Bhubaneswar: A total of 39,084 hectares of forest land has been diverted for execution of various projects including railway, road, mining, irrigation, industry, and energy during the last two decades.
According to official data of the Forest, Environment & Climate Change Department, 39,084.830 hectares of forest land has been diverted in the State for implementation of 427 projects during 2005 to 2024.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MOEF&CC) has given clearance for diversion of the forest land. Highest 4,034.109 hectares of forest land diverted for execution of 21 projects in the year 2019 while 3920.022 hectares of green field diverted for implementation of 38 projects in 2023.
Similarly, for execution of 21 projects 3887.240 hectares of forest land has been diverted in 2018 whereas 2982.140 hectares diverted for 36 projects in 2014, 2938.050 hectares in 2009 for 16 projects and 2648.573 hectares in 2005 for 28 projects, the sources said.
Out of the above 11,798.617 hectares of forest land has been diverted under Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 for 146 different developmental projects over the last 5 years (2020 to 2024).
All the 146 proposals have got Stage-II Clearance. Further, 90 proposals have obtained Stage-I clearance, which are pending for final approval (Stage-II) as per the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan)Adhiniyam, 1980, wherein FRA certificate as per the guidelines of MoEF & CC has been sought for.
However, despite the diversion of such a higher volume of forest land, the forest coverage of the State has been enhanced during the two decade. As per Forest Survey of India (FSI) Report, 2003, the State had a total of 48,366 square KM forest coverage, which has been increased to 52,433.56 Sq KM, as mentioned in the India State of Forest Report-2023.