CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed imposition of environmental compensation (EC) of Rs 1 crore on Odisha government for undertaking a horticulture project on forest land in Botalanda and Karagola area under Sukinda Tehsil in Jajpur district.The penalty money will be deposited with the divisional forest officer (DFO), Cuttack Forest Division within two months, the NGT’s East Zone bench in Kolkata directed on Monday.
The bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar (Judicial Member) and Justice Saibal Dasgupta (Expert Member) further directed the DFO, Cuttack, to utilise EC money in consultation with the District Magistrate, Jajpur for development of a bio-diversity park in the area by planting a mix of endemic trees including medicinal plants and a herbal garden. “The aim should be to improve the genetic and ecosystem diversity of the area in question,” the bench said.
The tribunal’s direction came while disposing of a plea by Tapan Kumar Baral, a resident of the area alleging that a horticulture project was being developed by felling trees using machinery in forest land spread over 377.83 acre. Earlier, the NGT had constituted a three-member committee and assigned it to submit a report on the status and category of the forest land.
After submission of the report the bench observed, “Question is when the land in question is identified as ‘Sal Jungle’, how could it be utilised for guava plantation? Guava trees are not trees identified as ‘sal jungle’. Once the nature of the land is classified as ‘sal jungle’ or ‘patita jungle’ the said land could not have been utilised for any purposes other than forest purposes without seeking permission from the Central Government for use of the said forest land for non-forest purposes as provided under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.”