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 Bukhara Region.
This Project constitutes the second phase of a greater effort by the Government of Uzbekistan to extend water and sanitation services to all in Bukhara region; this second phase Project supports investments to extend and improve water supply and sewage services to comprehensively cover the remaining districts of Bukhara region.
Component 1 — Investment in Water Supply Infrastructure: Construction and rehabilitation of intakes, main water lines, water treatment facilities, pumping stations and distribution networks, smart meters for production facilities and distribution network; mechanical meters for households. The water supply component covers the districts Gijduvon, Vobkent and Shofirkon.
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 Gala-Osiyo district center of Bukhara district, Jondor, Shofirkon and Vobkent districts centers, the Yangibozor district center of Peshko district and Kogon city (with conveyance of wastewater to Bukhara City sewage treatment plant) as well as the extension of the sewerage system of the city of Bukhara, including the sewerage network and pumping stations.
Component 3 — Project Implementation and Management Support: Project management and implementation support to assist the Implementation Agency in ensuring seamless coordination, efficient implementation and compliance with the relevant policies.
Policies and Standards. The Project has been prepared in accordance with AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), including the Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs), and Environmental and Social Exclusion List. 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 the exact locations will be determined as detailed designs for different Project components are prepared during the implementation stage of the Project, a framework approach has been adopted, and an Environmental and Social Management Planning Framework (ESMPF) has been developed for both Phase I and Phase II Projects, which includes a generic Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and a Resettlement Planning Framework (RPF). The purpose of the ESMPF is to ensure that the proposed project activities are assessed and implemented in conformity with the policies of the Republic of Uzbekistan as well as the AIIB’s ESP and ESSs. The ESMPF identifies generic impacts of the project activities and identifies generic mitigation measures to address these impacts. The ESMPF and RPF provide policy, methodology and procedures for environmental and social (ES) studies of the site-specific activities.
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 the Bukhara Region. The Project will cause temporary adverse environmental impacts during construction and operations. These impacts would include damage to crops, generation of solid wastes including hazardous wastes, noise, dust, air pollution, wastewater, impacts on cultural heritage, disturbance to community and traffic, damage to public utilities, influx of labor, health hazards and labor safety issues due to facility siting, civil works and operation and maintenance. Mitigation measures to address these adverse impacts and occupational health and safety issues are included in the generic ESMP and will be specified in site-specific ESMPs. In addition, third-party monitoring consultants will be engaged by the Project to develop semi-annual Environmental and Social Monitoring Reports. The Environmental and Social Monitoring Reports will focus on the implementation of the ESMPs.
Climate change. This Project aims to improve the efficiency of water use and sustainable water management in the Bukhara Region. The measures proposed under 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 Project-affected People’s (PAP’s) income/livelihood loss will be compensated in accordance with the provisions of ESS 2 and the principles set out in the RPF. Women and children will be specific beneficiaries of this Project due to the household connections 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 in English and Russian languages and the Executive Summary in Uzbek have been disclosed on the website of Ministry of Housing and Communal Services (and later on the website of the new Project Implementing Entity JSC Uzsuvtaminot) since Jan 31, 2020 and the links are made available on the AIIB website. Hardcopies of the documents in the two local languages are also available in the project area. Once the site-specific ESIAs, ESMPs and RPs are prepared and approved, they will also be disclosed in a similar manner.
GRM. A two-tier Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) for PAPs at the field-level and the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) level has been proposed in accordance with the requirements of AIIB’s ESP. A separate GRM for workers will deal exclusively with those complaints that involve workers for construction activities. The PCU-level GRM has been established during the implementation of the ongoing AIIB-supported Phase I project, which will be used for Phase II project if AIIB is satisfied with its performance. The field-level GRMs will be established when the Supervision Consultants and Contractors for the respective phases of this Project are onboard. Information of established project-level GRM including Project-affected People’s Mechanism (PPM) of AIIB in local languages will be timely disclosed to project-affected people in an appropriate manner.
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