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The 62nd annual report of the Auditor General has stated that the Ministry of Forestry and Environment and its subordinate agencies have not corrected the shortcomings of the past. The report of the Accounts General which was released on May 31 (Wednesday) stated that the past reports also included violations such as protected area encroachment, air quality status, subsidy utilization, environmental impact assessment report taking more time than prescribed by the law, forest encroachment control being ineffective, etc.
Projects operated with foreign aid are not operating according to schedule, environmental impact assessment report is not approved on time and According to the report, 1.45 billion 3.6 million which should have been received from various agencies in the Forest Development Fund for forest area rights has not been received . Similarly, the report showed that 4 thousand 39.12 hectares of encroached land in 65 districts could not be returned.
Delay in approval of environmental impact assessment
The Auditor General's report has stated that the Ministry of Forestry delayed the approval of environmental impact assessment. In Section 3 of the Environmental Protection Act, 2076, there is a provision that environmental testing and evaluation must be done and the report submitted to the relevant agency for approval, and in Rule 9 of the Environmental Protection Act, 2077, the Ministry of Environmental Impact Assessment must approve it within 35 days . But in the report, the ministry took a minimum of 265 to a maximum of 1762 days to approve the environmental impact assessment. Similarly, the ministry has said that it took time to examine 19 reports out of 48 environmental impact assessments approved this year.
'There has been a delay in the implementation of the plan due to the environmental impact assessment report not being approved on time,' the report says, 'There is a situation of delay in service delivery as the time and cost of construction will increase.' The Auditor General has suggested that the Ministry coordinate with the stakeholders to arrange for timely approval of the report.
'Proper use of pollution control fee'
The Auditor General's report has recommended the proper use of pollution fee charged on petrol and diesel. In Section 13 (1) of the Economic Act, 2080, there is a provision to levy a pollution control fee at the rate of 1.50 rupees per liter of petrol and diesel sold and distributed within Nepal.
'2 billion 78 crore 93 lakh rupees have been collected this year,' the report says, 'the said fee should be used for the prescribed purpose .' Similarly, it is mentioned in the report that from the financial year 2065/66 to 2080/81, 22 billion 39 million 22 million revenue was collected and deposited in the reserve fund.
