CHENNAI: Twenty-eight water supply and underground sewerage projects across 21 urban local bodies in Tamil Nadu will undergo an independent environmental and social audit. The State has also commissioned a separate study on manual scavenging and hazardous sewer cleaning.
The projects fall under the Tamil Nadu Climate Resilient Urban Development Programme (TNCRUDP), a six-year World Bank-assisted programme (2024-2030) focused on water security, climate resilience and urban governance, approved by the World Bank’s board in December 2023.
Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Ltd (TNUIFSL), the implementing agency, has floated a tender to appoint a consultant for the audit, covering 28 projects executed during 2024-25. It will examine whether urban local bodies (ULBs) and implementing agencies complied with the programme’s environmental and social safeguards.
Where deficiencies are found, the consultant is required to revisit the concerned projects after corrective measures have been implemented, and verify compliance before finalising the report
The projects fall under 4 categories. These include seven underground sewerage schemes involving only collection systems in Salem, Thoothukudi, Karaikudi, Tiruvarur, Krishnagiri, Theni and Avadi; seven underground sewerage schemes with sewage treatment plants in Tiruvannamalai, Pudukkottai, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, Cuddalore, Dindigul and Kancheepuram; one city-wide water supply improvement project in Kancheepuram; and 13 pilot projects for round the clock water supply in Avadi, Karaikudi, Pudukkottai, Tiruchy, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Erode, Vellore, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Tambaram, Nagercoil and Rajapalayam.
Findings must be classified under 4 categories: compliance, non-compliance, best practices and areas requiring improvement. Where deficiencies are found, the consultant is required to revisit the concerned projects after corrective measures have been implemented, and verify compliance before finalising the report.
A significant component of the assignment is a study on manual scavenging. The study will review the policy and regulatory framework governing sewer cleaning in India and Tamil Nadu, identify gaps in commitments by ULBs under national regulations, examine circumstances requiring hazardous cleaning in programme cities and hold discussions with ULB officials, site officers, contractors and workers. It will also examine past instances of hazardous cleaning through on-site case studies and discussions with sanitation workers and officials covering the entire sewage management value chain, analyse the root causes of such incidents, review existing SOPs and guidance, assess training provided to ULBs
The assignment, spanning three months, will begin with an initial compliance report due within two weeks of commencement, to be followed by a draft audit report. This draft will first be reviewed by the implementing agencies and shared with the World Bank, before the consultant incorporates their observations and submits the final report.
The exercise is tied to the World Bank’s Programme-for-Results (PforR) financing model. Under PforR, the Bank first prepared an Environmental and Social Systems Assessment (ESSA) to check whether Tamil Nadu's existing systems were adequate to run the programme. That assessment fed into a Programme Action Plan (PAP), and the current audit will verify whether the executing agencies have delivered on those PAP commitments.
PROJECTS COVERED
7 underground sewerage collection schemes
7 underground sewerage schemes with sewage treatment plants
1 city wide water supply project
13 pilot 24x7 water supply projects
MANUAL SCAVENGING
Review policy and regulations
Study circumstances requiring hazardous sewer cleaning
Examine past hazardous cleaning instances
Assess training for officials, contractors and sanitation workers
Review existing SOPs
Recommend design guidelines and new SOPs