On July 31, 1992, Thai Airways aircraft crashed into a mountain at Ghoptebhir, just 37 kilometers north of Kathmandu. After some months, a plane of Pakistan Airlines met with an accident at Bhattedanda on September 28. These fatalities—the two deadliest aviation crashes in Nepal—raised concerns about air safety and prompted the study for an alternative airport. The study, based on technical and geographical aspects, recommended Nijgadh of Bara district as the best location for developing a second international airport.
The recommendation, however, gathered dust for about two decades. Smaller studies were carried out time and again but they failed to make headway. In the meantime, the construction projects of two regional airports at Bhairahawa and Pokhara were launched. Civil Aviation Authority started carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Nijgadh about two years ago. The Ministry of Forests and Environment approved the EIA on May 23, 2018. The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation sought permission from the Ministry of Forests and Environment for cutting down the trees for building the airport. Now the issue is being deliberated from several perspectives. Prior to this debate, Nepali media, civil society and conservationists were unaware of the EIA.
The news about felling down 2.4 million trees surfaced on the basis of EIA report that was not made available to the public. Though the law requires the authority concerned to make the EIA report public, it was not publicized easily. Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) managed to get the EIA report by using the law pertaining to the Right to Information. It left everyone shocked.
The report hasn’t met the minimum standard considering the size of the project, investment and its impacts. The EIA report prepared without Detailed Project Report includes irrational points that seem improbable for implementation and monitoring.
After getting the nod from the Ministry of Forests and Environment as per the Environment Protection Act, the project will be legalized. According to the report, the airport area will consist of 80 square kilometers and 2.4 million trees will be cut down in three phases. It has recommended planting 60 million saplings for compensating the loss.
When the recommendation of the EIA report and the demand of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to cut down trees were revealed, it drew widespread condemnation. In response to these criticisms, officials of Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, and Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal tried to defend themselves with contradictory claims.
The press statements or comments made by the officials, however, do not replace the legality of the EIA report. It should be legally scrapped and a new EIA report should be prepared in compliance with due procedure after the completion of the DPR.
EIA means not environment alone
With expansion of industrialization and open market, the western countries began to carry out EIA studies to minimize the impacts on environment and society in 1960s. Its extensive usage started after proposal of the Reo conference in 1992. Most of the countries across the world now have formulated their own laws and implemented them. Nepal also has its own mandatory law requiring EIA before implementing construction or projects.
At first sight, it seems it only focuses on environment issues. However, it also looks into positive and negative impacts on social and economic issues at the proposed development sites. Though it is called environmental study, it is more often concerned with social and economic issues. The EIA is meant to explain stakeholders including science and experts, affected people, wildlife, biodiversity and plants as well. Bothe local and global impacts and other issues of concerns should be analyzed.
For the investors and the government, Nijgadh is a project. But for the people, who will be displaced from Tagiya, it is a disaster. And for the male elephants heading to Koshi Tappu from Parsa in search of females, it is a blockade on the path of procreation. It’s a bad omen for these animals. So the EIA addresses the concerns of both who can speak or not. Generally, investors view EIA as an obstacle. It lengthens the project period and increases the size of investment. Sometimes, it stops the construction of project. But it makes investors to become more responsible towards environment and society. In fact, the EIA should help end or minimize the conflict between investors and stakeholders.
Now a conflict has surfaced in Nijgadh. Had the EIA been done as per procedure, this conflict would not have emerged. The government prepared a substandard EIA report without regard for scientific standards. When the government approved it, the problem began from this point.
What will standard EIA contain?
The Environment Protection Act 2052BS and its Regulation 2054BS {4(5)} have clearly defined the process, methods and analysis of an EIA report as well as its subject and structure. Either private investors or government should abide by this rule. In some cases, the Ministry of Forests and Environment itself should carry out EIA study.
For this purpose, structure of the project should be first determined. In the context of Nijgadh, location and details of runway, taxi-way, terminal building size and site should be designed first. Only then the EIA study will be carried out by holding discussions with stakeholders on environment, social and economic aspects. Analysis will be based on modality, enlisting, alternative solutions, technical and environmental concerns, as well as investment and profit.
It will be discussed with experts and analyzed from multiple aspects and an index of options will be prepared. And only the best alternative technology or area will be recommended. It will include all aspects of impacts of the project including direct and indirect investment to curb or minimize social, environment and economic effects.
The EIA prepared following the set standards will be forwarded to the Ministry of Forests and Environment for approval. After approval, it will be mandatorily implemented with its legality.
What are the weaknesses in Nijgadh EIA?
The key problem of proposed Nijgadh airport is that rules were violated while preparing EIA report. It is a standard practice to prepare the DPR or at least a clear project structure prior to starting the EIA any project. EIA report should be prepared on this basis and analyzed for alternatives. Therefore, the EIA done without DPR and only taking the technical and geographical condition is baseless and fictional. It is meaningless to comment or discuss on it.
Despite technical lapses, the Ministry of Forests and Environment approved the EIA. Generally, such EIAs are approved in such a way and there will not be much interest about implementation among public level. However, people are interested to know about investment of the Nijgadh project and its impacts. As a result, the lapses and weakness of the report were leaked outside.
The EIA report was prepared by the Korean Usin Engineering Company. The EIA report was not prepared as per the government’s endorsement of scoping report and conditions. It is sheer negligence to approve the report prepared without meeting and abiding by government conditions. It is a blunder to allow for EIA report without a proper DPR.
The report has included some aspects of cutting down the trees. But it has not fixed the land for planting the compensatory saplings. This has raised serious concerns. Generally, the location for plantation is described in the EIA.
Moreover, any methods or ways have not been mentioned in the report to minimize risks against wildlife movements. For example, it is not the solution of planting at another place by damaging the area where elephants roam here and there. It is the most unscientific logic to plant saplings at another place, and the government has tried to escape from the responsibility.
There is no doubt the weather and climate of the place will change after the construction of such huge infrastructure, thereby forcing a huge volume of water from the place to move. According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, 217ml rain was recorded in 24 hours in July 2002. It is the area annually affected by floods. The volume of water will increase in Bakaha and Pasaiya rivers during summer. Nothing has been analyzed about the effect on lower belt of Birgunj to Malangawa, measures to be taken to deal with it and estimation of cost for that.
It is imperative that quality water should be suppled round the clock to such a huge airport. And it won’t be possible with a small source of water. Water management is another big project. But it has not been mentioned in the EIA report. The East-West Highway and rail way fall in this region but they are not analyzed in the report.
The objective of EIA is to explore alternatives but it completely lacks in the EIA report of Nijgadh airport project. In fact, the report has not consulted the stakeholders. Not only the locals but also the scientific, wildlife, disaster experts along with others should have been involved in discussion for such a big project.
The present discussion is more focused on quality of EIA and its approval process rather than improving the Nijgadh EIA report. Preparing such low standard EIA is only the waste of time. Indeed, structural reforms are necessary to improve and implement the EIA.
what will be the way out?
As mentioned in the scoping paper, it is the appropriate place to develop airport on the basis of geological and technical aspects. However, layers of studies should be conducted on the impacts it can carry. Marriage was delayed by 23 years cannot be taken as a standard to reduce the pregnancy period from nine months.
When any official comments on it or expresses commitment, it cannot be established as the legal status. It also cannot be implemented. For it, there are set standards provisioned by the laws. It will be effectively implemented only by following the legal procedures.
irst and foremost, the approved EIA should be suspended and DPR should be carried out as soon as possible. All alternatives, number of runways, airport with or without city, benefits or loss of relocating a little bit, or choosing Janakpur or Simara instead of Nijgadh should be analyzed.
After completion of DPR, the airport development plan should be finalized. But the laws cannot be violated in a hurry.
I was given six hours to cut a tree, I will spend four hours sharpening my axe, the statement said by Abraham Lincoln will be applicable in the project operation too. In the context of Nijgadh, we spent 23 years doing nothing but now we are muddling up in haste. It will take more time to analyze process and alternatives but it will minimize conflict and doubt, helping to select a right modality for the project.
(Author is chairperson of NEFEJ.) Source: Setopati, vernacular online.
