The Forest Department is facing a tough time to find a place for developing a nursery project in Baleswar district.
The proposed nursery place at Baunsamunha village near Sergarh under Nilgiri division ran into rough weather after the villagers, opposing the project on a gochar land, demolished its brick wall of about 100 metre.
The department is in a fix as the first phase amount `1.30 crore for raising the mega nursery has been released, but a suitable land is yet to be earmarked for it. The villagers protesting the nursery project claimed that the gochar land is of immense use to around five villages in the area as the children play there besides cattle grazing in place.
Baleswar DFO HB Udgata said that despite availability of funds, the project has hardly made any progress. The demolition of the concrete wall is a great setback, he maintained.
“Besides razing the boundary wall, the miscreants have looted the construction materials. The loss could be around `30 lakh. We have appraised the district Collector of the development,” said the DFO.
“The plan is to raise a permanent as well as a mega nursery on a patch of land of 25 acres. The permanent nursery while would meet the seedlings requirement of the department, the mega one would cater to the need of the common people. The land although still shown as gochar kisam yet from 1986 onwards, it has been shown as forest land as earlier a nursery under social forestry was done on the patch of land. As the record was not corrected by the Revenue Department and kisam of the land not changed, the disturbance has taken place,” the DFO said.
“The patch of land was given to the Forest Department under permissive permission for 6 months since March this year. The permission is valid till October. The department, as the villagers oppose the project tooth and nail, should go for only green boundary instead of concrete one,” suggested Remuna Tehsildar Binay Mohanty.