Introduction

Sreemangal, one of the oldest Municipalities of British regimes, is an “A” class

Municipality that received its ‘Municipality’ status in 1935. It is an important urban
center within Maulvibazar district. It has potentiality of development as a major
trading center in the region. With an area of 2.58 sq. km., the Municipality
accommodates 40,753 populations according to the estimated data. Density of
population is 15,796 persons in per sq. km. The proposed extended area covers 2.63
sq. km. Sreemangal Municipality area indicating all of the 9 wards are shown in the
Map (Master Plan, 2013). Sreemangal is a magical world famous for nature, forests
and wildlife, which makes it another prime Bangladesh Eco-Tourism Destination.
The only Tea Research Institute of Bangladesh is located at Sreemangal. Hence
whole the year a great number of local as well as foreign tourists come in the town.
The Municipality has an Auditorium cum Community Center (uncompleted) with
modern facilities. This is a proposed subproject relates to the Vertical Extension of
Community Center under the Municipal Governance and Services Project (MGSP)
by Sreemanga Municipality. The name of the Sub-project is the Vertical Extension of
Mohsin Auditorium cum Community Center has been proposed and adopted in the
Sreemangal Five-Year Capital Investment Plan (2017-2022). The aim of Sreemangal
Municipality is the creation of an urban livable environment, where people
irrespective of their socio-economic, demographic and religious identities can live
and enjoy today within affordable means without sacrificing interests of tomorrow.
Therefore, considerable social, economic as well as environmental benefits may be
obtained with the full construction of Mohsin Auditorium cum Community Center. It
will be helpful for accommodating social gathering increase the facilities of different
occasion or festival. Community Centre will bring a new life style on various
occasions for the citizen and tourist as well. It will also increase financial permanent
benefit to the Municipality through revenue generation.

About srimangal geography and location :

The site is located beside the Municipality Compound under Ward no. 6 at
Vanugach Road. It is located between 24o 52΄48΄΄and 24o 54΄25΄΄north latitudes and
between 92o 20΄33΄΄ and 92o 23΄06΄΄ east longitudes situated at the foot of Shilling
Mountain range, a part of the Himalayan Mountain system and about 170 kilometres
North East of Dhaka (Master Plan, 2013). An area of 0.247 acres of the Sreemangal
Sustainable

Municipality owned land has been identified and selected for the proposed project
development. The proposed site is well connected with Dhaka road. The adjacent
areas are Ward No. 3, 5, 6 and 9 where about 40 percent households of the
municipality are situated in and around the proposed Auditorium cum Community
Center.
Sreemangal Municipality proposed to establish such a community center with the
financial support of BMDF. The project as proposed to be constructed under the
overall technical guidance of BMDF entrusted for ensuring an environmental friendly
planning, design and construction of physical structures qualitatively and enhancing a
user friendly operation and management system. The Municipality rightly planned
for such a modern community center with the realization of felt need of city dwellers.
This Environmental Assessment (EA) presents the screening of potential
environmental impacts of the proposed sub-project with the recommendations of
potential mitigation and enhancement measures in order to eliminate or reduce the
negative impacts to an acceptable level, describes the institutional requirements, and
provides a specific Environmental Management Plan
Geography:
Sreemangal Municipality is of higher elevation area under Sylhet region. The lowest
contour height is +9.3 m PWD and the highest contour height is +17.27 m PWD in
Sreemangal Municipality. Average land height of the area is + 12.99 m PWD (Master
Plan, 2013). Therefore, the Municipality is free from normal flooding. Only minor
water logging occurs during the rainy season that does not stay for long time. On the
other hand, since the Assam fault passes through the Sreemangal Municipality, it lies
in a geologically sensitive area. On the other hand, the soil has different
Characteristics depending on age, drainage and parent material. According to the
classification, the soil type of is Surma-Kushiyara Floodplain soil (Master Plan,
2013).
Climate and Meteorology
Sreemangal has a tropical climate and except for heavy rain falls, the climate is much
like other parts of the country. The mean annual rainfall is 3880 mm with the
heaviest occurring during June-July period (Master Plan, 2013). Despite the higher
rainfall, the climatic regime is similar to that of the remainder of the county. The cool
and dry winter, December-February is followed by a hot and showery pre-monsoon
period, March-May, and then the relatively cooler but very wet monsoon season,
June-September.

Climate geography

Flooding, Water Logging and Drainage System

The Municipality is free from normal flooding; even no severe flood was in 1988,
1998, 2004 and 2007 (Master Plan, 2013). Only minor water logging occurs during
the rainy season that does not stay for long time, it occurs mainly due to inadequate Sustainable
Cities and Communities

maintenance of drainage network within the Municipality area. However, the Sub
project area comparatively being in the higher area adjacent to the road side drain in
the north and discharge passage in the west towards the south offshore. No water
congestion or any logging noticed by adjacent dwellers during the physical
observation in assessment period as well.
Dust
During the assessment no dust at noticeable level is observed in and around the Sub
project area and no any earth work, factory operation or huge traffic movement
which may generate dust in the area but possibility of dust spreading due to wind
flow in the summer may not be avoided. Moreover, it has been assumed that dust
flow would be observed during the construction period in the proposed site.
Role of geography in tourism

Tourism geography is the study of travel and tourism, as an industry and as

a social and cultural activity. Tourism geography covers a wide range of interests including the
environmental impact of tourism, the geographies of tourism and leisure economies, answering
tourism industry and management concerns and the sociology of tourism and locations of tourism.
Tourism geography is that branch of human geography that deals with the study of travel and its
impact on places.
Geography is fundamental to the study of tourism, because tourism is geographical in nature.
Tourism occurs in places, it involves movement and activities between places and it is an activity
in which both place characteristics and personal self-identities are formed, through the
relationships that are created among places, landscapes and people. Physical geography provides
the essential background, against which tourism places are created and environmental impacts and
concerns are major issues, that must be considered in managing the development of tourism
places.
The approaches to study will differ according to the varying concerns. Much tourism management
literature remains quantitative in methodology and considers tourism as consisting of the places of
tourist origin (or tourist generating areas), tourist destinations (or places of tourism supply) and
the relationship (connections) between origin and destination places, which includes transportation
routes, business relationships and traveler motivations. [1] Recent developments in human
geography have resulted in approaches such as those from cultural geography, which take more
theoretically diverse approaches to tourism, including a sociology of tourism, which extends
beyond tourism as an isolated, exceptional activity and considering how travel fits into the
everyday lives and how tourism is not only a consumptive of places, but also produces the sense
of place at a destination.