Bhubaneswar, July 31: The Odisha government has reported to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that more than 400 square kilometers of forest land in the state is currently under encroachment.
This encroachment issue came to light after the NGT took suo motu cognizance of a news report, which highlighted large-scale encroachment of forest land across the country. The NGT directed states and union territories to provide details of the encroachment and the actions taken in response.
The principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Odisha has presented the following detals.
Nabarangpur district alone accounts for 236.67 sq km of the encroached forest land, which represents 58.42% of the total encroachment in Odisha.
The southern districts of Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kalahandi, Gajapati, and Ganjam together account for 72% of the total forest land under encroachment.
Bhadrak district has no encroachment on its entire 77.80 sq km of forest land.
The affidavit submitted by the PCCF on July 22 states that “encroachment cases have been booked” regarding the forest land encroachment1.
The NGT has emphasized the seriousness of this issue and urged immediate attention and action if authorities have not yet taken appropriate measures.
