By ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has restrained the block development officers (BDOs) of Danagadi and Sukinda in Jajpur district from carrying out further construction of government schools on forest-category land without obtaining the requisite statutory approvals, official sources said Monday.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has restrained the block development officers (BDOs) of Danagadi and Su kinda in Jajpur district from undertaking further construction on forest-category land for government schools without obtaining the necessary approval in accordance with law, official sources said Monday.
The Eastern Zone Bench of the NGT passed the order October 30 on a petition filed by Kailash Chandra Nayak, a resident of Nuadihi village in Jajpur district, alleging large-scale construction of school infrastructure on forest land without mandatory clearance from the competent authorities.
The petitioner had challenged construction activities involving 84 schools in Danaga di and 94 schools in Sukinda blocks, alleging that forest-category land was being used for non-forest purposes without prior approval from the Centre.
The case relates to original application 109/2025/EZ. It was initially taken up by the tribunal on July 7, 2025, when notices were issued to the state government, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Jajpur collector and other officials. The authorities were asked to submit their responses to the allegations.
During the subsequent proceedings, the Forest Department informed the tribunal that it had received 170 proposals for regularisation of forest-category land already occupied by schools. Of these, 107 proposals – 50 from Sukinda and 57 from Danagadi – were approved by the district-level remaining proposals were forwarded for consideration after site inspections.
The tribunal, however, made it clear that the regularisation process could not be bypassed and directed the authorities to obtain the requisite prior or ex-post facto approval from the Centre or the competent authority, as applicable. In an important observation, the tribunal noted that construction of government schools without following the prescribed procedure could be treated as irregular, but not necessarily as absolutely illegal.
It also referred to Section 3(2) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which provides for diversion of forest land for certain government-managed facilities, including schools, subject to prescribed conditions, including a limit of 75 trees per hectare.
The tribunal observed that proposals for ex-post facto approval could also be considered, keeping in view the provisions of the Forest Rights Act and the Right to Education Act, 2009. “…the present original appli cation is allowed and the user agency- BDO, Danagadi and BDO, Sukinda are restrained from raising any further con struction over the forest land in question as per applicability of the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 now the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 until ex-post facto/prior approval of Central Govern ment /competent authority, as the case may be, is obtained under the same in accordance with law/the prescribed proce dure,” Judicial Member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Ishwar sing ordered.
