A kick-off meeting on the consulting services for forest census and field verification was organized on 27 March 2023.
The meeting was organized to discuss and build a common understanding of the objectives, scope and approaches of the work, and orient selected consultants on the delivery schedule, payment provision and other relevant requirements as per MCA-Nepal and MCC guidelines.
Mrs. Shalini Tripathi, Deputy Executive Director, MCA-Nepal, welcoming participants in the kick-off meeting conducted on 27 March 2023.
Welcoming the participants in the meeting, Mrs. Shalini Tripathi, Deputy Executive Director, MCA-Nepal, stated that forest census works would enable the project to get site access in forest areas for the construction of the transmission line.
MCA-Nepal officials presented on various topics, including guidelines for the Environment and Social Protection, Gender and Social Inclusion, Communication, among others.
Mr. Ramu Subedi, the Coordinator for Forest Census works presenting the methodology to implement the assignment in the kick-off meeting conducted on 27 March 2023.
The contract for the consulting services has been granted to NESS Pvt. Ltd. in a joint venture with Natural Resources and Environment Management Centre Pvt. Ltd. and ADMC Engineering Pvt. Ltd. on 27 February 2023 for a period of eight months.
The selected consultant presented the methodology to implement the assignment in the meeting.
The consultant will identify and demarcate tower footprints, Right of Way (RoW) boundaries and vertical ground clearance zones for forest census teams to conduct tree enumeration, arrange necessary logistical support of forest census teams led by Division Forest Offices, conduct consultation meetings with the project-affected Forest User Group Committees (FUGs) and secure the consent letters from FUGs to enable the project to secure the forest clearance permit from concerned authorities.
