The Utkal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UCCI) organised a national-level workshop on ‘Forest and environment clearances for sustainable mining’ here on Sunday.
Chairing the first session, Additional PCCF (GIS) Amiya Kumar Mohapatra said, “The definition of the forest which was framed in 1996 needs to be revisited. Consolidation of small patches of pastures to create workable space and concentrated forest areas should be done.” Expressing his concern over the ‘unnecessary’ bottle necks created by the Forest Act 1996, he said, “The Act should be redrafted from scratch.”
Former Mines Director and SGAT advisor BK Mohanty slammed some NGOs, alleging that they have adopted a negative approach in respect of setting up of industries. “Some NGOs are spreading the idea of industries not being pro-environment and pro-people and this should be checked,’ he said.
Among others, Additional PCCF (Nodal) Sidhant Das, Mines Director Deepak Mohanty, Essel Mining and Industries ltd CEO Ashok Bal attended the first session while UCCI president Ramesh Mahapatra and Senior Scientist of OPSCB Dillip Behera took part in the second session. UCCI Forest and Environment Committee chairman Prabhakar Rout welcomed the guests and co-chairman MV Rao gave a vote of thanks.