Guwahati, June 11: Numaligarh Refinery Limited today said it is in discussion with Golaghat forest division for resolution of issues concerning its township.

"The divisional forest office, Golaghat, has raised a few environment-related issues with the NRL pertaining to its township. These issues are under discussion with the authorities for suitable resolution," an NRL statement released today said.

The refinery said the Golaghat administration had allotted a 67- bigha land adjoining its township at Numaligarh in 2010 for construction of dwellings for its employees.

It said a boundary wall to demarcate the allotted land was constructed in the 2011 and while doing so, adequate measures were taken not to disturb the environment. Forest officials, however, said the boundary wall was blocking the movement of elephants.

The refinery said permission from the forest department for felling of trees was subject to conditions and the same were complied with in letter and spirit to ensure that no disturbance was caused to the surrounding wildlife.

"While around 150 trees were felled in this new land, the company as part of its afforestation drive has planted about 6,000 tree saplings within its township" it said.

Award

Ranjit Kumar Dutta, former managing director of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd, was conferred the Outstanding Achievement Award at an annual technical conference in Mumbai recently.