BHUBANESWAR: As tree felling in Balarampur village in Dhenkanal district for setting up a beer factory became difficult for the state government to handle because of the outrage among the people and the ongoing winter session of the Assembly, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today cancelled the bottling plant in that location after receiving the report from the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) report.
The RDC who submitted his report today recommended cancellation of land allocated for the bottling plant which was to be set up by Kolkata based P and A Bottlers Private Limited. The report also
recommended that alternative site should be provided for the proposed and unnecessary cutting of trees should be stopped forthwith.
The issue witnessed noisy scenes in the assembly today and an adjournment motion brought by the Opposition members could not be discussed as the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 PM.
The Chief Minister had directed the RDC to inquire into the matter and immediately stop tree cutting after the villagers lodged strong protest. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had laid the foundation stone of the said project through video conferencing on November 3. However, the construction work of the project scheduled to begin on November 8 was stopped due to the protest by the villagers.