Kathmandu, August 9

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has extended the period of powers it earlier delegated to the district development committees till mid-January 2020, with regard to approval of Initial Environmental Examination.

A decision to this effect was made on Sunday. With this decision, the power to approve the terms of reference and report of IEE related to extraction and collection of river products will remain with the DDCs in accordance with the Environment Protection Act and Rules.

According to the circular issued by Environment and Disaster Management Section of the MoFAGA yesterday, the concerned local levels shall be proponent of IEE regarding collection and extraction of river products for development activities. The IEE to be conducted by the local levels will be approved by the DDCs on the recommendation of a district-level IEE Review Committee led by chiefs of district coordination committee offices. The committee will discuss the IEE reports before recommending them to the DDCs for approval, the circular stated.

The IEE report needs to include details with the site map, quantity, duration, equipment and method for collection or extraction of river products. The committee may issue necessary directions to the concerned local level, or extractor or collector regarding terms and conditions of the environmental study report and procedures and rules related to extraction of products. It may also issue directions regarding revenue leakage and smuggling, road safety and pollution control, market price, control of river and mining products, and standards to be followed by crusher industries.

If the directives are not followed, the committee may restrict rule violators from  extracting, collecting or exporting river products.