Technical Examination of Rehabilitation and Modernization Works of Irrigation, Drainage, Water Conservation Structure and Building Construction in UPWSRP Environmental Safeguards and operational guidelines for Rehabilitation works INTERNATIONAL PTY. LTD IN ASSOCIATION WITH SMEC (INDIA) PVT. LTD 1 Environmental Safeguards and operational guidelines for Rehabilitation works CONTENTS Background ..................................................................................................... 3 Broad Policy guidelines and norms ................................................................ 3 Introduction of works...................................................................................... 6 1 Distributaries & Minors ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. I. Desilting .................................................................................................... 6 II. Disposal of desilted matter ...................................................................... 8 III. Borrow Area Rehabilitation ................................................................. 12 2 Drains ......................................................................................................... 13 I. Guidelines with specific reference to drainage works............................ 13 II. Directives in IS codes for jungle clearance (During-Rehabilitation) ......... 14 Other norms for general information and awareness.................................... 15 2 Environmental Safeguards and operational guidelines for Rehabilitation works Background System modernization or rehabilitation is a clear avenue for enhanced irrigation performance and is necessarily a multifunctional effort including various disciplines and issues, like: irrigation engineering, agronomy, agricultural economics, social interactions and environmental protection. The objectives of a modernization or rehabilitation programme can be manifold, among these, few key objectives are – improved crop yields, improved irrigation efficiency, reduce operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, improved recovery of O&M costs, improved financial sustainability and reduction in conflict among project staff & water users and last but not the least, reduction of environmental degradation. Broad Policy guidelines and norms The National Environment Policy, 2004 states that environmental degradation is a major causal factor in enhancing and perpetuating poverty among the rural people, as such degradation impacts soil fertility, quantity and quality of water, air quality, vegetation, forests, and fisheries. The dependence of the rural people on their natural resources is self-evident. This also means that, while planning, executing and monitoring of rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation infrastructure, the department should have prior consultation and consensus on the modusoperandi of the works to be undertaken. This will allow smooth working and support from the local people. It is necessary to provide due respect to villager’s concerns, so that they feel involved and benefited from the ongoing program. One of the key objective of the policy states that, the Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. The policy further points out that any developmental process should have environmental protection as its integral part and should never be considered in isolation. This also means that, all the rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation infrastructure activities should comply with the guidelines and check-lists specifically designed for conservation and protection of the environment. Another interesting measure for protection and preservation pointed out in the Policy is the “Polluters Pay” principle. This phenomenon directs the polluter to compensate the environmental damages caused by his activity; it also calls for legal liability for environmental damage would deter environmentally harmful actions, and compensate the victims of environmental damage. The following alternative approaches to legal liability may apply: 1. Fault based liability In a fault based liability, a party is held liable if it breaches a pre-existing legal duty, for example, an environmental standard. 2. Strict liability Strict liability imposes an obligation to compensate the victim for harm resulting from actions or failure to take action, which may not necessarily constitute a breach of any law or duty of care. 3 The Policy affirms that, it is preferable to prevent environmental damage from occurring in the first place, rather than attempting to restore degraded environmental resources after the fact. The Policy recognizes that, the wetlands, natural and manmade, freshwater or brackish and other water-bodies provide numerous ecological and livelihood services. In terms of ecological services, they provide habitat to aquatic flora and fauna, as well as numerous species of birds, including migratory species, whereas the livelihood services include lotus and water chestnut cultivation. Wetlands and water bodies are under threat from drainage and conversion for agriculture and human settlements, besides pollution. The Policy also stresses the necessity of stakeholder’s involvement and partnerships or in other words participation of the ones who are getting affected, positively or negatively by such activities. THE Citizen Charter issued by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India has laid down following key objectives – 1. Conservation and survey of flora, fauna, forests and wildlife; 2. Prevention and control of pollution of all kinds; 3. Afforestation and regeneration of degraded areas; and 4. Protection of environment in order to promote sustainable development The Charter also calls for judicious use of natural resources. All the guiding policies and documents including National Water Policy and the State Water Policy which is more or less on same lines stressed, the need for conservation and protection of natural resources including water, land, forest cover and flora and fauna. It also states that, the executing entity and department, while taking-up activities pertaining to construction/rehabilitation/maintenance of infrastructure should pay due attention to the existing life style of the local people and adopt a collaborative or participative approach. It also recognizes the vitality of local wisdom, which often provides most appropriate and viable options. The UP State Environment Policy, 2006 – A Milestone The state of Uttar Pradesh has come up with a progressive State Environment Policy in the year 2006. The Section 4 of the policy discusses the objectives. Among them, the key objectives includes – 1. To provide safe, healthy, constructive and conducive environment to the people of state. 2. Judicious and appropriate utilization and management of natural resources, including water, land, vegetative cover etc. The concepts of participation; transparency and responsibility should be the basic principles to achieve all this. 3. Spreading awareness in regard to sensitivity and responsibility towards the existing but depleting resources including land and water. All this has to be done in a participative manner at all levels. 4. Conservation and protection of valuable natural and non-renewable resources. 5. To ensure the implementation of policies, government orders and other directives for the preservation of the environment. In order to achieve these objectives, the Policy has laid down some principles in Section 5 of the policy and prominent among them are as follows – 4 1. Environmental norms to be implemented during economic and social development works. 2. Efforts are to be made for environmental preservation during various common developmental activities. 3. Environmental protection is integral part of ongoing developmental activities in the state and it can’t be considered in isolation. The policy applauds the “Polluter-Pays” principle by stating that, environmental damage caused during a developmental program/activity shall be the responsibility of the executing agency and in principle; such entity should borne the extra expenditure required for the restoration of ambient environmental-values. The Section 7 of the policy explains the road-map for environmental management and associated systems; it also stresses the need for – a. Peoples-participation b. Environmental-Audit c. Establishing of Environment-Cell in the developmental organizations to provide institutional support to the organization for mitigating environmental damages. d. Dedicated budget allocation for the environmental conservation and preservation during the execution of developmental projects/activities. e. Evaluation of developmental projects/activities from the environment perspective. f. Strong inter-departmental linkages for effective coordination among various departments to cater environmental protection. g. Constitution of an apex body called, “State Environment Conservation Council” under the Chief Minister of the state. Key aspects of Environment Management Plan (EMP) of World Bank for Environmental Safeguards The relevant aspects of the EMP, especially for the purpose of environmental safeguards include following key points, however it is to be noted that during the works planning and after the execution of works, three main stages exists and major concerns and issues are classified accordingly – 1. Mobilization and Design Stage Identify all key stakeholders of the Minor Basin Have consultative meetings on project (disseminate information on project, agree on schedule for joint walkthroughs) Mobilize farmers and other stakeholders in Minor Basin Identify problems with the physical system Adopt measures to ensure distributional equity (e.g. water reaching the tail end) Competition over water (e.g. scarcity, pollution problems and spatial and temporal occurrence and trends) Identify the Waterlogged areas, (months waterlogged with indicative sizes on maps) and areas with drainage problems, through consultations and walkthrough 5 Public health problems relating to water (e.g. malaria, water-brome diseases, pollution, etc.) Industries located in Minor basin or affecting water quality or quantity in minor basin Draft design of minor rehabilitation based on consultation and engineering considerations Finalization of design based on consultations with stakeholders 2. Rehabilitation/Modernization Process Include standard and any additional environmental/social clauses into Contracts Ensure that, the contractor consults key stakeholders before initiating work and that the scope of work is clearly outlined Ensure that any desisted material is disposed of by contractor in a socially and environmentally acceptable manner 3. Post-Rehabilitation Monitoring & Evaluation Process: Decide on monitoring strategy for each minor basin Positive Feedback: Recognition of good performance by farmers and villages (e.g. on results of M&E benchmarking on IPM use, organic farming, environmental management, etc) during farmer days and other events Determine suitability for awareness visits to illustrate successes or demonstrate pitfalls Assess need for and implement any follow-up studies or mitigation/enhancement measures Introduction of works It is to be noted that, while taking-up the rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation infrastructure, the executing entity i.e. the contractor and the supervising authority i.e. the department should always give due attention to the environmental issues, so that its violation may not lead to degradation of not only the local ambiance but also the lifestyle of the native villagers. Such a situation may also lead to social problem leading to tough resentment from the villagers/natives. The Bureau of Indian Standards has issued guidelines and practicing norms, which needs to be followed during the rehabilitation/maintenance/construction of irrigation infrastructure. These norms will be discussed in later section of this document. This work includes rehabilitation and modernization of canal systems and broadly consists of rehabilitating Branch, Distributaries, Minors and Drains and construction, reconstruction and repair of pucca works including hydro-mechanical works as per design. The works are expected to be done during the canal’s closure period. The guidelines for the distributaries and minors have been explained in the following three subsections i.e. desilting; disposal of desilted matter and borrow area rehabilitation. I. Desilting There are many aspects which need to be taken care of during desilting of distributaries and minors. These aspects are as follows, however it is to be noted that, the classification according to Pre-rehabilitation; During-Rehabilitation and Post-Rehabilitation has also been done and this is indicated as bracket content in the sub-headings: 6 1. Labour related problems (Pre-rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation) It will be highly critical and important to instruct the labour that, they should take care of the canal sides and the banks, so that they are not damaged. During desilting and disposal this should be supervised by the departmental entity to ensure intactness of structures. The desilting involves two key issues related to labour. As we know that desilting involves large number of labour and keeping in view the quantum of work to be done on minors and distributaries, the contractor either have to get the labour from outside or he has to use village labour for the desilting and disposal tasks. Such a scenario can be understood in two ways – a. where the labour is called from outside: If the labour is brought from outside, even for a short period, they would need temporary housing, water supply and sanitation systems put up for them. It will be quite critical that, any shelters put up should neither cause conflict with the local villagers nor create any disturbance for them. Therefore, before selecting a site for the temporary shelter, the villagers/WUAs should be consulted. Once the desilting activities are completed, the temporary structures should be removed and the land be restored, to the extent possible, to its earlier shape. There may be a possibility that, there is no governmental land available for such camps, then WUAs/villagers should be consulted so that they can suggest some alternatives. b. where the labour belongs to same/nearby village: This will be the better option, as this could provide employment to the villagers. But it should be ensured that no internal conflict should occur among the villagers about their turn for work, which is quite prominent among many government programs. The routine activities like – lunch, easing etc. may produce wastes which should not contaminate the local environment. Spots for dumping of such wastes may be located and it should be closely watched that, the directives in this regard are adhered to. Anyone of the following private activity should be carried out on a private land only after mutual consent with the land owner i. for temporary construction of camps/cottages or ii. for access to disposal sites or iii. for disposing waste 2. Disruption of local lifestyle(Pre-rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation) Although the current activities are proposed to serve the farming community in a significant way, still there will be certain short-term problems for the natives of that area, such as – blocking of the thoroughfare and hindrances in villagers movement. Another associated problem is related to traffic. The usual traffic will be affected due to parking of tractors/trucks/machinery/equipment, if used, in desilting or transportation of desilted matter. The demarcation of space for parking and other construction/desilting activities needs to be ensured in such a way that the impact on usual movement of traffic should be minimized. Vehicles or machinery not in current use should be parked at pre-identified 7 parking-bays, which should be far away from the usual pathways to avoid obstruction of traffic movement. 3 Protection of direct outlets during desilting (During-Rehabilitation) The protection of existing canal outlets needs to be ensured, so that its blockage is avoided. The water through outlets reaches the fields as usual however otherwise there may be serious resentment among the water users which may leads to law and order problem. II. Disposal of desilted matter The disposal of desilted matter is a critical exercise, which if not done properly and as per disposal plan may lead to many environmental and socio-political problems. So the contractor has to ensure strict compliance in this regard. The departmental field officers need to prepare a comprehensive Silt Disposal Plan which should be made available to contractor’s representative well in advance. Such a plan should clearly spell the disposal sites with quantum of desilted matter to be disposed. Prior to preparation of Silt Disposal Plan, the consent of villagers for disposal of desilted matter onto their land is mandatory, so that there is no room for any confusion and conflict in this regard. A copy of current consent Performa is being requested from PACT, so that its review can be done. There is another key aspect i.e. quality of desilted matter from minors It needs to be ensured whether it is fit for the farms or not. For this, the desilted matter needs to be tested and analyzed by the Mobile and Base Laboratories of the consultant. The disposal of desilted matter involves many environmental issues, which if not timely tackled may lead to health and social problems. These issues are as follows – 1. Canal bank flora (During-Rehabilitation) Various plants, bushes, shrubs etc. are likely to be damaged during transportation of desilted matter. Even the machinery/vehicles may also trample the floral species available on the canal banks. In addition to this, the labour movement may also damage the flora. The unplanned deposition of desilted matter on the canal banks lead to choking and destruction of flora present over there, thereby leading to temporary termination of their growth and if the desilted matter is not immediately disposed off to pre-decided disposal sites, it would cause killing of floral varieties buried under the desilted matter. There is very little data with regard to type of floral varieties on the banks of minors, so the WUAs should make an informal inventory of local varieties of flora available on the banks, so that later on species on the banks of canals can be restored to its original position. Although this will be the responsibility of the contractor but the WUA and departmental field functionaries should take serious note of progress in this regard while execution of works. 2. Pollution and degradation of local water bodies/systems (Pre-Rehabilitation and DuringRehabilitation) The water-bodies (which are located in the vicinity of canal systems) such as – ponds, lakes, wetlands are prone to sedimentation, pollution and overall destruction due to ill-planned Silt Disposal or inadequate adherence to a comprehensive plan. Water-bodies are lifeline for the 8 villagers. These water-bodies are used by cattle for bathing and drinking etc. Such bodies also cater to a wide range of domestic needs of villagers and especially during lean period these water-bodies are vital for their survival. There are many villagers whose livelihood is directly linked with these water-bodies, for instance – these bodies are often used for lotus and water chestnut (singhara) cultivation and so that selling of these items can fetch some money for the villagers. A well thought disposal plan should take care of these aspects. Efforts should be made to identify and delineate such water-bodies so that disposal is not done in close vicinity of these water-bodies. Water-bodies can be identified with the help of maps, village land records and with consultations with the WUAs/villagers. One of the measures could be to dispose silt on the other side of the bank, so that spillage and dispersion of desilted matter is not able to pollute or contaminate the nearby water-bodies. Another option which could be a bit costlier but may be considered, if funds permit. In this measure a low – height temporary wall, may be of tin sheets can be erected along the toe of banks in a short reach near a water body to avoid spillage and dispersion of desilted matter into the water-body. 3. Air pollution by suspended desilted matter (During-Rehabilitation) Suspension of desilted matter into the air leads to health hazards, it also becomes a challenge for the villages to undertake their usual field related activities, as the polluted air would cause irritation in eyes and choking of nose and lungs (due to inhalation of desilted matter suspended in the air). These impacts become quite critical during the high surface winds. A layer of fine silted matter covers the nearby articles/bodies, for instance – floral varieties, food articles, etc. In addition to this, it may also cause excessive dusting in the houses, thereby leading to unhygienic conditions. The desilting and disposal activities are planned for execution during the closure of the canals. So there is less possibility of avoiding such activities during the usual season of high surface winds. However efforts can be made to ensure avoidance of suspension of desilted matter into the vicinity. It is important and quite critical to ensure immediate disposal of desilted matter at the pre-decided disposal sites, so that chances of blowing of desilted matter into the environment may be minimized. A provision to grow a vegetative cover on the disposal site after disposal is complete can be very helpful in further curbing the spreading and blowing of desilted matter in the vicinity. Such an activity has to be executed by the contractor under the supervision of the departmental field functionary. The WUA can keep check on such measures. 4. Issues related to identification of land for disposal (Pre-Rehabilitation and DuringRehabilitation) It has been often observed that, during the disposal of desilted matter, the contractor is not aware of the location of plot numbers cited in the disposal plan. So he ends up spending unnecessary time for finding this out. This delays disposal and triggers many environmental and health hazards. The best option would be to conduct joint survey by departmental field functionary and contractor along with some WUA members who are aware of location of plot numbers, so that there is no confusion in this regard. For this exercise the administrative maps may prove to be 9 quite useful. The repercussions could be quite volatile on the part of villagers, so it should be ensured that this activity is timely and appropriately completed. 5. Degradation of soil quality (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation) The silt from the canals mainly in branches and head reaches of distributaries contains pure sand. Such a desilted matter may reduce the fertility of the native soil and in addition to this, it may also change the current chemical composition of soil thereby leading to other problems related to compatibility, inhibited growth and reduced yield. In order to overcome this problem, there is a need to test and analyze the chemical composition of silt, so that it can be ascertained whether there would be any adverse impact. Such tests and analysis should be done prior to decision about disposal, so that there is no problem in this regard. 6. Aesthetical issues (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation) The local ambience or aesthetics will get severely affected as the machinery and tractors/trucks movement will disturb the local environment. This will be highly objectionable for the villagers. So it will be pertinent for the departmental field functionaries to make aware the WUAs about the proposed activities, so that at the time of execution there is no conflict in this regard. The WUAs can make it sure that, all the villagers understand the utility of desilting work for them. This will further help in bringing consensus and cooperation with regard to the works. Another key matter of consideration is that, the contract agreement for desilting work should clearly spell restoration of original shape and form of the area, disturbed during construction/rehabilitation activity. Stringent action including penalty should also be clearly defined. The compliance for the same has to be ensured by the departmental field officer. 7. Destruction of farms and crops (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation) Any machinery (for e.g. dredgers, tractors/trucks) if being used for canal desilting and disposal should not enter fields located near the canals, as this may lead to destruction of farms and crops. In addition to this, the blowing of desilted matter into the farms also proves detrimental to the crops. This could further bring unnecessary confrontation with the local farmers and in worst scenario it may further lead to a law and order problem. Consultation with WUAs and local farmers will be the key to resolve such issues. The departmental field functionary should organize a joint meeting of WUA/Villagers and contractor’s representative so that both the parties listen to each other and reach a consensus on the type of resolution to such a problem. Transportation of desilted matter should take place immediately once the desilting is done. This activity should be supervised by the departmental field functionaries and WUAs can assist them in this regard. 8. Silt disposal during transportation (During-Rehabilitation) Transportation of desilted matter is an important exercise which needs to be well taken care of. The transporting silt may spill or blow in the transit and may form a layer of desilted matter on the nearby plants and shrubs. This hinders the process of photosynthesis and thereby leads to their inhibited growth or destruction. It may also lead to air-pollution and dusting. In 10 case, the desilted matter is rich in moisture content then leakage of desilted matter from the trucks/tractors will further spread it on the pathway. The tractors/trucks used for transportation should be leak-proof and it should be ensured that, the desilted matter to be transported in these vehicles should be thoroughly covered (may be with a poly sheet). Overloading should be avoided as this will lead to spilling of desilted matter in the transit. So there should be a check on the quantum of desilted matter being loaded into the vehicles. This can be monitored by the field functionaries with assistance of WUAs. 9. Malfunctioning of machinery and trucks/tractors (During-Rehabilitation) The machinery and trucks/tractors engaged in desilting and disposal, if not well-maintained, create lot of smoke and pollutes air. Such vehicles or machinery may leak oil/fuel and causes pollution to local area. Such vehicles or machinery may also produce wastes which will contaminate the environment. In order to overcome these avoidable problems, the machinery and vehicles used for desilting and disposal should be well maintained. Any waste from the vehicles/machinery should be collected and immediately taken away from the site. 10. Damaging of canal banks and slopes (During-Rehabilitation) If due care is not taken during disposal of the desilted matter placed on the banks after excavation, the banks and slopes would get damaged. This may also lead to weakening of banks. The awareness of labour in this regard will be quite critical in this regard. The contractor should carefully undertake this exercise and the departmental field functionary should supervise such activities, so that any damage to bunds and slopes can be avoided. Provision for penalty should be clearly spelt out in the contract document, so that there should be no back-tracking on the part of contractor. The contractor must take due care in finalizing the lengths and slopes of the canal sections as per detailed drawings supplied to him by the department. 11. Treatment of site (Post-Rehabilitation) In order to understand treatment of site, two scenarios needs to be considered, which are as follows – a. Disposal site: once the disposal is completed at the pre-decided disposal site, it should not be thought that the job is over. If left unattended it may spoil the whole vicinity. It may cause spreading of desilted matter into the nearby water-body, farms, human settlements. Therefore, it is highly essential to grow a vegetative cover onto the desilted matter, so that spreading and flying of desilted matter can be checked. Local grass and plant varieties can be considered for development of a vegetative cover. b. Canal bank and sides of service road: sometimes the desilted matter, if found suitable, is used for strengthening and compaction of canal banks and service road. Alongwith compaction, it should be ensured that the outer slopes and sides of service road be provided with a vegetative cover to avoid damage to the banks 11 during high surface winds and rains. Local varieties of plants and grass can be considered for vegetation. Such provisions should be an integral part of the contractual obligations of the contractor and the compliance in this matter should be supervised by the departmental field functionaries and WUAs may assist in this exercise. 12. Unauthorized dumping of waste material (During-Rehabilitation and Post-Rehabilitation) The unauthorized dumping of wastes or any such material may lead to environmental deterioration and social problems thereby triggering local conflicts. Unauthorized dumping should not be allowed at any cost. The departmental field functionaries and WUAs will have to ensure that disposal is done at pre-decided disposal site. In this case, the WUAs will intimate the departmental functionaries about the problems and discrepancies, if any during disposal and may also suggest the possible and acceptable solution to the departmental functionaries. III. Borrow Area Rehabilitation The executing entities (contractor) borrow the area for soil digging for the purpose of construction or strengthening of structures/banks of the canals. It has been often found that, these entities rarely take environmental protection measures. Listed below are certain issues, which requires due consideration – 1. In an event when the borrowed area is not compensated from environment viewpoint, it may causes soil degradation and removal of all floral and faunal species of that area, if any. 2. Proper disposal of left over material after construction/other-maintenance-related-activity has to be ensured, the patch of area borrowed should be appropriately compensated from environment point of view. Surplus excavated material should be used for construction in fill, or be disposed off at suitable places. These places of dumping should be provided with a vegetative cover 3. Loss of vegetation may also leads to (i) Soil erosion (ii) Stagnation of water leading to vector proliferation and thereby causing diseases related to mosquitoes or other biting flees etc. The loss of vegetation is another issue which needs to be dealt with, so that impact can be minimized in this aspect. The executing entities can be directed to ensure growth of vegetation in certain patch as a return for the destruction it has done to some other area in the name of “Borrow Area”. At this juncture, one needs to understand the significance of the ‘vegetative – cover’. The vegetative cover allows the native floral and faunal species to grow and propagate. It also hampers removal of top layer of earth i.e. soil (which is generally productive in nature) either by wind or rainfall/run-off water. 4. In general the green trees are property of forests department, so if they are not taken into confidence before any cutting activity, then it could bring unnecessary confrontation with the forest authorities. 12 Removal of vegetation and cutting of trees should be done judiciously and limited to minimum possible extent. It is advised that cutting of any such tree (if highly essential) should be done in consultation with the forest authorities. 2 Drains Under the rehabilitation work numbers of drainage systems are also to be rehabilitated including the earthwork. This section is a mixture of standard guidelines and norms set under the IS codes issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards. However it is to be noted that, in order to safeguard the environment from the proposed drainage works, complete set of points are to be complied. I. Guidelines with specific reference to drainage works Although the environmental safeguards for undertaking physical works for maintenance and rehabilitation of drains is more or less similar to canal’s maintenance works. However, certain considerations in regard to drains are as follows – 1. In order to have uninterrupted silt disposal, the land availability has to be ensured before excavation for the whole length of the drain. It often happens that due to encroachment, the situation becomes complicated and the native villagers start demanding compensation. The land records needs to be thoroughly checked before approving the designs to avoid any eventuality. (Pre-Rehabilitation) 2. All the water bodies near or along the drains needs to be identified, so that by no means the pathway of drain get connected to the water-body which may lead to emptying of the water-body. (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation) 3. It sometimes happen that, the digging of drains lead to adverse impact onto the habitants of water-bodies. So efforts need to be made in regard to conservation of such wetlands, if any. One of the efforts could be bye-passing of wetlands, while designing new drains or while modifying the existing drains. (Pre-Rehabilitation and During-Rehabilitation) In addition to this, the Bureau of Indian Standards has also issued certain directives in the Code number IS 4839 (Part 3): 1992, for the maintenance of drains, those points which are vital from environment viewpoint are as follows – 1. Silt cleared from the bed of a drain should be used to fill up holes and ruts on the inspection bank. This silt should not be thrown up in heaps in such a way as to interfere with the ingress of drainage. (During-Rehabilitation) This may also leads to blowing of dried desilted matter during high surface wind. 2. The silt should not be disposed off on the inner slopes of the drain to safeguard its reentrance into the drains during rains, as this may potentially lead to choking or disruption of usual path of drain. (During-Rehabilitation) 3. Toe (seepage) drain provided to intercept seepage water should be cleared of weeds before the sowing of the crop in that region, to keep down the spring level. (DuringRehabilitation) 13 This will also reduce the possibilities of water-logging and water losses. The water-logging in turn may leads to vector proliferation thereby causing environmental and health hazards. 4. Trees which grow on the inner slopes of drains should not be felled without taking required permission from the competent authority in the Forest Department. The compensatory plantation/afforesatation should be ensured. The dead branches and rubbish that may have accumulated in the drains should also be cleared. (During-Rehabilitation) 5. Bunds should not be permitted in drains, as this may damage the drain and should be removed if found. However, there should be a provision in the “Technical Specification” of drainage works that, throughout the agreement period, the bunds will be cleared off so that damage to the drain can be avoided. (During-Rehabilitation) II. Directives in IS codes for jungle clearance (During-Rehabilitation) This IS code also illustrates directives for jungle clearance while undertaking maintenance works. Some of the key directives which compliments the environmental considerations are as follows – 1. All vegetative growth on canal banks should be cleared from 1.5 meters beyond the outer edge of the road on the inspection bank and 3 meters beyond the shade-line on the other bank. Where the FSL of the canal is more than 1 meter above the ground level, the jungle clearance should be done from toe to toe of the outer slope of the bank. 2. All vegetative growth on distributaries and minors should be cleared from toe to toe of the outer slopes of the banks. Shrubs, large grass such as – Kans, Jhunds and small trees, especially Dhak should be dug out by the roots. Stumps of trees that have been standing should be cut down to atleast below the ground. Ant hills shall be dug out and leveled off. 3. All vegetative growth on escapes and drains should be cleared from the outer edge of the riding bank to the inner edge of the opposite bank. 4. Grass and jungle should never be allowed to grow on masonry works; it should be dug out by the roots and the masonry then plastered. Grass against masonry works should be scrapped off, as the masonry may get damaged in the process. 5. No trees, jungle of any kind and tall grass should be allowed to grow within 10 meters of a masonry work. No big trees such as – Pipal, Gular, Bargad and Pilkhan should be allowed within 25 meters of an important masonry works, as the roots of these trees may extend upto the joints and damage the masonry. 6. When a tree is to be felled, a hollow should be dug around the base and the trunk cut through as low down as possible, the hollow should then be filled-up to cover the root. 7. No grass or similar bushy plants be allowed at the internal section of canals and drains as they will severely hamper the pace of water flow. 8. Shade-line trees should not be felled without special approval from concerned authorities. 9. Pruning of trees if at all is necessary should not be carried out with axe. The branch should first be sawn about half through on the underside and then completely through from the top, so that the bank may not be torn off. It should be done preferably in February just before the sap begins to rise. 14 This will allow better chances for the plant/tree to grow further, thereby leading to raise aesthetic value of that area. Other norms for general information and awareness In case there are unavoidable circumstances to keep the tree alive, the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) has issued practice-codes/directives for the authorities. This signifies the recognition of aforestation and re-forestation by the BIS. The code number IS 4839 (Part 3): 1992, explains “Code of Practice for Maintenance of Canals”. As per standard practice, compensatory plantation is mandatory if the agency feels that felling of trees is inevitable. Directives for plantation and other regulation The aspects required to be taken care while doing plantation is explicitly stated in the Section 8 of the aforementioned IS Code. It states – 1. Acquired land width of canal should be demarcated by planting suitable species of trees at suitable intervals. It will form an informal boundary, which will help in curbing the encroachment malpractices by the villagers. It will also raise the environmental-value1 of that area. 2. Sowing seeds/plantation should commence in June and may be finished by the middle of the month; so as to get full benefits of the rains. 3. In low ground liable to flooding, seeds should be sown on ridges. 4. The roots of seedlings should not be cut, nor broken when transplanting. They should be dug out with a good ball of earth adhering and so carried to the new site. If grown in pots like eucalyptus, the roots are sure to be pot-bound. In such cases the pot should be carried to the new site and the seedling roots bare of earth and straightened down into the holes dug for them. This greatly helps their subsequent growth. 5. The parasitic plants such as Amarbel and Banda should be removed, carried to an open space and burnt. If the tree is completely covered by the parasite, it is recommended to cut it down and burn the parasitic plant at once. Even from environment viewpoint the parasitic plants causes adverse impact on overall ambience by causing degradation of land, other floral varieties found in the close vicinity. 6. Branches and twigs overhanging a bank or roadway should be sawn/looped-off sufficiently to give a clear headway of 4 meters above the road/bank. 7. Young plants should not be put out in the shade line until they have attained a height of atleast 1.25 meters. It is better to lose a few plants by their being rather too large for transplanting than to undertake the nursing of small seedlings in the shade-line. 8. All large roots should be taken out during the rains and burnt into charcoal when dry. 9. All newly planted trees and also those which are less then 2 meters in height should be properly protected by tree guards. Environmental – Value: A quality or characteristic or attribute, that is conducive to ecological health or beneficial to us, which requires protection from the effects of pollution (of any kind), waste discharges, disposal and deposits. 1 15 10. The old tree guards should be repaired properly where necessary and all grass, jungle and large grass such as Kans weeded out. 11. Newly planted trees should be watered regularly but not in excess and the top soil loosened soon after watering. Established plants which have only been less than two years on the shade-line required to be given similar treatment though not so often. 12. Large trees are well able to look after their own nourishment. A good heavy watering of 5-6 buckets about once a month only in the very hot weather is about all that is necessary for trees of medium growth and even so the very big and established trees do not even need this attention. 13. All trees should be carefully watched and any bad effect noticed should be immediately attended to. The code also provide certain regulations while undertaking maintenance of canals, these regulations plays vital role in curbing avoidable water losses and environmental hazards. Some of the key regulations mentioned in section 9 of this code are as follows – 1. No leakage should be permitted through the heads of canals that have been closed, as a little water dribbling down a canal promotes the growth of grass and weeds in the bed. 2. When a canal is firstly opened after clearances, a low supply should be run, for a few hours and the gauge then gradually raised according to requirements. ----- x ----- 16