Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project

faster pace than that in the indirect boundary areas where the impacts will be of induced types andwill occur at slow pace depending on the development works undertaken by both government andprivate initiatives.4.2 Identification of Environmental Impacts12. Based on the scoping analysis, environmental components associated with the Projectactivities are identified and presented in Annex4-1. The environmental components consideredinclude physical, ecological and socio-economic environment and environmental quality. Aninteraction matrix is developed between Project activities and the environmental components asshown in Annex 4-1 to identify environmental components that will be impacted due to differentProject activities during various stages of the Project. The matrix contains all Project activitiesduring pre-construction, construction and post-construction phases of the Project. The preconstructionactivities include land acquisition and development of resettlement sites. Theconstruction activities include construction of main bridge, RTW, approach roads, bridge endfacilities, and construction yards. The post-construction activities include O/M of Project,development of associated components (widening of N8, railway connectivity, and public utilitycrossings) and induced regional development.4.3 Prioritization of Environmental Impacts13. All environmental components are prioritized using the methodology shown in Figure 4-3 toidentify key and significant environmental impacts during various stages of the Project that need tobe thoroughly addressed for mitigation and management. The prioritization process includesscoring of various environmental impacts and dividing them into six categories, viz. low, mediumand high significant positive impact, low, medium and high significant negative impact.Figure 4-3: Prioritization Procedure for assessing key environmental ImpactsStep 1: Assigning relative importance or weightage value to environmental component Relative weightage of an environmental component to overall environment is based onthe consultation among the environmental team members. Relative weightage varies 1-5 that has been assigned based on the relative importance ofthe component in the project setting to a total scale of 100. The list of environmentalcomponents and their relative weighates are given Annex 4.1.Step 2: Assigning degree of impact to environmental component Degree of impact is the qualitative judgment of the Project’s environmental team Degree of impact: 0 - insignificant or nil; 1- low; 2-medium; 3: high. Positive for positiveimpact and negative for negative impact. Value of degree of impact is from the experience of similar large projects, such asJamuna, Paksey and Bhairob Bridges in Bangladesh as well as the environmental settingof the project area and the various Project activitiesStep 3: Assigning nature of impact to environmental component Classify the impacts in terms of temporal (short-term/long-term), and mitigability extent(partially/fully mitigable)4-4