Bhubaneswar: The decision of the state government to destroy the green cover spread over more than 1,000 hectares of land at Talabira in Sambalpur district for a new open cast mining has raised eyebrows of the environmentalists.
Local administration has started cutting down big trees to make the place fit for mining purpose. The Union and the state governments have already accorded all requisite approvals for the open cast coal mining at Talabira II and Talabira III.
The large-scale felling of trees in Sambalpur and Jharsuguda Forest Divisions has sparked debates.
The state government in 2014 had approached the Centre seeking prior approval for diversion of 1038.187 hectares of revenue and forest land for mining purpose. The government, on the other hand, had promised compensatory afforestation in other areas to compensate the loss of greenery.
Experts well versed with the issue said that with such move will deprive the locals of their forest rights.
“Most of the trees destroyed were actually grown by the villagers living near the forest range. They failed to get land titles under Forest Rights Act due to despite pendency of claims and repeated follow-up by villagers. Now, the same land is being allotted for mining,” Sankar Prasad Pani, lawyer with the National Green Tribunal (NGT), said.
Tribal and land rights activist Y Giri Rao said, “It will have disastrous impact on ecology, livelihoods of locals as well as wildlife. Odisha is a power surplus state. Why state government is in such a hurry? The project proposal mentions that more than 1.35 lakh trees would be felled.”
He also said that out of total number of trees 69 per cent sal trees are with diameter exceeding 60 cm.
The whole area, where massive cutting of trees with heavy machines is going on, is now guarded with police force.
Villagers claim that thousands of trees are being cut every day and their trunks are being piled up in the forest area.
Meanwhile, some villagers also complained their private and agricultural lands were taken away without notice.
