Green cover of the village in Posco plant area. Telegraph picture

Paradip, June 19: As land acquisition work for the greenfield Posco steel project is locked up in resistance hurdle, the state forest department has shot off an official communication asking Jagatsinghpur district administration to stop the ‘illegal’ felling of trees in villages coming under the proposed steel plant area.

Official sources said the administration has been warned not to undertake felling of forest trees like Casuarina and acacias. The department would be forced to take recourse to law and register prosecution cases against land acquisition officials. The note of caution of this nature from the state forest department has come in the wake of felling of forest species from the project area without the mandatory sanction obtained under Orissa Forest Act, 1972.

On June 27, the land acquisition personnel, during the course of acquiring betel vineyards, had pulled down these forest species. “We have written a letter to the Jagatsinghpur collector while bringing to his notice the reports of cutting down of forest trees from Posco steel project areas. The department has asked the district authorities to stop such ‘illegal’ tree felling,” said Manoj Kumar Mahapatra, divisional forest officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Division.

Paradip additional district magistrate Saroj Kanta Choudhury said: “About 22 Casuarina trees, categorised as forest species, were mistakenly cut down few days back. Necessary legal formalities are being obtained for acquisition of land having forest species tree cover. However, we have begun the felling of fruit bearing trees that do not come under the forest species category. About 1.5 acre land with fruit-bearing trees cover has so far been acquired with due legal process. After its evaluation and cost assessment by the state horticulture department officials on the spot, these were cut down and compensation worth Rs 1.56 lakh have been disbursed to persons who raised and nurtured these trees.”

“The forest department has already enumerated over 2 lakh forest species trees along sand-filled landscape in the project area. The enumeration list has been submitted to Kujang tehsildar. As per Orissa Forest Act, 1972, provisions, the Kujang tehsildar and Industrial Development Corporation have to seek mandatory permit from the state forest department before these are pulled down. Unlike that of the fruit-bearing trees in which horticulture personnel are empowered to assess the species’ cost, the state forest corporation is vested with the authority to make a cost assessment of the forest species trees and has the right to feel the species”, DFO Mahapatra said.