Cuttack: National Green Tribunal’s east zone bench has issued notices to multiple authorities on allegations of illegal tree felling and land clearing for a proposed Rs 28-crore urban development project at Jubilee Park in Mayurbhanj district’s Baripada municipality.The order, dated April 30 and uploaded on May 6, was given while NGT was hearing a petition filed by a Kendrapada-based RTI activist seeking immediate intervention.Seeking relief, Pratap Chandra Mohanty urged the tribunal to declare the tree felling illegal under the Van Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan Adhiniyam 2023 and to direct authorities to restore the site to its original condition.Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy made the submissions for the petitioner. Taking note of it, the bench, comprising judicial member Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Dr A Senthil Vel on April 30 observed, “Prima facie the averments made in the application raise substantial questions relating to environment arising out of the implementation of the enactments specified in Schedule-I to the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010.”Accordingly, the tribunal directed its registry to issue notices to additional chief secretaries of the forest and housing departments, Mayurbhanj collector, divisional forest officer (DFO) Baripada, Odisha Biodiversity Board, Baripada municipality, Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and National Federation of Farmers’ Procurement, Processing and Retailing Cooperatives of India Ltd (NACOF). While the respondents are expected to file their responses within one month, the matter has been posted for further hearing on July 27.In his petition, Mohanty claimed that more than 100 trees were cut using chainsaws from April 4 onwards for the development of Jubilee Park and Jhinjiri Pond under Baripada municipality. The stumps, he alleged, were later cleared using heavy machinery, including earth-movers.The project, spread over nearly nine acres, covers land classified as forest (jungle), water body (jalasaya) and wasteland (patita). While the municipality issued the work order, execution has been taken up by the NACOF.Raising procedural lapses, the petitioner alleged that no prior approval was obtained from the divisional forest officer, Baripada, before initiating tree felling. He cited a 2011 order of the MoEFCC, which mandates that projects involving both forest and non-forest land require central clearance before any activity begins.The plea also flagged ecological concerns, stating that the site — locally known as “Pakhi Vihar” — has long served as a habitat for thousands of birds. Environmentalists have claimed that the area functioned as a year-round refuge for birds, making the alleged tree felling particularly damaging. The petition further alleged violation of provisions under the Biological Diversity Act 2002.
