ID: 1493
Presenting Author: Badrivinod Dahal
Session: 714 - Assessing Information: Conflicting Data Interpretation and Eroding Public Trust
Status: pending
Nepal’s EIA practice, though supported by strong legal provisions, is weakened by misrepresentation, plagiarism and weak implementation, seen in development projects, ultimately eroding public trust
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a critical tool for safeguarding ecosystems and communities from the negative impacts of development projects. In Nepal, the legal framework for EIA is well established through the Environment Protection Act and related regulations. however, in practice, the system suffers from significant weaknesses. This paper examines the prevalence of misrepresentation, false information, and other irregularities in the preparation and implementation of EIAs in Nepal. Evidence from major projects highlights these problems. For example, the supreme court cancelled decisions related to Nijgadh International Airport because its EIA was defective and partly plagiarized. Similarly, in the case of Pokhara International Airport, parliamentary investigations exposed large scale- irregularities that undermined environmental oversight. In the hydropower sector, studies reveal a periodic pattern of poor-quality reports, recycled content, laughable baseline data and the most severe scenario is weak implementation of mitigation measures, with compliance monitoring occurring in less than 20 percent of cases. These performs erode public trust, deteriorate environmental governance and allow environmentally damaging projects to proceed with inadequate safety measure. The analysis underscores the urgent need for strengthening technical consistency, transparency, independent oversight, and stakeholder participation to prevent misrepresentations and falsehood information and to strengthen the implementation practices in Nepal’s Environmental Impact Assessment system
I am a conservationist from Nepal, actively engaged in impact assessment report preparation, currently pursuing Ph.D. on human-tiger interactions, fostering harmony between communities and wildlife.