Joint Meeting Of Three Parliamentary Committees

A joint meeting of three parliamentary committees - Parliamentary Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, Development Committee and Environment Protection Committee - took various decisions regarding replenishment of forest land and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) for development projects on April 3. The meeting was coordinated by the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee on a request by Office of the Investment Board Nepal (IBN). The decisions were taken to simplify and facilitate existing legal and structural complexities in development projects In regards with the forest land that a project developer will potentially have to acquire, the meeting decided to let the developer choose on either providing land for land or paying cash to the government for the acquired forest land at a price fixed by the government. It also decided to let the developer deposit necessary amount required for planting trees at 1:2 ratio for the trees impacted by the project. The meeting also asked the government to establish a separate agency under the Ministry of Forest to oversee the mobilization of such fund. Chairing the meeting Gagan Thapa, chair of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, said the government should be judicious enough to facilitate the investors and create an investment-friendly environment. “We should be able to resolve difficulities rather than create obstacles for the investors,” said Thapa. Rabindra Adhikari and chair of Environment Protection Committee Janak Chaudhari and participating parliamentarians stressed the need to maintain proper balance between development and environment to make sure that development process continues without suffering environmental loss. On the occasion, IBN CEO Radhesh Pant gave a presentation on problems facing development projects- mainly in Arun-3 and Upper Karnali hydropower projects regarding acquisition of forest land and EIA/IEE. The meeting was also attended by high ranking officials of line ministries.