ROURKELA: A team comprising officials of different departments on Saturday visited the proposed site for a greenfield industrial complex of Kai International Pvt Ltd (KIPL) to probe allegations of violation of environmental norms by the company.
The team comprising principal chief conservator of forest and head of forest force Debidatta Biswal, PCCF (Wildlife) Sushil Kumar Popli, deputy DG of Forest Arta Trana Mishra and Union Ministry of Forest scientist TH Mohanta inspected the site at Kapand village in Lahunipada block of Sundargarh district.
The team assessed the project’s impact on the local environment including wildlife, ecology, adjoining river and green cover. The Kolkata bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on February 7 had directed the inspection of the site by a high-level environment team within a month with a mandate to submit the report in two months.
Environmentalist Prafulla Samantara, one of the petitioners to NGT, alleged that the company illegally felled numerous trees without getting requisite forest clearance with the DFO concerned terming the site as a non-forest area. He said the site is contiguous to the Kukia reserve forest (RF) which is home to numerous rare and endangered wildlife species.
Following objections, the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union Ministry of Forest stopped processing the company’s Environment Clearance (EC) application. Welcoming the team’s visit, Samantara claimed if the assessment is conducted properly, the project will be cancelled.
On May 24, 2022, the Rourkela-based regional office of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) conducted the environmental public hearing for the project amid public protest at Badapurunapani football ground. Those opposing the project had described the public hearing as a sham claiming it was held in an illegal and undemocratic way in the presence of a handful of company supporters with police restricting entry of a large number of affected villagers.
The project site of KIPL envisages setting up of a 1.5 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) beneficiation plant, 1.2 MTPA pelletisation plant, 0.346 MTPA sponge iron plant, 0.430 MTPA billet plant, 0.417 MTPA Rolling Mill, 75 Mega Watt power plant and a slug crushing unit among other things.