CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has restrained authorities from undertaking any further construction of government schools on forest category land in Jajpur district until the mandatory approval for land diversion is obtained from the competent authority.
Considering a petition filed by Nuadihi resident Kailash Chandra Nayak, the NGT’s East Zone bench comprising judicial member Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Ishwar Singh directed the state authorities to take necessary steps to obtain prior or ex-post facto approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, now renamed the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.
The petition challenged the construction of 84 schools in Danagadi and 94 in Sukinda blocks on forest category land without mandatory statutory clearances. While additional government advocate Partha Sarathi Nayak represented the state, advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy appeared for the petitioner.
According to the Forest department’s submissions, 170 proposals for regularisation of forest category land already used for schools were received from the education authorities. Of these, 107 proposals - 50 in Sukinda and 57 in Danagadi - were approved by the district-level committee on October 15, 2025.