CUTTACK: The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) east zone bench in Kolkata has taken serious note of alleged illegal tree felling within the Pachhikote demarcated protected forest (DPF) in Jajpur district and ordered a detailed investigation into the matter.
The bench comprising Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana (judicial member) and Ishwar Singh (expert member) issued the directive on September 26, while hearing a petition filed by Bhagabat Swain and four other residents of Korabandi village in the district.
The petitioners alleged that a contractor engaged under the Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC) scheme for the year 2023-24 had cut down mature trees in the forest area under the guise of executing soil moisture conservation (SMC) works, such as graded bunds, staggered trench waterbodies, contour and boundary trenches. The works were reportedly being carried out in the Jajpur Road section of the Jajpur Road range under the Cuttack Forest Division.
Taking cognisance of the allegations, the tribunal constituted a joint committee to carry out a ground-level inspection and submit a detailed report. The committee will include the PCCF Odisha and the deputy director general of forests from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), integrated regional office, Bhubaneswar. They have been directed to visit the site, verify the claims, and file a report before the next hearing, scheduled for December 11.
According to the petition, Pachhikote DPF, notified as a protected forest in 1956, spans 667.32 hectares and is home to Odisha’s only Sal forest within the Jajpur Road range. It was part of the ex-zamindari forests of Sukinda, Pachhikote and Kantajhari, which were brought under state control after the enactment of the Estate Abolition Act, 1951.
The petitioners claim that the forest, which hosts native species such as Sal, Char, and Mahula, has grown naturally over several decades and is now under threat from developmental activities carried out without due ecological assessment.