PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID)

CONCEPT STAGE
Report No.: AB5770
Project Name Bihar Kosi Flood Recovery Project
Region SOUTH ASIA
Sector General water, sanitation and flood protection sector (100%)
Project ID P122096
Borrower(s) REPUBLIC OF INDIA
Implementing Agency Bihar Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Society
Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined)
Date PID Prepared July 6, 2010
Estimated Date of Appraisal July 15, 2010
Authorization
Estimated Date of Board September 2010
Approval

1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement

On August 18, 2008, the Kosi river burst through its eastern embankment 11 km
upstream of the Kosi barrage in Nepal, 8 km north of the Indian border. This created major
flooding in Nepal and Bihar. In Bihar, about 3.3 million were people affected, 1 million people
were evacuated, and about 460,000 people were provided temporary shelter in 360 relief camps.
The floods had a devastating impact on people and their livelihood: more than 500 people lost
their lives, thousands of families dependant on farming lost land due to siltation, and standing
wheat, paddy and other crops were destroyed. Massive damage occurred to housing1 and
infrastructure including rural roads, culverts and bridges, especially in the five most affected
districts of Supaul, Saharsa, Madhepura, Araria and Purnea.
The floods have greatly increased the vulnerability of the population in the affected
districts, in particular for those living below the poverty line (BPL) and the landless population.
Temporary and permanent migration, already prevalent prior to the floods, has reportedly
become a key livelihood strategy following the floods. This has been compounded by public
infrastructure, public services and fiscal resources being stretched beyond limits by economic
reconstruction challenges
For more than a decade now, the Bank has been assisting the Government of India (GoI)
in effectively responding to disasters. This has included the Latur, Maharashtra earthquake in
1993, the Andhra Pradesh cyclone in 1997, the Orissa super-cyclone in 1999, the Bhuj, Gujarat
earthquake in 2001, and the Tsunami in South India in 2004. Lessons learned from the recovery
and reconstruction following those disasters will be of immense value to the Government of
Bihar’s (GoB) reconstruction efforts in the Kosi flood affected areas.
Although the floods occurred in August 2008, there has not been any significant
reconstruction except for temporary restorations. Accordingly recovery needs are still enormous.
The Government of Bihar (GoB) was extremely proactive in relief operations in the immediate
aftermath of the flood and also received support from the Government of India (GoI) for this.
However, for reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure and livelihoods, resources have
1
According to official estimates, about 330,000 houses were damaged.
been inadequate and as a result, reconstruction and rehabilitation needs have remained largely
unfulfilled. The World Bank received an official request for assistance in December 2009. In
response to this request, the Bank carried out a field mission and assessed the need for rapid
response as urgent.
After considering various possibilities, the Bank’s scoping mission2 proposed a phased
approach for assistance which was discussed and agreed with GoB and GoI. The objectives of
this approach are to provide timely and focused support to Bihar’s reconstruction efforts in the
short term while further developing a comprehensive program of support for the state in the
longer term. Accordingly, it is proposed that the first phase will address the immediate needs of
the state for recovery from the Kosi flood disaster and will be processed under post-disaster
emergency operation procedures. Thereafter, the successive phases will provide a comprehensive
program of support for the state’s longer term needs on overall disaster management, in
particular for flood risk management and sustainable interventions in the areas of agricultural
productivity and roads.
2. Proposed objective(s)
The Project Development Objective is to support the flood recovery as well as future
oriented risk reduction efforts of GoB through (i) reconstruction of damaged houses and road
infrastructure (ii) strengthening the flood management capacity in the Kosi Basin, (iii) enhancing
livelihood opportunities of the affected people, and (iv) improving the emergency response
capacity for future disasters.
3. Preliminary description
The project will focus on the following sectors:
Component A: Owner Driven Housing Reconstruction - This component will
reconstruct the damaged houses of about 100,000 households. Using an owner driven
reconstruction model, houses will be built with a brick and concrete plinth, bamboo
superstructure and corrugated galvanized iron CGI sheeting roofing. The cost per house will be
Rs. 55,000 (~$1,200) with an additional cost of Rs. 2,300 for toilets and Rs. 5,000 for solar
powered lighting. In cases where beneficiaries do not own lands, GoB will provide an additional
assistance of Rs. 5000 to purchase land. A majority of the reconstruction is expected to take
place at the original location but houses could also be reconstructed at a new location if land is
being purchased, generally in the same village area.
Component B: Reconstruction of Roads and Bridges - This component will help
restore connectivity lost due to the Kosi floods by reconstruction of damaged roads and bridges.
Construction of a few new bridges is also included which are either essential for restoring
breaches caused by new flood streams or were earlier missing. The project is expected to benefit
about 2.2 million people through the construction of about 90 bridges and culvers on the State
Highway and Major District Roads and reconstruction of about 290 km of rural roads. All rural
roads will be constructed with black tops and built to the latest standards being followed under
the national Rural Roads Program3. Cross drainage structures will be provided where new
streams have formed or where these were earlier missing. Bridges and culverts will be designed
to withstand earthquake forces as per the latest Bureau of Indian Standards guidelines and with

2
Visit to Bihar from April 19-22, 2010.
3
Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Program (PMGSY)
due regard to topography and hydrology as per guidelines by the Indian Roads Congress and the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Component C: Strengthening Flood Management Capacity - The component will
focus on strengthening the overall flood forecasting and flood and erosion management capacity
in Bihar by enhancing the knowledge, understanding, and capacity for flood and sediment
management. This will be achieved by implementing both structural and non-structural
measures, mainly focusing on the Kosi River Basin, but with several activities benefiting flood
management in the state as a whole. There are three subcomponents: (i) knowledge management
and capacity building; (ii) flood forecasting and early warning systems; and (iii) structural
investments.
Component D: Livelihood Restoration and Enhancement - This component will help
build social and financial capital, and restore and expand the livelihood opportunities of the
affected people. The implementing agency for the ongoing Bank-financed Bihar Rural
Livelihood Project, JEEVIKA, will implement this component and will use existing models for
expansion of activities into 13 new blocks4 in the districts of Madhepura, Supaul and Saharsa. As
in JEEVIKA, there will be four subcomponents: (i) Community Institution Development; (ii)
Community Investment Fund; (iii) Technical Assistance Fund; and (iv) Project Management.
Component E: Improving Emergency Response Capacity - Under this component,
contingency funding is provided for works, goods and services required to respond in case of
future calamities. The investments will depend on the nature, location, and priority needs of the
specific calamity. In addition, the component allows the financing of public and private sector
expenditures directly related to the emergency recovery program.
Component F: Project Management and Technical Assistance - This component
supports project implementation through the provision of necessary offices, equipment, training
and exposure visits for staff, and associated incremental cost of the state-level Project
Management Unit (PMU) and its representative offices at district and block levels, and other
implementing agencies. Also included are the costs of related consulting services for design,
planning and implementation support; management; quality, procurement, financial and third
party audits; and monitoring and evaluation. Technical studies, pilot initiatives, and other project
preparation expenses, including those required for the preparation of successive phases, are
included.
4. Safeguard policies that might apply
Social Safeguards and Management
Adverse social impacts and land acquisitions are expected to be minimal as most of the
sub-projects are rebuilding and restoring damaged existing infrastructure. However there is a
possibility that small strips of private land may be required for reconstruction of roads, bridges,
and flood management infrastructure (Components B and C) to accommodate embankment
slopes and approaches in some cases. Early evaluation of such impacts and integration of
suitable mitigation measures into the sub-project planning and implementation are included in

4
Madhepura: Muraliganj, Madhepura, Biharganj, Gwalpara, Udakishanganj, Kumarkhand; Supaul: Basantpur,
Pratapganj, Tribeniganj, Chathapur; Saharsa: Saurbajar, Patharghat, Sonebaser.
.
the project design through measures such as screening, consultations, preparation of
Resettlement Action Plans (RAP) and extension of entitlements.
An Environment and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been prepared to
mitigate adverse impacts and improve benefits to the affected population. As a principle, the
ESMF prescribes for use of vacant government land as the first option. Where this is not
possible, private land can be acquired through (a) voluntary donations, (b) private
negotiations/direct purchase or (c) using the land acquisition process. The lost land and
structures, if any, will be compensated at replacement cost along with a shifting allowance. The
titleholders belonging to vulnerable groups losing complete residential structures will be assisted
with an option of a free house. Subsistence allowance equivalent to 20 days minimum
agricultural wages per month for a period of six months will be extended for income losses.
Environmental Safeguards and Management
Project components largely include reconstruction and rehabilitation work and limited
new constructions that have the potential to create minor adverse environment impacts. While
project interventions are generally identified at appraisal, specific details of components related
to planning and designing of sub-projects will be known later during detailed design process. As
multiple sub-projects will be located across the five flood affected districts (Supaul, Madhepura,
Saharsa, Araria and Purnia), an ESMF approach has been adopted for the project.
Potential adverse environmental impacts could include: (a) issues related to poor
selection of location (such as in the case of housing component), planning and design of sub-
projects, particularly affecting drainage (such as in case of roads/bridges/embankments); (b)
impacts related to availability and extraction of resources such as bamboo, stone, earth, water
and sand that will be required for re-construction works; (c) inappropriate storage and handling
of chemicals and hazardous materials; (d) occupational health and safety issues related to various
construction operations and improper disposal of waste materials. While the project itself is
designed to benefit the flood affected communities, the management of unwarranted/adverse
impacts is proposed to be managed through the application and implementation of the said
ESMF. The systematic application and implementation of the ESMF will also assist in achieving
compliance with the applicable laws and regulations of GoI and the GoB, apart from meeting the
requirements of the relevant Bank’s Operational Policies on environment safeguards.
The following safeguard policies are triggered
OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment
OP 4.11 Physical Cultural Resources
OP 4.12 Involuntary Resettlement
OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways

5. Decision Meeting

As this project is being processed under OP 8.00 (Rapid Response to Crisis and Emergencies), a
single Decision Review Meeting was held on July 15, 2010. The meeting authorized the team to
proceed for negotiations. Other key decisions included confirming that an Operational Risk
Assessment Framework (ORAF) was not required in this case as the project is being processed
under emergency procedures; support for additional implementation support based in Patna; and
endorsement of the application of the notification exemption under paragraph 7 (a) of OP 7.50
(Projects on International Waterways).

6. Tentative financing
Source: ($m.)
BORROWER/RECIPIENT 39
International Development Association (IDA) 220
Total **
Expression
is faulty **

7. Contact point
Christoph Pusch
Lead Specialist, Disaster Management
Tel: (202) 458-7839
e-mail: cpusch@worldbank.org

Mandakini Kaul
Senior Country Officer, India, and State Coordinator for Bihar
Tel: (9111) 2461-7241
Fax: (9111) 2461-9393
e-mail: mkaul@worldbank.org