Bhubaneswar: Expressing concern over the delay in granting forest clearances for major projects, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi Friday directed Forest department officers to speed up the process for granting forest clearance to avoid time and cost overruns.
Padhi directed the officials to create a land bank for compensatory afforestation. Issues regarding the use of revenue forest land and mine voids for compensatory planting of saplings were discussed and resolved at the meeting.
Project proposers were asked to submit compliances on the web portal in time. Time limits were fixed for completion of proposals for each projects and their transmission to the Union government.
Official sources said that 66 ongoing major projects have got forest clearances, of which 33 have got stage-1 forest clearance while the rest have got stage-II clearance.
These projects are being implemented through the departments of steel and mines, energy, works, industry, irrigation, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Railways.
The Chief Secretary instructed the officials to complete the ground work for stage-II clearance of NH and Railway projects and transmit them to the Union government within the prescribed time limit.
The projects awaiting stage-I forest clearances are the Chandikhol-Duburi Talcher section of NH, Baharagora-Singara section of NH-6, Binjhabahal-Tileibani section of NH-6, Singara-Binhjabahal section of NH-6, Biramitrapur-Barkote section of NH-23, Balasore-Baripada-Jharpokharia NH-5, Pallahara bypass, Balangir-Sonepur section of NH-57, Talcher-Bimlagarh new railway line, widening and strengthening of Rairangpur-Jasipura section of NH-220, Khorda road–Balangir rail line, doubling of Sambalpur-Talcher rail line and the doubling of the Sambalpur-Titilagarh rail line.
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