Environmental Economics
Social Impact Assesment of Hatirjheel Begunbari Canal Project
.Origin of the Task
This report is the outcome of a research work to fulfill the Course requirement. As stated by the honorable course instructor Niaz Ahmed Khan, I am assigned to prepare a Social Impact Assessment Report on “Hatirjheel-Begunbari Canal Project” under the Project Management course.
.Background
Economic development projects brought innumerable benefits but also had unintended detrimental effects on people and natural resources. Human activities have resulted in the disruption of social and communal harmony. Social impacts are the impacts of developmental interventions on human environment. Such impacts not only need to be identified and measured but also need to be managed in such a way that the positive externalities are maximized and the negative externalities are minimized. Social impact assessments help in understanding such impacts.
Hatirjheel Lake, the case study of this paper, Hatirjheel Lake is the reservoir of one third of the catchment area of the city (MacDonald and Culpin, 1995). It is located in the center of Dhaka and is a crucial element in the city’s drainage system. It used to be connected to a string of other lakes, the Banani, Dhanmondi and Gulshan Lakes, and to the BegunbariKhal at the Rampura Bridge. Today, the natural system has been interrupted, causing ever-larger problems of flooding and water logging. The pressures on the water system are manifold and create a number of challenges for the immediate future.
3.Baseline Condition
Hatirjheel Lake was situated near the Tejgaon industrial area and the residential neighborhood of Nayatola. The British planned Tejgaon as an industrial area outside the city, but as the city has expanded, it now lies in the center of an urbanized area.
The physical environment of the lake itself is quite poor since squatters have illegally appropriated it and there are no municipal services. Over the past decade,
.Origin of the Task
This report is the outcome of a research work to fulfill the Course requirement. As stated by the honorable course instructor Niaz Ahmed Khan, I am assigned to prepare a Social Impact Assessment Report on “Hatirjheel-Begunbari Canal Project” under the Project Management course.
.Background
Economic development projects brought innumerable benefits but also had unintended detrimental effects on people and natural resources. Human activities have resulted in the disruption of social and communal harmony. Social impacts are the impacts of developmental interventions on human environment. Such impacts not only need to be identified and measured but also need to be managed in such a way that the positive externalities are maximized and the negative externalities are minimized. Social impact assessments help in understanding such impacts.
Hatirjheel Lake, the case study of this paper, Hatirjheel Lake is the reservoir of one third of the catchment area of the city (MacDonald and Culpin, 1995). It is located in the center of Dhaka and is a crucial element in the city’s drainage system. It used to be connected to a string of other lakes, the Banani, Dhanmondi and Gulshan Lakes, and to the BegunbariKhal at the Rampura Bridge. Today, the natural system has been interrupted, causing ever-larger problems of flooding and water logging. The pressures on the water system are manifold and create a number of challenges for the immediate future.
3.Baseline Condition
Hatirjheel Lake was situated near the Tejgaon industrial area and the residential neighborhood of Nayatola. The British planned Tejgaon as an industrial area outside the city, but as the city has expanded, it now lies in the center of an urbanized area.
The physical environment of the lake itself is quite poor since squatters have illegally appropriated it and there are no municipal services. Over the past decade,