Uzbekistan: Bukhara Region Water Supply and Sewerage (BRWSSP)

OBJECTIVE

The Project Objective is to provide access to safely managed water and sanitation services in the Bukhara Region and strengthen the operational performance of the water utility of the Bukhara Region.

DESCRIPTION

Component 1 — Investment in Water Supply Infrastructure: Construction and rehabilitation of intakes, main water lines, water treatment facilities, pumping stations and distribution networks. The water supply component covers the districts of Bukhara, Rometan, Peshko, Jondor, Kogon and Qorovulbozor.

Component 2 — Investment in Sewage Infrastructure: Construction of centralized sewage systems in district centers consisting of collectors, pumping stations and biological sewage treatment plants as well as discharge facilities. The sewage component covers the district centers of Qorakol, Olot, Qorovulbozor, Rometan and Gijduvon.

Component 3 — Project Implementation and Management Support: Project management and implementation support to assist the Implementation Agency (IA) in ensuring seamless coordination, efficient implementation and compliance with the relevant policies.

PROJECT FINANCING

For more information about project financing, please review the project summary.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION

• Policies and Standards. The Project has been prepared consistent with AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP). ESS 1 (Environmental and Social Assessment and Management) and ESS 2 (Involuntary Resettlement) are applicable. Given that the project will be implemented in phases and exact locations will be determined as detailed designs for different project components are carried out during the implementation stage of the project, a Framework approach has been adopted, whereby an Environmental and Social Management Planning Framework (ESMPF) has been developed, which includes a generic Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and a Resettlement Planning Framework (RPF). The ESMPF and RPF provide policy, methodology and procedures for E&S studies of the site-specific activities.
• Categorization and Rationale. The Project has been assigned Category “A,” in accordance with AIIB’s ESP due to large-scale construction activities spread over a vast geographical area that may have substantial environmental and social impacts.
• Environmental aspects. The Project is expected to generate benefits in terms of improving the efficiency of water use and enhancing water environment and public health security in Bukhara Region. According to the water balance analysis, the supply of surface water and groundwater can support the water consumption in Bukhara region until year 2045. The project will cause temporary negative environmental impacts during construction. During the operations, negative impacts will include discharge of effluent from sewage treatment plant, air pollution, wastes and noise, etc. Mitigation measures to address the negative impacts and occupational health and safety issues are proposed in the generic ESMP.
• Climate change. This Project aims to improve the efficiency of water use and sustainable water management in Bukhara region. The measures proposed by the project are expected to help the communities to better adapt to the scarcity of water resources due to climate change, and to improve energy efficiency of the facilities, which will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions during operation.
• Social and gender aspects. It is possible that people using the lands of proposed facilities, both title holders and non-title holders will be physically or economically displaced. During the process of detailed design, efforts will be made to avoid or minimize the physical and economic displacement. The affected people’s income/livelihood loss will be compensated in accordance with the provisions of ESS 2 and the principles laid in the RPF. Women and children will be specific beneficiaries of this Project due to household connection of clean and safe water supply. A survey has been carried out to prepare a Gender Action Plan (GAP), which will be updated during the implementation of this project.
• Stakeholder Engagement, Consultation and Information Disclosure. Stakeholder consultations have been carried out during the preparation of the ESMPF in the form of focus group discussions, interviews and workshops. The ESMPF also sets out procedures and requirements on stakeholder engagement, public consultation and information disclosure at site-specific level during the implementation of the Project. The ESMPF has been disclosed in English on the websites of Ministry of Housing and Communal Services (MHCS) and AIIB on Jan 31, 2020. The ESMPF in Russian and the Executive Summary in Uzbek are also disclosed on the website of MHCS. The hardcopies of the documents in the two local languages are also available in project region. A public consultation meeting will be conducted and the ESMPF will be updated according to the feedback from the public.
• GRM. A two-tier Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) for project-affected people (PAP) at the field and Project Coordination Unit levels has been proposed in accordance with the requirements of the Bank’s ESP. A separate GRM for workers will deal exclusively with those complaints that involve workers employed by the contractors for construction activities. The two GRMs will be established prior to the implementation of this Project.