Ahead of general elections next month, the mega steel plant project in Odisha is back in the limelight, with JSW Steel now seeking forest clearance from the union environment ministry.
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Jharana Pradhan Versus State of Odisha & Others dated 19/02/2019 regrding Industrial Development Corporation (IDCO) while creating Land Bank for establishment of industries and allied purposes had applied to the State Government through the Collector, Keonjhar District, Odisha for providing 306.670 decimals of land, most of which are forest land being recorded as Kisam Gramya Jungle.
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Jayant Dehuri & Others Vs State of Odisha & Others dated 12/02/2019 regarding construction of a distillery and laying of pipes through Gramya Jungle in Fakirpur Village, Harabhanga Tehsil, Boudh District of Odisha.
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Bidu Bhusan Harichandan & Other Vs District Collector Khurdha & Others dated 04/02/2019 regarding illegal laterite stone mining at 40 different sites in the Khurdha District of Odisha to an extent of about 500 acres encompassing several villages including Tapanga, Anda and JhinkiJhari under Nijigarh Tapang Panchayat. The area involves amongst others cashew jungle, gramya jungle and gochar land. Neither Environmental Clearance nor Consent to Operate have been obtained from the respective authorities.
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Niranjan Pradhan & Others Vs State of Odisha & Others dated 04/02/2019 regarding encroachment of 25 acres of revenue forest land by a crusher unit, Keounjhar District, Odisha.
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Ranjit Kumar Dora Vs District Collector Jajpur & Others dated 28/01/2019 regarding illegal sand mining in the Brahmani river in Dharmasala Tehsil, Jajpur District, Odisha. It is contended that there is rampant use of excavators while permission has been granted only for manual mining. There is excess mining and mining beyond the designated area. Depth of the sand mining has exceeded the permissible limits of 3 mtr resulting in the ground water level in the villages in the vicinity of the river.
The company had offered the lowest bid of Rs 2.79 per unit for putting up the 75 Mw project in the state in response to the 200 Mw solar power tenders floated by Gridco
The State Government is worried over inordinate delay in grant of forest and environmental and exploration clearances for some of the major mines of the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).
