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II. MECHANISMS FOR INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTALCONSIDERATIONS
[ II-A | II-B | II-C | II-D |II-E ]
C. Local level action
At present, about 4,000 Village Development Committees (VDCs) and 75 District Development Committees (DDCs) are empowered under the policy of decentralization to undertake village and district development activities. Such activities have a tremendous impact on the environment (e.g., road construction, irrigation, drinking water supply, forest management etc.). It would appear necessary for the relevant ministries, in consultation and cooperation with EPC (or the Ministry of Population and Environment), to set norms, standards and guidelines which are feasible and practicable under existing circumstances in respect of certain environmentally sensitive projects such as road construction, irrigation canals and drinking water supply. Careful observance of such guidelines and standards by the development councils should be made mandatory. When granting budgetary support, enforcement of compliance with such guidelines and standards should be made a precondition. It should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Local Development through its Local Development Officers (LDOs) to see that the councils follow the guidelines. When releasing grant assistance, it should also be mandatory for the concerned councils to submit a brief report on what measures they have taken for environmental protection while implementing their development projects. Periodically, LDOs should undertake inspections and evaluations on a sample basis and submit their findings to the Ministry of Population and Environment through the Ministry of Local Development.
Likewise, NGOs working at the local level with the approval, cooperation and coordination of the councils concerned should be bound by certain guidelines and standards. Those guidelines and standards should be enforced by the councils on a regular basis.
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