Bhubaneswar: A coordination meeting to resolve forest-related issues and ensure the expeditious processing of forest diversion proposals for major infrastructure projects was held today, October 13, 2025.
The meeting, chaired by the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Home, Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Shri Satyabrata Sahu reviewed the progress and current status of several key projects listed on the PMG/PRAGATI portals of the Central and State Governments that involve forest-related issues.
These projects included those from NHAI, Indian Railways, OPTCL, GSI, and Reliance Jio Infocom Limited. Specific projects examined were the Capital Region Ring Road Project, the Goru-Mahisani New Railway Line of South Eastern Railway, the 4G-based Mobile Service Project of Reliance Jio Infocom Limited, and an Exploration Proposal of the Geological Survey of India.
Also reviewed were the Kalta Iron Ore Mines of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Transmission Line Projects of OPTCL, and the Integrated Steel Plant Proposal of Kalyani Steel Ltd.
Additional Chief Secretary Shri Sahu directed all Regional Chief Conservators of Forests (RCCFs) and Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) to fast-track the processing of forest diversion proposals for these critical infrastructure projects. They were instructed to give these proposals top priority and proactively clear all pending issues at their level.
Nodal Officers were specifically instructed to monitor, facilitate, and ensure compliance at all stages to prevent unnecessary delays. Furthermore, user agencies were advised to submit all necessary documents, maps, and enclosures to the concerned DFOs without delay to minimize processing time.
The ACS emphasized strict adherence to the timelines set for processing the forest diversion proposals and urged all concerned departments and agencies to work in close coordination to achieve timely project implementation.
The review meeting was attended by the Additional PCCF (Nodal) Dr. K. Murugesan, Officer on Special Duty and Special Secretary, FE&CC Department Shri Lingaraj Otta, CMD of OPTCL Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma, and CCF (Nodal) A.K. Kar. The Chief Engineer of Railways, all Regional Chief Conservators of Forests, and Divisional Forest Officers also participated, with senior officers of the User Agencies attending virtually.