Kathmandu, Mar. 10: In an interaction programme here today, experts both in the official and the private sector pointed out different issues that could be instrumental to improve the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) process in the hydropower sector.

Different stages of EIA including screening, scoping, terms of reference, preparing the EIA report, among others, were discussed under the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threat (SWOT) Analysis basis.

EIA is a mandatory provision in the Environment Protection Act introduced some two years ago that requires proponents to assess the impact of the proposed project on the environment. Proponents are supposed to begin their project work only after the EIA is approved by the Minister of Population and Environment.

“EIA is the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating, and managing the biophysical, social health and other relevant effects of development proposal before major decisions are taken or commitments are made,” defines the National Environmental Impact Assessment Association (NEIAA). “A typically institutionalised EIA is applied primarily to minimise the adverse affects that large-scale development projects have on natural resources and ecosystem.”

Existing legal provision requires hydropower projects above five MW installed capacity to undergo the EIA process before beginning the construction works. According to officials at the Ministry of Water Resources, EIA of only one hydropower project has so far been approved by the ministry after the enactment of the Environment Protection Act.

Experts pointed issues like fixing time limit for the approval of the different requisites of the EIA process. “Since more than one and a half year is required for the entire EIA process, there has to be time limits for its different components.”

Another issue that surrounded the discussion was the availability of manpower in the private sector and the officialdom to conduct and review the EIA process. While those representing the private sector stressed that the officialdom should be equipped with qualified manpower, officials from the Ministry of Water Resources and MoPE charged that even the private sector is yet to be well-equipped with adequate and qualified manpower.

“Our efforts should be toward strengthening the required manpower,” said Surya Man Shakya, a senior environmentalist.

Presently, the MoPE has only around 10 technical staff to deal with EIA related issues, according to the ministry officials.

The interaction workshop was organised by NEIAA, Electricity Development Centre and International Research Group which runs under the programme of the United States Agency for International Development.