Bhubaneswar: Notwithstanding the temporary restriction orders from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against a mega piped water project in the Kendrapara district, the construction works in the controversial area continues unabated.
The petitioner in the case has now approached the district administration to raise the issue. He alleged that despite a recent order from the NGT, the implementation of the same has not been carried out at the ground level and construction works for the project is still underway.
“… the district administration had submitted a report to the NGT saying that ‘stop work’ order has been issued along with direction to remove the camp office and other allied structures from Forest Land. However, the same order has not been carried out on ground and all these structures on forest land have not been removed yet,” the petitioner, Ajay Samantray, said in a complaint to the administration.
The petitioner has also attached geo-tagged photos of the ongoing works at the project site to buttress his points. On September 6 this year while hearing the case, the NGT had directed the state government to stop construction of the mega pipe-water project. The order came after a complaint was filed to seek the attention of the environment regulator against the use of forest land for non-forest usage without adequate approvals.
The petitioner has now asked the district administration to enforce the NGT order on the ground and stop the construction works in the disputed area. The disputed region lies near the Manikunda village area in the district.
In the latest interim order, the three-judge bench of the NGT had said, “Before we issue a notice, we would direct the District Magistrate, Kendrapara, and the Divisional Forest Officer, Cuttack, to jointly undertake an inspection of the area in question and submit a report after verification of facts.”
The tribunal also directed the inspection team to scrutinize any wrong-doing in the case and to take necessary actions and file an ‘Action Taken’ Report accordingly.