With opening up of more mines on the anvil, State’s green cover seems to be under great stress as Odisha has seen a significant loss of forestland last year for a host of private and public industrial projects.Already Odisha is the second State in the country after Madhya Pradesh to see the maximum forest land diverted for industrial reasons.
The data available with the State Principal Chief Conservator of Forests reveal that last year as high as 4,517 hectares of forest land were diverted for around 50 industrial projects. As the new NDA Government at Centre is clearing up the pending forest clearances in a fast-track manner to boost sagging industrial growth, Odisha has seen a jump of almost 3-times in diversion of its forest land in 2014 from that of in 2012. However, it is a notch below that of in 2013 when Odisha saw diversion of over 5,460 hectares of forest land for mere 10 industrial projects notwithstanding the brouhaha over Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi intervention in denying forest clearance to Vendanta in Niyamgiri hills. In last three years, the State has seen diversion of over 11, 911 hectares forest land for industrial purposes.
The detailed data shows that forests are fast losing out predominantly to mining in the State. It reveals that diversion of forest land for mining in State is over 60 per cent against the national average of 50 per cent. After mining, thermal units coming up in the State saw the maximum forest land diversion. Significantly, none of the forest land was diverted for hydro-power and irrigation projects in the State so far. Sources in the Forest Department reveal that over a dozen projects from the State still wait for forest clearance from the Union Environment Ministry as the State Government has not provided the necessary documents to it.
Importantly, the State Government is yet to notify the conservation measures undertaken by it in the reclaimed forest lands despite it being mandatory under the Forest Conservation Act 1980. Data with the State Forest Department shows reclamation of around 79,000 hectares of forest land up to year 2008. Activists like Sudhansu Deo attribute this non-notification of updated data to Centre to failure on the part of the State in reclaiming the encroached forest land by miners and poor afforestation measures taken up. Even the Justice Shah Commission report on illegal mining in State had expressed deep concern over negligent afforestation programmes in the reclaimed areas in the mine-rich regions.
Though the State has a reserve forest area of 26,329 sqkm and protected forests area of 11, 685 sqkm, around 20,000sqkm of non demarcated and other forests area under the Revenue Department bears the maximum stress of diversion in the State. State’s record in afforestation programme looks no enthusing as area under Compensatory Afforestation (CAF) has nearly halved to around 2,100 ha from 4,200 ha in 2010-11. Similarly, area under National Afforestation Programme (NAP) has also witnessed a downward trend in the State.