Georgia Sustainable Urban Transport Programme: Environmental Safeguards
Georgia
Period: 2010
Client/Finance: Asian Development Bank
The Georgian capital Tbilisi has major transport problems as investment in infrastructure has not kept pace with population and economic growth. Around 300,000 people use the metro each day and a similar number travel by road, well in excess of each network's capacity, so delays are frequent and travel times are increasing.
At the request of Tbilisi Municipality, ADB developed the Tbilisi Sustainable Urban Transport Programme, to provide an integrated, socially-affordable and cost-efficient transportation system to energise the economy and improve the quality of life of citizens. Initial projects include a tunnel and underground station, a new road bridge across the River Mtkvari, and a tunnel below a highway to relieve a congestion hotspot.
NKUK's Chief Environmental Scientist was appointed by ADB to conduct environmental safeguard studies to ensure compliance with national law and ADB policy. This included preparation of an Environmental Assessment and Review Framework, an Environmental Categorisation report, and an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) or Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for each proposed project.
