Bhubaneswar: A nine-member team of Odisha BJP led by the Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi and submitted a memorandum seeking his urgent intervention for suitable remedial and reparative actions to stop the raging fire in several forest ranges in the state.
Talking to mediapersons, BJP MP Suresh Pujari said that the forest fire usually occurs in Odisha during the peak summer in April and May. This year, it has spread to 650 forests, including Similipal National Park, in February destroying flora and fauna.
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Stating that the state government is neither able to bring the fire under control nor has it sought central assistance for the same, he said they requested the Union Minister to send a delegation of senior officials of his ministry and a team of fire-fighting experts to Odisha on Thursday to discuss with the state government and give valuable suggestions to bring the fire under control.
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The delegation requested the Union Minister to set up an empowered committee with representatives from the central and state forest department, environmentalists and forest conservationists for coming up with a detailed long-term action plan for preventing and mitigating future forest fires in Odisha.
“We suspect that the forest fires in the state are a well-orchestrated conspiracy by a group of mafia to poach wild animals who are now heading towards the human habitations due to the forest fire and therefore, requested him for a thorough investigation,” Pujari said.
He also alleged massive irregularities in National Bamboo Mission and Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) schemes under which the Centre has been providing huge financial assistance to Odisha.
“Since the state government is yet to create an additional green corridor and new forest covers, we requested the Union minister to order a detailed audit and conduct physical verification,” Pujari added.
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Responding to a tweet by Dharmendra, Javadekar had earlier sought a report on the forest fire from the authorities concerned.
On March 3, he had also directed officials concerned to take immediate steps to control the wildfire in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Mayurbhanj district.
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