DESCRIPTION
The Project (Corridor 4) spanning from Lighthouse (in east) to Poonamallee Bypass (in west) has a length of 26.8 km, of which 16.5 km is elevated, and 10.3 km is underground, with 18 and 12 stations, respectively. The Project will be parallelly co-financed by AIIB, ADB, and NDB.
The Project components to be financed by AIIB under the proposed Project are:
-Component A: Construction of 16.5 km of elevated viaduct, including 18 elevated stations.
The remaining Project components and its financing sources are as follows:
-Component B by ADB: Construction of 10.3 km underground section, including 12 stations.
-Component C by NDB: E&M works, tunnel ventilation system, telecoms, AFC, platform screen doors, traction, power supply.
-Component D by Government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN): General Consultant, signaling, rolling stock, depot and staff quarters, permanent way, utilities, security features.
-Component E by GoTN: The consolidated Project land, R&R, and state taxes.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION
Environment and Social Policy and Categorization. The AIIB Components of the Project have been screened and reviewed in accordance with the ESP and ESSs, and the Project has been assigned Category A. ESS 1 (Environmental and Social Assessment and Management) and ESS 2 (Involuntary Resettlement) are applicable. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) accompanied with an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and a Social Impact Assessment (SIA)/Resettlement Plan (RP) accompanied with a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) have been prepared by CMRL (taking into consideration all project components financed by the parallel co-financers) and jointly reviewed by all co-financiers to comprehensively assess all components of the Project. These E&S instruments have been prepared in adherence to the E&S policies of all the co-financers.
Environmental and Social Aspects. The Project is expected to generate environmental and socio-economic benefits in terms of decreasing the vehicle exhaust emission from traffic congestion and serving the growing travel demand. The main residual negative impacts of Corridor 4 are construction related impacts such as fugitive and point source dust emission, surface noise and vibration from excavation and demolition which are temporary and localized. The detailed analysis of noise and vibration has been finalized and incorporated in the EIA. The EMP accompanied by a Monitoring Plan describes the mitigation measures for the identified impacts, the roles, and responsibilities for EMP implementation, and institutional arrangements for monitoring, reporting and capacity building.
Key social risks associated with the Project are related to land acquisition and physical and/or economic displacements. A total of 429 structures will be affected out of which 85 are fully affected and 344 are partially affected structures. There are 1,031 Project Affected Families (PAFs) comprising of 4,755 Project Affected Persons (PAPs). The final figures will be updated following the completion of detailed designs which determine the actual measure of land to be affected and total number of PAFs. The SIA/RP including the RPF, and the Entitlement Matrix has been prepared.
Stakeholder Engagement and Information disclosure. Consultations have been held during the preparation of EIA, SIA/RP and RPF. This will continue during Project implementation, in accordance with national guidelines on restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The English versions of EIA, SIA/RP and RPF, and the Tamil versions of the Executive Summaries of the EIA, SIA/RP and RPF have been posted on CMRL’s and Bank’s websites and made available in hard copies in the Project area in October 2020.
Project-level Grievance Redress Mechanism. A multi-tier Project-level Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) has been constituted for the Project in line with the requirements of the ESP. Communities and individuals who believe that they are adversely affected by the Project will be able to submit complaints to the project-level GRM for their resolution. In addition to the above GRM for addressing complaints from the local community, a GRM will be established at the contractor level for worker grievances.
