The Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are pursuing the development of electricity trading arrangements and the establishment of a Central Asia - South Asia Regional Electricity Market (CASAREM). A key aim of the CASAREM initiative is the proposed development of a cross-border electrical interconnection linking all four countries to facilitate the transfer of surplus power from the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, southwards to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The first phase of CASAREM is to establish the necessary transmission and trading infrastructure and systems to enable a trade of 1000 to 1300 MW of electricity between Central Asia and South Asia, and referred to as “CASA-1000”. The purpose of this ESIA/ESMP is to use existing relevant environmental and social information for the CASA 1000 project and assess project impacts and proposed mitigation and management measures. A key part of the ESIA/ESMP is the purchase of new 6 m resolution satellite imagery for the entire CASA 1000 route to augment existing baseline information. No new field investigations were conducted at this feasibility stage due to a variety of reasons including timing, logistics, feasibility and security. Specific objectives of this ESIA/ESMP are to: - Produce one document summarizing all environmental and social information available for the CASA 1000 project; - Evaluate project related social and environmental impacts and their associated mitigation measures; - Produce environmental and social alignment sheets that document environmental and social concerns along the entire 1200 km ROW corridor of the CASA-1000 project; - Identify data gaps at this project feasibility stage; - Prepare a feasibility-level environmental and social management plan that will form part of construction contract documents and form the basis of more detailed ESMPs that will follow during design and construction stages; - Provide guidance on public consultation for the CASA-1000 project during the summer of 2011; and, - Prepare a generic framework for Land Acquisition and Resettlement Plan for each of the four CASAREM countries and the preparation of individual plans once final route selection has been decided.