Anandapur: Despite the Odisha government’s best efforts in creating green cover in various rural areas of Keonjhar district, the programme is going haywire and funds are being misappropriated, sources said Monday. The ‘Green Mahanadi Mission’ scheme was launched by the Forest Department a few months back and already funds worth several crores have been spent. Locals, however, alleged that the project is yet to take off due to the whimsical and apathetic attitude of some unscrupulous government officials.
Sources said that over 24,000 saplings were planted in rural areas of the Anandapur forest division under the scheme, but only 2,400 have survived. They pointed out that lack of upkeep and maintenance has led to the destruction of most of the saplings. The plantation programme was launched in FY 2022-23. The sapling plantation was undertaken on 15 hectares of land in Guhalia, and Tukuna localities in the Hatibandha reserve forest under the Anandapur range.
Among the saplings were fruit and medicinal plants including mango, amla, Arjun, custard apple, asana, bahada, balisisu, deodar, gambhari, jamun, cashew, neem, peepal, guava, and jackfruit. Saplings of trees that produce valuable timber like piasal, phanphana, patuli, teak and sirisha were also planted. Sources said that in the first phase, 4,000 saplings were planted while in the second, the remaining 20,000. They pointed out that after the saplings were planted, Forest department staff failed to take care of them in a proper manner.
During the investigation, it was found that fencing put around the plantation area had also snapped enabling entry of domestic animals. They ate up a sizeable portion of the saplings. Locals have demanded a probe into the misappropriation of funds and stringent action against erring officials. The then-forester Malaya Sahu said that the saplings withered as it did not rain for a period of over six months. Anandapur DFO Abhaya Kumar Dalai pointed out that the scorching heat has resulted in the destruction of a large number of saplings. He added that the Forest department will again plant new saplings soon.