CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notices to the Collector and divisional forest officer (DFO), Nayagarh for construction of a road in forest area allegedly without obtaining any forest clearance.
A petition seeking intervention against the work was filed by Hemanta Nayak of Gudupangi village in the district. According to the petition, a 65-acre patch of dense forest cover with diverse vegetation at Dadhinauti preserved and maintained by villagers of Gudupangi for years is alleged to be in peril due to construction of road through it.
A six-km long road from Balabhadrapur to Dhipmal is being constructed under the PMGSY and MGNREGA.
Around 600 metre stretch of the road will pass through the forest. The construction work has been undertaken without obtaining any forest clearance as required under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, the petition stated.
It also expressed apprehension that any development of road through the forest will open a floodgate for timber mafia and wildlife poachers, posing threat to the forest and wildlife.
Petitioner counsel Sankar Prasad Pani submitted that construction work has started without considering the availability of alternative non-forest land.
NGT’s east zone bench of B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Saibal Dasgupta (Expert Member) felt that the matter requires consideration and issued notices to the collector and DFO to file affidavits in response to the allegations.