Bhubaneswar: The Eastern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued notice to the state government seeking its response to a plan to construct a bus depot near the Chandaka Wildlife Reserve.
The bench, which heard the matter, has asked the state to respond to the allegations raised by a petitioner before the NGT saying the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned a bus depot in areas with plantations and the project would lead to loss of greenery and interfere with the nearby wildlife population.
The petition challenged the alleged arbitrary selection of the land having dense vegetation, mostly thousands of fruit bearing plants over 3.494 acres of land in Chandrasekharpur Mouza for the bus depot. The petitioner, Kashninath Mallik, accused the state government of having taken the decision without considering the available alternative barren land in the same locality.
The petition to the NGT, accessed by Orissa POST read, “The site in question is adjacent to Bharatpur Reserve Forest which is a part of Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary and Elephant Reserve. The boundary of the sanctuary is less than 50 metres and the present site is also home to various wildlife such as peacocks, and other animals from the sanctuary also visit the site.”
It also added, “The structures like bus terminal will have high masthead lights and the movement of vehicles will generate huge noise which will have impact on the movement of wild animals particularly elephants.”
It is noteworthy that the Khurda district has a mere 16.25 per cent forest cover as per the statistics of the state government mentioned in their State of Forest Report 2017 while the National Forest Policy mandates having 33 per cent forest cover area for plain areas and 67 per cent for hilly areas.
Citing the eco-sensitive nature of the area, the petitioner urged the tribunal to direct shifting the depot to a barren land which would not lead to loss of trees and pose any threat to the wildlife. According to the petitioner’s lawyer if the depot is built then hundreds of trees would have to be cut down.