III. INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS INTO DECISION- MAKING FOR FLOOD LOSS REDUCTION

[ III-A | III-B | III-C | III-D | III-E | III-F | III-G ]

F. Methodologies for integration of environmental considerations into economic decision-making

[ F-1 | F-2 | F-3 ]

2. Selection of small-scale projects

All FCDI projects use and interact with diverse natural resources and components of the environment in a complex manner. Flood damage prevention programmes at the local level are carried out according to the guidelines enunciated in Union and Thana Plan Books prepared by LGED (1990, 1992a). These Plan Books do not provide explicit guidelines with regard to harmful consequences (social or environmental) affecting desired benefits and sustainability of the projects. In fact, the Plan Books provide guidelines for preparation of infrastructure projects at the local level as part of physical planning.

LGED is now well aware of the consequences of local level physical development and their subsequent impacts on the environment. Therefore, mitigation of the environmental impacts of the schemes is now being considered at the project preparation stage. For all practical purposes, LGED has also published a manual on Land and Water Use Planning (LGED, 1992b) in order to guide proper planning of small-scale surface water schemes and to supplement the efforts made in the Thana Plan Books.

According to the Land and Water Use Planning Manual, the Union Parishad itself is responsible for initiating, planning and implementation of very small schemes (Table 7). With the support and technical assistance from the Thana Engineer, the Union Parishad members submit the schemes to the Union Parishad. It may be mentioned that the proforma for the submission of schemes does not address the environmental issues explicitly. The flow chart explaining the methodology for selection of union level schemes has been shown in Figure 23. It is observed that schemes are ranked before incorporation of selected schemes in the Thana Plan Books by the Thana Engineer. Ranking is made in case of more than one scheme of a particular type proposed during the year. The criteria used for ranking are:

- Priority given to reconstruction schemes;

- For new schemes, the rank is determined on the basis of the net benefited area;

• In case of equal benefited area of two or more schemes, the number of man-days required during construction would be the decision guide.

Source: Local Government Engineering Department, 1992b

In case of small schemes (Table 7) to be formulated at Thana level, a more formalized analysis of different aspects of planning have to be considered by the Thana Engineer of LGED. Technical, economic, social and environmental aspects of planning are analyzed following the methodology enunciated in the manual. The methodology for selection of Thana level schemes is evident from the flow chart presented in Figure 24.

Figure 24. Flow-chart for selection of small-scale schemes at Thana level

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