PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: AB7387 Project Name Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project-- AF II Region SOUTH ASIA Country Bangladesh Sector Other social services (60%);Flood protection (20%);Rural and Inter-Urban Roads and Highways (10%);General agriculture, fishing and forestry sector (10%) Project ID P146500 Parent Project ID P111272 Borrower(s) GOVERNMENT OF BANGLADESH Implementing Agency Local Government Engineering Department (LGED); Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB); respectively of the Ministries of: Local Government and Water Resources; and Ministry of Planning Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared September 8, 2013 Date of Appraisal September 18, 2013 Authorization Date of Board Approval December 31, 2013 1. Country and Sector Background The coast of Bangladesh is approximately 710 kilometers (km) long and is home to nearly 40 million people. It is vulnerable to cyclones, flooding and tsunamis. Cyclones affect the region with strong winds, accompanied by powerful storm surges and widespread inundation over a vast area. Destruction is amplified by low-lying physical geography, high-tide at landfall, climate change, high population density, and the low-income status of Bangladesh. In 2004, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reported Bangladesh as the most vulnerable country in the world to tropical cyclones. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that climate change is likely to increase both the frequency and intensity of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and alter the depth and spatial extent of surges in the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna river basin. The Meghna estuarine region is especially vulnerable to storm surge amplification. Natural disasters, particularly cyclones, remain a persistent obstacle towards sustained growth in locally-affected areas of the coastal region. From 1990-2008, Bangladesh incurred an average annual loss of US$2 billion (1.6 percent of annual GDP) from disasters. In 2007, Cyclone Sidr (Category IV) hit Bangladesh. The cyclone, originating from a depression over the Bay of Bengal, hit offshore islands at 1830 hours on November 15, 2007 and made landfall across the southern coast from Cox's Bazaar toward Satkhira. Heavy rains were experienced throughout the country, including in the capital Dhaka. The first area hit by Cyclone Sidr was Hiron Point and part of the Sundarban mangrove forest in Bagerhat. According to the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), Cyclone Sidr had a radius of 500 km with the eye of the storm 74 km wide and wind speeds reaching 220-240 km per hour. The storm caused extensive damage, in particular in the south-western districts The cyclone was the second natural disaster to affect Bangladesh in twelve months. Previous monsoon floods had caused extensive damage to agricultural production and physical assets, totaling US$1.1 billion1. In addition in 2009, Bangladesh was struck by yet another Cyclone, Aila. The successive occurrence of these events is a reminder of the extreme vulnerability of the country to frequent hydro-meteorological hazards. The proposed additional financing will help support the costs associated with the Government of Bangladesh’s (GOB) efforts to facilitate recovery from the damage and losses caused by Cyclone Sidr (2007) and Cyclone Aila (2009). The damages and losses from Cyclone Sidr alone were estimated to be US$1.7 billion, and an IDA credit of US$109 million was made available to address the most pressing needs for recovery and reconstruction. Additional damage and losses from Cyclone Aila (2009) necessitated additional financing of existing project components to address the needs of cyclone-affected population and an Additional Financing of US$75 million was approved in 2011. Further Additional Financing is now sought to scale up efforts to strengthen the resilience of the coastal area through the construction of 100 new multipurpose cyclone shelters and the rehabilitation of 220 existing multipurpose cyclone shelters, as well as the rehabilitation of 10 polders of the coastal embankment network. 2. Objectives The Project Development Objectives (PDO) will remain the same as for the original project which is “to support Government of Bangladesh efforts to facilitate restoration and recovery from the damage to livelihoods and infrastructure caused by Cyclone Sidr and Cyclone Aila and to build long-term preparedness through strengthened disaster risk management.” The PDO is firmly aligned with the GoB’s objective of speedy recovery and reconstruction after Cyclone Sidr, and to improve resilience to mitigate future impacts of natural disasters. It is also closely aligned with the Government’s: (i) National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction II (NSAPRII) for FY 09-11; (ii) Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (2008); and (iii) the recent draft Agriculture and Food Security Strategy and Action Plan (May 2010). The ECRRP supports and contributes to the overall goal and outcomes spelled out in these strategies namely: food security; protection to people, livelihoods and assets; comprehensive disaster risk management, and institutional strengthening and capacity building of the agencies responsible for disaster and climate change risk management and mitigation. 3. Rationale for Bank Involvement On November 15, 2007, Cyclone Sidr made landfall across the southern coast of Bangladesh, causing extensive damage to life and property. Overall, around 30 districts and 9 million people were affected by the cyclone. Damage and losses caused by Cyclone Sidr were estimated to total 1 World Bank Damage Assessment Report for 2007 Floods about Bangladesh Taka (BDT) 115.6 billion (US$1.7 billion)2. More than two-thirds of this was physical damage and one-third economic losses, focused on the coastal regions3. The Joint Damage Loss and Needs Assessment (JDLNA) led by the Government also developed a longer term program for disaster risk reduction and improving resilience to extreme events. The estimated cost of this plan—which included both the recovery and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure to a build back better design, as well as the longer term improvements for disaster risk reduction-- was US$4 billion over a 15 year period, with a cost for the first phase of five years (2008-2013) of about US$1.6 billion. The Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project (ECCRP) was designed to cover a portion of these costs and to target the most immediate needs in the recovery and restoration of livelihoods and critical infrastructure damaged after Cyclone Sidr. ECCRP covered restoration of the agricultural sector in the cyclone affected areas, and reconstruction of public infrastructure, including reconstruction and improvement of multi-purpose shelters and rehabilitation of coastal embankments with “build back better” designs, as well as strengthened disaster risk reduction and management systems, and technical assistance, strategic studies and training to strengthen future emergency response and preparedness to disasters. ECRRP also supported planning and design of projects for long term disaster management such as (i) strategic study of the coastal embankment network, providing recommendations for systematic upgrading over a period of twenty years (which formed the basis for the Coastal Embankment Improvement Project (Credit 52800-BD) that was recently approved by the World Bank); (ii) storage of food using modern silos; (iii) construction of new multipurpose disaster shelters; and (iv) ongoing River Bank Improvement Program studies to protect against flooding and river bank erosion, which are the main cause of loss of land and poverty in Bangladesh. The original IDA Credit (Cr. 4507-BD) for ECRRP was approved by the Board on October 6, 2008, and became effective on December 24, 2008. The project costs were estimated to be over US$220 million, but due to lack of IDA funds at that time, the project was approved for only US$109 million. A grant in the amount of EUR2.3 million (about US$2.96 million equivalent) was provided by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). Subsequently, an Additional Financing IDA Credit (Cr. 4819-BD) was approved on September 7, 2010 for US$75 million, of which US$49.7 million came from IDA’s Crisis Response Window (CRW). The Additional Financing amount was also approved to address recovery efforts from Cyclone Aila, which had made landfall in the coastal areas in 2009. On August 8, 2011, a grant from the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) of US$25 million (TF-99305) was approved to fund the rehabilitation and construction of additional multi-purpose cyclone shelters (Component B). The KfW is parallel financing some of the shelters (US$4.5 million). 2 A comprehensive Joint Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment (JDLNA) undertaken by a team comprised of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and international experts and led by the World Bank JDLNA team was led by the World Bank with participation from IFRC, ILO, UN, USAID, EC, IDB, JICA, JBIC, DFID, ADB and FAO. 3 Damage and losses were concentrated in the housing sector (50 percent of the total), production sectors (30 percent), and public sector infrastructure (16 percent). The most affected sectors were, in decreasing order, housing, agriculture, transport, water control structures, education, and industry. Damage and losses to private assets and livelihoods outweighed the losses and damage to public infrastructure significantly. The primary rationale for the proposed Additional Financing II is for IDA to continue its support to the Government of Bangladesh for improving and strengthening critical disaster prevention infrastructure in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. At the time of Cyclone Sidr, damages were estimated at US$1.7 billion, with significant needs in the further strengthening of coastal embankments as well as the rehabilitation and construction of improved multi-purpose cyclone shelters. The need for the additional financing is driven by a need to scale up the construction and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure in the coastal areas, especially construction of additional multipurpose disaster shelters and continued improvement of coastal embankments. 4. Description The additional financing (US$140 million) would be used to provide continued and additional support to (i) build and rehabilitate additional cyclone shelters and access road networks (Component B); (ii) rehabilitate additional coastal embankments damaged by Cyclones Sidr and Aila (Component C); (iii) preparation of future projects (component D2); (iv) monitoring and evaluation and project coordination (Component E) and (v) Project coordination and management (component F). Details are given below: i. Component B: Reconstruction and Improvement of Multipurpose Shelters (US$78.5 million). The objective of this component (Component B) is to enhance resilience to natural disasters through the construction of shelters and access road networks. Because of the high risk of cyclones and natural disasters in Bangladesh, the need for shelters is immense. Multipurpose cyclone shelters have been proven to save lives in the event of a natural disaster, providing a safe haven for people and livestock. In addition, these buildings are constructed as multipurpose buildings, normally used as primary schools during non-disaster periods, resulting in significant social and economic benefits. Under this proposed AF II Credit, the focus would be to improve and construct shelters in nine Sidr affected districts4 where the demand for shelters is quite high. The implementation arrangements are already established and bidding documents are ready to be launched for a substantial part of these new works. Thus, it would be most appropriate and cost effective to undertake works in these nine districts under the existing project’s institutional setup, rather than initiating a new operation. This would allow improving and strengthening the resilience of the coastal population in a systematic way. Annex 3 provides an overview of the requirements of shelters in the nine districts and also the type and characteristics of the shelters being constructed. Additional financing is proposed for this component to continue support for ongoing activities under original credit and first additional financing as needed, and to rehabilitate a total of 220 existing shelters and to construct a total of 100 new shelters. The revised total for this component is US$208.5 million. ii. Component C: Rehabilitation of Coastal Embankments (US$37.0 million). The objective of Component C is to rehabilitate coastal embankments damaged by Cyclone Sidr. Overall, the financing needs for rehabilitating, improving and constructing coastal embankments remain very high: the JDLNA estimated the total needs in Bangladesh for reconstructing coastal embankments to be US$106 million, and this figure is corroborated 4 Bagerhat, Barguna, Barisal, Bhola, Jhalokai, Khulna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Sathkira by a recent study conducted by the BWDB. Thus, additional financing in the amount of US$37.0 million under this component will be used to repair and improve ten additional polders. These polders were taken out of the original project during implementation due cost increases and relatively slow implementation progress by BWDB. Funding for this component was reallocated to Component B under a restructuring of the project in 2013. Implementation progress under this component C, executed by BWDB, has now improved, and the need for the additional ten polders to be rehabilitated and strengthened remains. Additional financing is proposed for this component to continue support for ongoing activities under original credit and first additional financing as needed, and to rehabilitate remaining 10 polders. The revised total for this component is US$60.0 million. iii. Component D2: Preparation of Future Projects (US$3.0 million). Additional financing is proposed for this component to continue support for ongoing activities under original credit and first additional financing as needed, and to finance the preparation studies for selected activities such as studies related to the River Bank Improvement Program (RBIP) for revamping the Brahmaputra River Bank Embankment (BRE) or other such projects agreed between Government and Association. The revised total for this component is US$9.0 million. iv. Component E: Project Monitoring and Evaluation (US$0.8 million). Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities provide continuous feedback to the Government, the Project Steering Committee (PSC), the Project Coordination and Monitoring Unit (PCMU), and the project’s implementing agencies on the project’s performance and impact of its various components. M&E consultants hired under this component also supervise implementation of the overall EMF and S/RPF, provide careful review and monitoring of sub-project specific social and environmental management plans and impact assessments, and supervise their implementation. Additional financing is proposed for this component to continue support for ongoing activities under original credit and first additional financing as needed, and expenses in evaluating the additional activities under Components B and C. The revised total for this component is US$5.7 million. v. Component F: Project Management, Technical Assistance Strategic Studies and Emergency Support for Future Disasters (US$20.7 million): This component supports the Government in implementing the project, including coordinating all project related activities, technical assistance and training. It includes provisions for the operation of the PCMU under the Ministry of Planning. For continued the Project Management Support by PCMU (Component F1) US$0.7 million have been added bring the total for component F1 to US$5.7 million. For component F5, the emergency support for future disasters, US$20 million have been allocated. The total allocation of funds for the Component F would be US$31.1 million. The funds allocated for the F5 component, if not used for any future disaster would be allocated to Component C for the rehabilitation of polders provided its implementation proceeds well. In the event that there is no disaster during the project implementation period, and if deemed relevant, the allocation could also be used for more shelters. 5. Financing Source: ($m.) BORROWER/RECIPIENT 0 International Development Association (IDA) 140 Total 140 6. Implementation The Project Coordination and Monitoring Unit (PCMU), under guidance from a Project Steering Committee (PSC), and with oversight from the Ministry of Planning, is responsible for project management, overseeing strategic studies and training, and managing the fund for future disasters during project implementation. The PCMU oversees the implementation of the project’s components through implementing partners, including LGED (Component B), BWDB (Component C), and the PCMU (Components E&F). The experience to date indicates that the existing implementing arrangements are satisfactory for planning, implementing, coordinating and M&E of the project activities including incremental activities funded by the additional financing as such this management structure will continue to be used for implementation of activities under the Additional Financing. 7. Sustainability The original project, as well as the additional financing project, make use of the JDLNA report for costing estimates and financial viability. The shelters, where the bulk of the financing is allocated, are multipurpose buildings and used as the primary schools and for other community activities that alone justifies such investments. The shelters have been designed with separate facilities for boys and girls, which have positive social benefits for female school enrollment. In addition, these separate facilities are available for women and children during and after extreme weather events, which adds to the security of women post disaster. The reconstruction of embankments is essential for providing protection to any livelihood and day to day activities. The benefits of close gaps in the embankments are enormous. 8. Lessons Learned from Past Operations in the Country/Sector The experiences of the Emergency 2007 Cyclone Recovery and Restoration Project, as the parent project, provide a series of lessons learned for the current operation. For example, lessons learned during implementation have guided the continuous adjustment of the implementation modalities to become more effective. As such, procurement packages have been designed to attract professional contractors with the track record and capacity to execute the works to the highest technical standard. Independent monitoring and third party audits of the project’s progress have contributed to a feedback loop that has worked to maintain progress. Lessons from previous operations in the sector highlighted the need to ensure high quality works and design, as well as leveraging opportunities for local employment generation, which will continue to be incorporated in the implementation of this Additional Financing II. 9. Safeguard Policies (including public consultation) During the preparation phases of ECRRP, the potential negative environmental and social impacts were expected to be negligible, since the bulk of investments were identified for repair and rehabilitation works. To ensure overall environmental and social sustainability of the Project, an Environmental Management Framework (EMF) and Social and Resettlement Policy Framework (SRPF) were prepared shortly after the project was approved and adopted for the project by all implementing agencies. The EMF, along with the Bangla version, was disclosed in websites of the implementing agencies (http://www.bwdb.gov.bd and http://www.lged.gov.bd) on January 9, 2009 and in the World Bank’s InfoShop on the same date. Hard copies of the document have also been made available in the site offices of BWDB and LGED in project areas. The Frameworks separately assessed the environment and social impacts of Components A, B & C and serves as a set of guidelines to be used for projects where the precise nature and scale of sub-projects were not known in advance. These guidelines serve as a tool to select the optimal project intervention from social and environmental perspectives, to prepare preliminary designs, and to ensure complete integration of social and environmental concerns and mitigation measures in the design for the activities to be undertaken by project implementing agencies. In general, the EMF and SRPF provide a set of policies, acts, rules, procedures, programs, and institutions that collectively work towards protecting and enhancing the attributes of the environment and persons that may be impacted by the activities undertaken in the Project. Various mitigation measures are outlined to minimize environmental impacts and fair compensation mechanisms should residual impact be unavoidable. Moreover, the EMF and S/RPF provide screening, monitoring, and post-evaluation mechanisms so that any present or future impact can be identified and resolved quickly. In accordance to the EMF and SRPF, environmental and social assessments (EAs, SAs) are carried out (and cleared by the Bank) for all subprojects i.e., rehabilitation works and new construction activities (e.g. new disaster shelters, extension of old disaster shelters or realignment of embankments) along with detailed surveys and designs. Based on the assessment, environmental management plans (EMP) and social management plans (SMP) are prepared, which highlight mitigation measures for all potential adverse impacts. Compliance with the EMF and SRPF, as well as with the site specific EAs and SAs and associated EMPs and SMPs is facilitated by a separate independent M&E consultancy (financed under sub-component E) that reports directly to the PSC and is responsible for overall monitoring and supervision of the implementation and impact (including environmental and social) of various sub-components. The M&E consultants supervise both the quality assurance during the preparation of the frameworks and plans, but also supervise implementation of the overall EMF and SRPF, review and monitor for each sub-projects the specific social and environmental management plans and supervise their implementation. To date, the institutional arrangement described has worked extremely well in ensuring the quality and consistency of how environmental and social impacts are addressed under the original IDA Credit (Cr. 4507-BD). The first Additional Financing Credit (Cr. 4819-BD), approved after Cyclone Aila in 2009 adopted the safeguards approach. To date, there are no outstanding safeguards issues. All documents have been updated to reflect the latest language on defining and laying out entitlements for squatters and encroachers. 9 List of Factual Technical Documents Cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh, Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment for Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction, Government of Bangladesh (April 2008). 10 Contact Point Contact: Masood Ahmad Title: Lead Water Resources Specialist Tel: 458-2013 Fax: Email: Mahmad2@worldbank.org Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh (IBRD) 11 For more information contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-4500 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Email: pic@worldbank.org Web: http://www.worldbank.org/infoshop