores of Hindu devotees from all over the world who traditionally purify themselves in the holy Bagmati waters. The Bagmati River Basin also has great economic importance as it plays a crucial role in meeting the water supply requirement of the country's capital city and downstream communities, as well as in sustaining irrigated agriculture in the Kathmandu Valley and along the basin.

The rapid and unplanned expansion of Kathmandu City has put tremendous pressure on the water resources of the Bagmati River Basin. In the absence of appropriate sewage collection and waste water treatment plants, the river has become the main collector drain. Solid waste deposited on the river banks also further deteriorates the river environment. Rapid urbanization has put tremendous pressure on the valley water supply distribution. During dry season, around 80% of the Bagmati River flow is diverted for domestic use leaving very little flow for irrigation and other sectors including environment. As demand could not be met from surface water, a large part is supplied from the groundwater table. The quantity extracted is estimated to be 4 to 5 times higher than the natural recharge and has caused the water table to retreat by to 35 meters (m) in only 20 years. The situation is further aggravated by (i) the conversion of the recharge areas into residential areas, (ii) lowering river stream and sand mining leading to riverbed deepening, and (iii) upstream catchment degradation. As it exits the city, the river is biologically dead and made of heavily polluted sewage water that potentially endangers the downstream water users' health.

Aside from the problems inherited from Kathmandu, the middle reach of the basin with steep slopes and degraded watersheds is prone to severe landslides and floods which threaten both infrastructure and settlements, cause increased rural poverty and are the source of heavy sedimentation for the lower reach. In the lower reach, where the river enters the Terai plain, frequent floods and river bank erosion become the main threat to people's livelihoods. The 1993 flood alone claimed 789 lives, affected 30,200 people and caused tremendous damage to houses and public infrastructure. Similarly, potential exists to improve irrigation through the development of conjunctive groundwater use and more efficient irrigation technologies.

Competing and uncontrolled use of water in the basin has an increasing negative impact on its overall sustainable development. Plans to improve Kathmandu's water supply from the Bagmati River Basin water sources were developed without consideration for downstream users and environmental flow. Flood protection works and irrigation development are also planned in isolation of other sector requirements. Similarly, discharge of urban waste water effluent, groundwater extraction, sand mining, and solid waste disposal in the river are not regulated. The strong civil society movement and the public's general interest in the restoration of the Bagmati River is potentially a strong asset for improving many of these fundamental problems. Strangely however, they were little considered in the planning and design of past projects intending to address the Bagmati River problems and consequently the expected beneficiaries had little ownership in their successful implementation.

To assist the Government in applying the participatory IWRM approach, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved in 2010 TA7547-REG: Supporting Investments in Water Security in River Basins, the objective of which is to (i) build consensus of the basin stakeholders on the possible mandate and structure of a river basin organization (RBO), (ii) build the capacity of stakeholders, (iii) support the formation of a RBO, and (iv) review and expand the Bagmati Action Plan, approved by the Government of Nepal in 2002. The regional technical assistance is being undertaken to prepare the ground for the Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project (BRBIP) and the Kathmandu Valley Urban Environmental Improvement Project (KVUEIP) that are for approval in 2013.

BRBIP together with KVUEIP, which will focus on waste water management, will build on investments that already contribute to improving water security in the basin. These include (i) two ongoing ADB/Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) -financed projects: Loan 1820-NEP: Melamchi Water Supply Project and Loans 2058/2059-NEP: Kathmandu Valley Water Services Sector Development Project amounting to $331 million, and (ii) the ADB-financed $130 million Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Project for approval in 2011. Yet, while these projects focus on water supply and waste water management, BRBIP takes a broader integrated approach that aims to resolve the overall basin water governance issue and ensure more equitable water management and development between upstream/downstream communities, rural/urban communities or between sectors. It will not only introduce IWRM and basin planning but will also address core rural water development issues and complement efforts to improve the river environment.

The Project is consistent with ADB's Nepal country partnership strategy, which aims to support Nepal's peace and development aspirations by promoting the four pillars: (i) broad-based and inclusive economic growth, (ii) inclusive social development, (iii) governance and capacity building, and (iv) climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability. The project is included in the Nepal country operations business plan (COBP) 2011-2013.

Impact

A clean, green, and healthy Bagmati River system that is full of life and valued by all (Bagmati Integrated River Basin Development and Management Plan 20182038)

Project Outcome

Description of Outcome

Improved river health and flood management

Progress Toward Outcome

Activities are ongoing for both the original project and the additional financing.

Implementation Progress

Description of Project Outputs

Established systems and capacity for integrated and participatory river basin management

Improved riverbank environment in urban areas

Increased water availability in the basin during dry season and watershed conservation

Functioning flood forecasting and early warning system for the Bagmati River Basin

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

The IRBDMP for the Bagmati River Basin was prepared and submitted to WECS for approval in June 2018. WECS plans to submit the Bagmati IRBDMP along with river basin plans being prepared for other basins together to the cabinet for approval, expected by June 2022.

Decision Support System developed and handed over to HPCIDBC. Further support to institutionalize the DSS is being provided through TA 9803 with consultant mobilized as of 18 October 2021.

The amendment of the federal Water Resources Act, which would pave the way for the establishment of RBOs is significantly delayed but under finalization process. The draft which was shared for public feedback is not clear on the establishment of an RBO or the authorities of such an apex level body. A high-level committee chaired by joint secretary MOEWRI is reviewing the draft in view of comments received and a revised version is expected to be tabled to Parliament soon.

BRBIP River Beautification Package: overall physical progress around 81.6% and for BRBIP-AF, the overall physical progress 92.1%. RCC structure is completed on 11 weirs; stone cladding is completed in 11 weirs. Finishing and repairing works in some parts of weir cladding is remaining.

Pashupati Regulator: Installation works 95% completed. Testing and commissioning works remaining Gokarna Regulator: 90% completed. Roof work and finishing works remaining.

Historic Monuments: Work continued in all 28 historic monuments in Thapathali Teku area by following archaeological and architectural standards. Package-1 (11 monuments): completed; Package-2 (13 monuments): Completed; Package-3 (4 monuments): Physical progress 95.9%.

Bagmati Beautification Concern Platform (BBCP) established with representatives from 19 wards of 3 municipalities with 41.8% women members and 27.7% socially excluded groups. BBCP has been active in solid waste management. Formation of 19 ward level CSPs completed. Solid waste management training program approved. 21 training on 3R completed with total of 803 participants. Among them 79.33% are female and 20.67% are male.

Asset management plan is being finalized and handover of river beautification is in process. Handover of 11 monuments under BRBIP-AF completed.

Construction of Dhap Dam: overall physical progress: 98.50%; Main dam: 99.5%; Saddle dam 1: 99.5%; Saddle dam 2: 99%; Saddle dam 3: 99%. Remaining works: grouting (100%); Slope correction/muck removal (95%); access road to dam (95%); instrumentation (90%); slope stabilization/ bioengineering around reservoir (95%).

At least 12.5 ha erosion-prone cultivated area in SNNP stabilized with fruit-tree planting and improved cropping practices. 80% households inside SNNP area converted from traditional wood stoves to energy saving stoves.

WWTP contract was awarded on 6 June 2022. The work has been commenced by the contractor. The design of WWTP is under preparation and yet to be approved by the employer. The IEE has been approved by MOUD and the EA to initiate tree cutting process immediately.

Flood forecasting & early warning systems model was developed under TA 8500 and handed over to DHM but is not in operation. Additional support being provided under TA 9803 to bring it into operation. The communities of 25 flood prone villages in Sarlahi & 29 villages in Rauthahut district were trained on community-based flood adaptation program. An NGO will be recruited under BRBIP-AF to strengthen the work achieved under BRBIP with the same communities.

Geographical Location

Bagmati River, Bagmati Zone, Bishnumati Khola, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu Valley, Nagmati Khola, Shivapuri, Sundarijal

Safeguard Categories

Environment

A

Involuntary Resettlement

C

Indigenous Peoples

C

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

Environmental safeguard performance is generally satisfactory but improvements could be made in terms of site safety measures and overall cleanliness of construction sites. Potential areas prone to landslides and erosion in Dhap Dam and access road require bioengineering interventions.

Involuntary Resettlement

A Social Safeguard Diligence Report (SDDR) along with Corrective Action Plan (CAP) was prepared in January 2021 and has been implemented. An updated Resettlement Plan has been endorsed by the Government in September 2021 and disclosed in the ADB website.

Indigenous Peoples

No IP issues are foreseen to be addressed during the project implementation.

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

During Project Design

The project was developed based on the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) principle in which ultimate goal is to bring stakeholders to share a common vision of water resource management and development. The achievement of such a goal for the Bagmati River basin required intensive consultation with all the relevant stakeholders (government, non-government, civil societies, academicians, religious groups, private sector) in the form of workshops, focus group discussions (FGDs); technical task force meetings and meetings, which were done at the outset, since October 2010 by RETA 7547: Supporting Investments in Water Security in River Basins. Similar consultations were continued during the PPTA stage with and among various basin stakeholders towards consolidating support for the formation of river basin organization (RBO). There was close interaction between and among ADB, Water and Energy Secretariat (WECS), the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of Bagmati Civilization (HPCIDBC), the consultants, and other basin stakeholders to create a an institutional proposal for the Bagmati river basin composed of a committee of individual specialists coming from water related governmental and civil society institutions.

During Project Implementation

A participation and institutional strategic plan has been firmed up for L3057/G0367-NEP: BRBIP for participation and institutional strategic plan. Seven key stakeholder, participation, and institutional strategies are envisaged for BRBIP including: (i) a Bagmati RBO (as noted above) that introduces and implements the objectives of IWRM to river restoration, (ii) improved mechanisms for participation and water dialogue, (iii) institutional strengthening and capacity development, (iv) the development of an NGO Platform, (v) a stakeholder communication strategy, (vi) the introduction of knowledge-based decisions, and (vii) a proper legal framework.

Business Opportunities

Consulting Services

A total of 364 person months of consulting services (43 person-months international and 321 person-months national) will be provided to support the PCMU in project management planning and implementation, design review, RBO formation support, Development of an Integrated River Basin Development Management plan, procurement assistance and construction supervision. 97 person-months of consultancy services (25 person-months international and 72 national will be provided to support WECS in establishing a Decision Support System for support to Bagmati RBO formation and preparing the 15 years integrated River Basin Development Master Plan. In addition, a total of 20 person-months (8 international person-months and 12 national person-months) will be provided to upgrade the HPCIDBC water quality monitoring system. Moreover, a total of 31 person-months (9 person-months international and 22 person months national) will be provided to Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and upgrade their existing flood forecasting system and provide operational flood warning dissemination. 12 person months (national) will be provided for independent environmental monitoring and evaluation. Under a TA Grant 22 person-months of individual consultants (international) will be provided to support WECS for RBO formation. Further, an estimated 136 person-months (all national) of NGOs will be provided to assist the PCMU in implementing the Community Awareness and Participation Program and Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Action Plan, Rainwater Harvesting and Solid Waste program at household level and Watershed Management in Shivapuri National Park.

Procurement

All procurement of works, goods and services, financed by ADB, will be carried out in accordance with ADBs Procurement Guidelines (2013, as amended from time to time) .International competitive bidding (ICB) procedures will be used for any civil works contract estimated to cost more than $1 million, and any goods contract estimated to cost more than $500,000. National competitive bidding (NCB) procedures will be used for any civil works contract estimated to cost $1 million or less and any goods contract estimated to cost $500,000 or less. Shopping will be used for any civil works or goods contract estimated to cost less than $100,000. Consultants selections and engagements will be carried out in accordance with ADBs Guidelines on the Use of Consultants (2010, as amended from time to time) . ADB will undertake the recruitment of the project management design and supervision consultants (PMDSC) on behalf of the government. The EA retains the responsibility for negotiating and signing the contract with the consultant, issuing the notice to proceed, and supervising the consultant's services (reference: Project Administration Instruction, section 2.05, para. 47). The consulting firms will be engaged using the quality- and cost-based selection (QCBS) method with a standard quality-cost ratio of 90:10. Before the start of any procurement, ADB and the government will review the public procurement laws of the government to ensure consistency with ADBs Procurement Guidelines.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

Rana, Arun S.

Responsible ADB Department

Sectors Group

Responsible ADB Division

Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Sector Office (SG-AFNR)

Executing Agencies

Ministry of Urban Development

Timetable

Concept Clearance

31 Oct 2013

Fact Finding

16 Apr 2013 to 26 Apr 2013

MRM

18 Jul 2013

Approval

31 Oct 2013

Last Review Mission

-

Last PDS Update

16 Dec 2022

Funding

Grant 0367-NEP

Loan 3057-NEP

Loan 3816-NEP

TA 8500-NEP

TA 9803-NEP