ACADEMIA Letters

A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of

Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram
Syed Rafid Tahmid, North South University
Ahsan Ali, North South University
Mohammad Nahid Hassan, North South University

The main purpose of this report is to review the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
of Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant (WTP), finding gaps in the report with the solutions.
The history of the Modunaghat WTP was assessed and the EIA was analyzed. After ana-
lyzing the EIA of the plant, issues and problems were identified and recommendation were
provided including the challenges. Checklist and matrix methods were used to perform the
EIA of Modunaghat WTP. Network method was suggested as the EIA methodology. The final
recommendation was to consult with the fishermen on timely basis to analyze fish breeding
situation of the Halda river.

1 Introduction
Chattogram city is the second largest city in Bangladesh. It is also called ‘Port city of Bangladesh’.
There are about four million people in Chattogram city and rapidly this number is increasing
day by day. According to the Chattogram Water and Sewerage Authority (CWASA), the total
demand of drinking water is 500 millions of liters per day (M LD) in the metropolitan area and
it can supply only 200 MLD. To fulfill the demand, the authority proposed a water treatment
plant at Modunaghat on the Halda river bank. The capacity of the proposed WTP is 90 MLD.

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
1
2 Study Area
The study area of the group project is Modunaghat water treatment plant. It is a surface water
treatment plant. CWASA set up this treatment plant to supply drinking water to the Metropoli-
tan area of Chattogram. The location of the project is on the west side of Chattogram-Kaptai
road at Modunaghat on the southern bank of the Halda River, approximate 17 km northeast of
Chattogram city. In this review, identify the gaps and providing suggestions to improve the
EIA report of Modunaghat WTP will be discussed.

Figure-1: Modunaghat WTP beside Halda river

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
2
 Figure-2: Location of the Modunaghat WTP

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
3
 Some important information about Modunaghat water treatment plant project has shown
below-

• Project Name- Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant

• Total Area- 1.5 Hectares

• Implementing Agency- Chattogram Water and Sewerage Authority

• Environmental Categorization- Red Category

• Total Capacity- 90 MLD

• Total Cost- 107,865 Lakh Taka

3 Roles of Stakeholders
3.1 Stakeholders
The public consultation meeting was held on July 21, 2014 at proposed site to share the views
and concerns of the stakeholders in connection with planning, design, construction and oper-
ation of proposed Modunaghat WTP. Total participants were 41 but unfortunately no female
participant were present in the meetings. The identifying stakeholders of the Modunaghat
Water Treatment Plant EIA were-

• The people individuals, groups and communities who are affected by the proposal are-
villagers, local residents, farmers, fishermen.

• The proponent, government agencies other project beneficiaries are- representative from
NJS, BWDB, JICA, LGED, IWM.

• The private sector and academics are- engineers, chemist, businessmen, NGOs.

• Funding by- World Bank, JICA, Bangladesh Government.

Their roles were to focus on saline intervention, future impacts on the environment cov-
ering terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna during the time of construction and operation,
provision of job opportunities, land acquisition, impact on fishery, solid and hazardous waste
disposal. In the consultation meeting the proposed Water Treatment Plant is accepted and
most of the people present were found convinced. But the participants were too less, and no
female members appear, and also one meeting held for the consultation.

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
4
3.2 Issue of the Consultation
People concern about provision of job opportunities during project construction and operation
phase. Possible adverse impacts on fishery due to extraction of water from the Halda River
and collection, storage and disposal of sludge. To keep provision for employment including
women and poor people of local community. To adopt integrated approach and opined that
all activities will be managed by environmental friendly manner. To keep Halda River free
from pollution for protection of fishery. The upstream of Halda. Activities will be done with
minimal disturbance to ambient environmental components.

3.3 Screening Result

Terms of reference for upgrading EIA for Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant started on May
20, 2014. The detailed comments on the current version of the EIA report have been provided
and these basically include the following but not limited to these. Some of the data in the
report are out of date and these have to be up dated. Impact of the water withdrawal from
Halda for the WTP especially during dry season has to consider in more depth. Evaluation
of the impact of the WTP on the Halda fish spawning ground. Conducting a stakeholder
discussion after the draft final EIA report is published on the CWASA website along with its
Executive summary in Bangla. Submission of draft final EIA report on July 15, 2014.

Figure-3: Consulting with local people

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
5
4 Main Gaps in EIA Report
Some of the important gaps with solutions and positive aspects in the EIA report of the Mod-
unaghat WTP are discussed in the table below-

Figure-4: Important gaps with solutions and positive aspects

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
6
5 Improvements in EIA Report
5.1 Solution for Noise and Air Quality
The noise base line should be fixed. The degrees associated with the potential impacts of
noise and air quality should be higher. Level: (C-), as during the construction phase, especially
when the piles were constructed, noise levels could increase, as more traffic jams lead to higher
noise levels. On the other hand, there would be more dust at that time. Proper monitoring
needed.

5.2 Solution for Energy Consumption

In the mitigation part, more environment friendly technology could be used, like solar panels,
insulation of floors, which might reduce energy consumption.

5.3 Solution for Work Distribution

A flow chart needs to originate for the EMP section, where the responsibilities of engineers,
contractors, and environmentalist are assigned.

5.4 Solution for Lack of Specific Experiment

Allocated more money for the experiment and increased the man power for lab test. Specific
experiments or modeling were performed during evaluation process. More accurate mitigation
measures could be taken if tests were performed.

5.5 Solution for Time Duration

The duration of the mitigation measures should be specified in the EMP section.

5.6 Solutions for Lack of Long-term Fishermen Consultancy

Experienced fishermen can be appointed to oversee the monitoring of the effects of the plant
on the Halda River fish farm. In addition, a long-term contract with fishermen can be passed
for a sustainable plan.

5.7 Solution for Inspection of Specialist

Geotechnical specialist should be hired prior to casting during the construction phase for the
inspection so that, better solution might be get for the structure placement.

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
7
6 Recommendations
The key aspect for this project is to protect the source of water quality and quantity for future
use and long-term sustainability. Some recommendations are given below-
A lab should be installed near the proposed WTP in order to check and monitor the water
quality of Halda river regularly. Local Fishermen should be consulted regularly in a long-
term process to monitor the breeding of fish in the Halda river. Close monitoring of salinity
of Halda river should also be maintained, especially during the dry season. One way it could
be achieved is by modifying the rule curve of Kaptai Dam so that a minimum amount of
downstream flow could be achieved and salinity could be maintained.

7 Conclusions
The purpose of this project is meet the increasing water demand of Chattogram city, by under-
taking the construction of a surface water treatment plant which will draw water from Halda
river. In the EIA report, various mitigation measures were mentioned, and all seven compo-
nents of EMP were included. The possible impacts were also written with a possible degree
of impacts also suggested. Overall this was a well-made report. The report was translated into
Bangla (local language) to aid the understanding of local people.

References
1. Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA). (November, 2014). Envi-
ronmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Of Modunaghat WTP and Patenga Booster Pump
Station. Institute of Water Modelling.

Academia Letters, June 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Syed Rafid Tahmid, syed.rafid.tahmid@gmail.com

Citation: Tahmid, S.R., Ali, A., Hassan, M.N. (2021). A Review on Environmental Impact Assessment of
Modunaghat Water Treatment Plant, Chattogram. Academia Letters, Article 1217.
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1217.
8