Centre Approves Diversion Of Forest Land For Infra Growth In Odisha’s LWE-Hit Dists

Bhubaneswar: The Centre has accorded its approval for diversion of forest land for development of infrastructure in 34 districts of eight states affected by Left wing extremism (LWE).

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has granted its approval for infrastructure-related projects in 14 categories for development of the areas. The Ministry of Home Affairs’ in its annual report 2020-2021 stated that the projects can be taken up in 34 LWE-affected districts. Earlier the Centre had approved diversion of five hectares of forest land which has been increased to 40 hectares.

The projects include schools, dispensaries, hospitals, electrical and telecommunication lines, drinking water, water and rain harvesting structures, minor irrigation canals, non-conventional sources of energy, skill upgradation and vocational training centre as well as rural roads.

The report stated that the Centre has been implementing Road Requirement Plan (RRP-I) since February 26, 2009, for improving connectivity in those districts. The scheme envisages construction of 5,362 km of roads and eight critical bridges at the estimated cost of Rs 78,673 crore.

The districts are located in undivided Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.