Expressive Policy Analysis with Enhanced System Dynamicity

Despite several research studies, the effective analysis of policy based systems remains a significant challenge. Policy analysis should at least (i) be expressive (ii) take account of obligations and authorizations, (iii) include a dynamic system model, and (iv) give useful diagnostic information. We present a logic-based policy analysis framework which satisfies these requirements, showing how many significant policy-related properties can be analysed, and we give details of a prototype implementation. Copyright 2009 ACM

Development of a rapid environmental assessment methodology for roads sector rehabilitation projects

The concern for the environment is ever growing and counter measures are also taken by manycountries to minimize environmental impacts arising from developmental activities. One tool utilised toensure that developments are sustainable is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which hasbeen a mandatory requirement in Sri Lanka since 1993. However, due to considerable time taken bythe EIA process particularly for extensive projects such as road sector projects concerns have beenraised as to the delays caused by the process which in certain instances might even cause loss offoreign funds. Although detailed assessments are required in some cases it is not always true. Roadrehabilitation projects do not fall into the category of prescribed projects of the National EnvironmentalAct unless sensitive areas are involved and resettlement of more than 100 families are involved.However, foreign funding agencies generally require an environmental assessment of even suchprojects prior to approving of funding which generally cause delays since environmental assessorstend to follow tile same pattern of assessment for all projects regardless of the scope. Numerousmethods have evolved over the years to conduct EIAs some ct'which address environmental impact assessment of sectoral projects particularly water resource development projects which are ratherconvenient to use. However thus far such methods have not been developed for road sector projects.The present study was conducted to develop a Rapid Environment Assessment (REA) technique forthe Sri Lankan road rehabilitation projects where such a tool is yet to immerge. The REA was designedfrom the information collected from literature survey, questionnaire surveys of affected communities,field observations and subject experts' interviews. Three actual rehabilitation projects were studiedfor this purpose. Based on the information first the activities relevant to all the road rehabilitationprojects were listed with the assistance received from the field engineers. Then those activities whichhave no significant impacts were taken out keeping only the activities causing impacts forconsideration.The designed tool in this study is armed with both primary and secondary impacts whichcan arise from specific activities of road rehabilitation projects as well with proposed mitigatory measureswhich can minimize these impacts. The REA is not only comprehensive but also user friendly asactivities and impacts are predetermined and linked to each other so that the users do not have toprepare their own checklists of activities or environmental aspects. It's handy and small. It's generalin usage and could be used in any site of road rehabilitation projects. It's concise as only those activitieswith significant impacts are chosen and included.From surveys it was also discovered that to avoid unnecessary oppositions and social commotion,which would hinder the rehabilitation projects compensation should be decided and granted at theplanning stage itself. It is also highly recommended that a strong monitoring system is utilized. If anyof the proposed mitigatory measures is not effective in neutralizing the impacts, a search for newmeasures is recommended and REA is to be updated accordingly. As REA is not available for roadrehabilitation projects at present in Sri Lanka the tool designed in my study could be taken for futureroad rehabilitation projects to minimize the disadvantages of ElA. However, it should note that theREA is to be used only by experts in order to be effective and accurate. 

SUSTAINABLE & ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY APPROACH FOR RURAL ROAD DEVELOPMENT

Transport infrastructure improvements in rural sector provide greateropportunity to access economic, social & education facilities. This issue isvery crucial since it covers fundamental aspects of rural revitalization. Thelack of acceptable transport infrastructure has led to the isolation of ruralareas. Roads that do not belong to the National & Provincial road network arethe secondary & tertiary road links that provide main access to most ruralpopulation in the country.Situation in the local government setup is different from the national setup.Even though over 70,000 km of roads belong to local government authorities,budgetary allocation for road works is very minimal. Most of theseunclassified roads are low volume earth or gravel roads and carry less than150 vehicles per day out of which more than 85% are light vehicles such asbicycles, motor bicycles or three wheelers.Local government authorities tend to allocate available funding to upgradefew gravel or earth roads to paved condition or to rehabilitate dilapidatedpaved roads arbitrary. As no funding mechanism for regular roadmaintenance is available these low volume roads get deteriorated not due tovehicle loading but due to environmental conditions. This arbitrary upgradingstrategy used by local government authorities result in waste of resourceswith not much benefit to rural communities.This paper attempts to identify sustainable & environment friendly strategiesto upgrade and maintain low volume local roads at a satisfactory conditionfor a longer period. Use of appropriate geometric standards, selection of costeffective construction standards that satisfy the access & mobility needs ofrural population is discussed. Use of locally available material, labour andequipment that provides environment friendly solution are compared &presented

IDENTIFICATION OF A METHODOLOGY TO ESTIMATE VEHICLE EMISSIONS IN SRI LANKA

Estimates available to date in Sri Lanka show that the transport sector is responsible formajority share of the gaseous emissions to the environment when compared to any othersector such ;IS industry. agriculture. and fisheries. This pattern is applicable to most of thecountries allover the world. Many countries have taken steps towards controlling vehicleemissions and Sri Lanka is seriously considering actions to control vehicle emissions.In order to have an effective control system it is necessary to identify different emissionsand the significance of their effects to the environment and health. The main pollutantgases cmiucd from vehicles are Carbon dioxide. Nitrogen oxides. Carbon monoxide,volatile organic compounds and Sulfur oxides. As the effects and the significance couldchange from place to place and also depend on different concentration levels. it is veryimportant to estimate the emission to the environment to some accuracyNumbers of different techniques have been used for the emission estimates. They includevery approxinuuc methods such as Iuc} sales to very sophisticated techniques such asremote scnsing measurements and simulation models. Whereas the simple techniquesrequire little base line dat;1 and cquipmcntx. more sophisticated techniques would requirecouxidcrahlc amount 01 base line information and equipmentThe technique employed today in Sri Lanka is only a simple method h:iSC<1 on emissionLlclms. This quantification is done taking into account the emission factors roughlyestimated for each type of vehicle and on the total number or vehicles in the entire country.Only this can he used because of the difficulty faced in estimating the emission factors at aparticular time and because or the lack or use of basic data on vehicle transportation.From this technique the automobile emissions at a particular location at any given timecannot he estimated.However automobile emissions will vary according to the age of the vehicle. its travelspeed and location. In order 10 incorporate these factors into the main csnmat ion basicdata on the 11I111Ihcorf vehicles at each place and their travel speeds have to he known.The objective of this research is to identify a suitahle methodology incorporating theavailable data Oil traffic movement patterns to estimate vehicle emissions in Sri Lanka andto identity required development in the future to improve the estimating and monitoringprocedure. [11 this paper effects of different types of emissions. their significance andrelevance to the local conditions arc discussed. Methodologies available to measure andestimate selected types of emissions arc also discussed. Based on this knowledge anddepending on the technology and information available locally. a suitable procedure toestimate vehicle emissions that will he useful for any future control and monitoring isidem ificd.

IMPORTANCE OF VEHICLES EMISSION INVENTORY FOR ECO·FRIENDL Y ENVIRONMENT

According to available literature, air pollution in developing countries accounts for largeamount of excess deaths, very high medical costs and lost productivity every year. Owingto rapidly increasing vehicle numbers and very limited use of emission controltechnologies, motor vehicles are emerging as the largest source of urban air in thedeveloping countries and threatening eco-friendly environments.Vehicle emission standards, now in effect in all industrialized countries, have beenadopted in many developing countries. Sri Lanka too has adopted emission standards forall vehicles, but those standards are yet to be effectively enforced. Further, there is nomechanism to evaluate the benefits due to emission control strategies as no reliableemission inventory is available, specially to estimate local concentration levels. .At present estimation of vehicle emission in Sri Lanka is done based on aggregatevehicles types or based on the total fuel sales. A inventory to assess the relativecontribution from different vehicle types and identify emission loads on differentlocalities are essential for planning and assessing of control strategies. A detailed vehicleemission inventory will be helpful to take action to reduce air pollution, noise and otheradverse environments impacts of road transport and create eco friendly environments.This paper presents a methodology used for preparation of a vehicle emission inventorythat could be used for estimating vehicle emission with respect to special distribution. Itis proposed to modify the transport-planning model, Trans Plan, developed by theUniversity of Moratuwa. This inventory would be developed with provision toaccommodate improved vehicle emission factor for different vehicle types and trafficconditions. This inventory would be capable of estimating emission load due to traffic onany road link categorized as a National road. Provision is available to estimate the hourlyemission load distribution for situations where traffic flow distributions are available.Inventory out put are presented in a GIS platform

IMPACT OF SAND MINING ACTIVITIES ON THE QUALITY OF THE WATER

Out of 103 number of rivers in Sri Lanka the 3n1 largest major river is Kaluganga. It hasthe highest volume of discharge as a percent (%) of precipitation per year out of the SriLankan rivers. It originates 4600m above mean sea level (Sripada), is 118km in lengthand opens to the sea at Kalutara.At the lower reaches of Kaluganga is a densely populated zone where the inhabitants arehighly dependent on sand mining activities which adversely affect the quality of thewater in the river. To assess the extent of mining effects, six sites were selected. Out ofthose sites, water samples were collected for monitoring purpose samples were collectedfrom the Kethhena water intake. In the other five sites heavy sand mining activities areon going. To compare the variation of chemical, physical & biological parameters inwater, samples were collected from each site and analysed weekly for two months.The physical parameters measured include - temperature, turbidity, suspended solids andelectrical conductivity. Chemical parameters assessed include pH, dissolved oxygen,BODs ( biological oxygen demand ), alkalinity, water hardness, [ Mg+2], [ Ca+2),[cr ]and COD. The data were analyzed by TWO WAY ANOVA using GLM procedureof MINITAB. Microscopic identification of biological parameters (phytoplankton's) wasidentified.According to the results obtained, the value of pH, temperature and dissolved oxygen arein the desirable level. But some values like conductivity, suspended solids, turbidity,alkalinity, [Cl], [Fe], phosphates as P20s, COD are higher than the desired range. BODsis within desired which means low organic matter in the river. [Cl'] along the riverindicates the salt-water intrusion directly effected by mining lowering the river bed.[Mg2+], [Ca+2], Nitrogen, water hardness are lower than the desired level. Anabena,Nostoc, Microcystis, Closterium, Cosmarium, Occilatoria, Spirogyra. Spirulina Spps arcfound as biological indicators in the water at mining sites but in lower abundancy. At thesite of water intake few species were identified but abundancy is higher than in othersites. These species include, Occilatoria.Euglina ssp.,Closterium,Cosmarium,SpirogiraAccording to the above results it can be concluded that the sand mining activities hasadversely affected the quality of the water at the lower reaches of Kaluganga

ANALYSIS OF WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS IN WELL WATER IN THE VICINITY OF AN INDUSTRIAL ZONE AND ANALYSING SOURCES AND EFFECTS

The Ratmalana - Moratuwa area located in the south of Colombo has developed as anindustrial residential suburb of Colombo in the 1950's. It has been revealed that theenvironmental problems in the area are very acute due to the activities of large number ofindustries. About 150 industries arc densely packed, within this area. Most of the industries.are non-agro based industries. They can be catcgoriscd into several groups such as paintindustries, galvanising industries, asbestos industries, dyeing and finishing,pharmaceutical industries and battery manufacturing industries. According to aninvestigation of discharges produced in the area :: was found that major part of the effluentwas released via surface drainage to Lunawa and Bolgoda Lake. The main issue associatedwith this industrial pollution is water contamination. Even though many studies have bccncarried out on surface water contamination, studies on ground water contamination havenot been done in detail. The intention of this study was to, analyse ground water samples atvarious sites of the industrial zone and to relate the results to thc present industrialactivities of the area. From these studies it was found that the chemical oxygen demand(COD), levels far exceed the acceptable portable water quality standards, indicating highchemical pollution. In addition it was found that Chemical pollutants arc present in theground water. Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) has exceeded the tolerant limits forportable water level at several locations. The trace metals that exceed the levels arc Zn, Fe,Cd, Pb, and Ni which had not been noted in a previous study done by De Silva et al.( 1986).Low pH values- in some of the samples indicate water contamination with acids. SOl\1esamples have been contaminated with acids and it was revealed by low pl l of sonicsamples, Most industries in the area dispose their effluents directly in to thc drainagesystem without any prior treatments. Ground water contamination is thought to be a directconsequence of these inefficient effluent systems. This study discusses the analytical resultsof water samples taken from various locations of the industrial area and described theindustrial activities ill the area that might have caused this ground water contamination,and discusses possible health effects due to use of polluted watcr as a source of portablewater in this well water.

FUTURE OF BITUMEN EMULSION AS-AN ENVIORNMENTAL FRIENDLY ROAD CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL

Bitumen emulsion is a thermodynamically unstable· heterogeneous system in which finelyground bitumen particles are dispersed in an aqueous medium. In most parts of the worldusage of bitumen emulsion as a road construction material has increased during the recentpast partially replacing penetration grade bitumen (tar) and cutback bitumen due toenvironmental reasons. In Sri Lanka bitumen emulsion is used for certain roadconstruction work. However, still there is somewhat reluctance among road engineers touse bitumen emulsion as a substitute for 01her types.There are numerous uses for bitumen emulsion utilizing highly varied techniques, whichresults in several different formulations; namely cationic and anionic depending on particlecharges and rapid setting, medium setting and slow setting depending on its speed ofseparation of bitumen from aqueous medium. In Sri Lanka, cationic type bitumen emulsionis used, as majority of the available local aggregates are acidic except Jaffna limestone.Bitumen emulsion is suitable to the requirements of all road maintenance work. Ease ofstorage and transport make it possible to set up numerous depots and its ease and facility ofuse enable work to be done quickly causing minimum disturbance to the users. It may bethe first choice bituminous material for all maintenance work on road pavements due toenvironmental friendliness, provided that correct proportions and standard specificationsare being used.Bitumen emulsion has proven itself as a binder, which utiJises very low energyconsumption in road maintenance and laying of surface dressings. Penetration gradebitumen requires heating at construction sites, which emit smoke with chemicals and alsoit needs fuel, which is a non-renewable rCS0\JfCC.Kerosene that is used for cutting back theviscosity of bit urn en is also a non-recoverable waste when curing takes place on the road.ThIS paper identifies the advantages of using bitumen emulsion over other traditionalalternatives and investigates the reasons for the reluctance to use locally. The paperproposes suitable remedial measures to overcome the perceived disadvantages and increasethe use of bitumen emulsion as an environment friendly alternative.