Kathmandu, April 17

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has delegated power to approve the terms of reference and report of Initial Environmental Examination related to extraction and collection of river products to district coordination committees till mid-July.

A circular issued by Environment and Disaster Management Section of the MoFAGA on April 11 also directed the DCCs to act in accordance with the Environment Protection Act and rules. According to the circular, the concerned local levels shall be responsible for the IEE functions regarding collection and extraction of river products for development activities.

“The IEE to be conducted by the local levels will be approved by the DCCs on the recommendation of a district-level IEE Review Committee led by chiefs of district coordination committee offices. The six-member committee will discuss the IEE reports before recommending them to the DCCs for approval or disapproval,” it said.

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 rural municipality, 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, among others.

Similarly, the committee may issue an order to the concerned contractors, extractors and mining and crusher industries to present annual action plan of extraction and sales at the meeting of the Industries Committee of the district.

It shall be the duty of the concerned rural municipality or municipality or extractor or collector to abide by directions of the committee on the basis of monitoring report, the circular read.

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

The MoFAGA informed that the IEE report should include the details with site map, quantity, duration, equipment and method for collection or extraction of river products.