NGT Warns Odisha Over ‘Dillydallying’ In Notifying Elephant Corridors; Last Deadline Of 1 Month

Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a stern warning to the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden (Odisha), Sushil Kumar Popli, over delay in notifying elephant corridors in the state.

Proceedings for punishment under Section 26 of the NGT Act, 2010, which prescribes imprisonment up to a maximum of three years or fine which may extend to Rs 10 crore or both, will be initiated if elephant corridors in the state are not notified within a month, the panel said in its April 6 order which was made available on Tuesday.

For continuance of the failure, it prescribes an additional fine, which may extend to Rs 25,000 for every day.

In August 2021, the NGT had directed the Odisha government to notify 14 elephant corridors and the action plan for elephant conservation in two months after hearing a petition from the Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), an environmental pressure group that had moved the tribunal against the delay in notifying the corridor plan.

In December last, the green panel had questioned the Chief Secretary over the delay in notifying 14 elephant corridors in the state and asked him to respond to the show cause notice by January 30, 2023.

On March 14, the tribunal issued a notice to the PCCF to show cause why action may not be taken against him under Section 26 of the NGT Act, 2010 for non-compliance of its directions given on August 17, 2021. In his affidavit, he mentioned the difficulties in notifying the corridors. “Each corridor needs a proper study to demarcate the elephant movement paths for proper notification of corridors.”

Irked over the affidavit, the bench of B Amit Sthalekar and Afroz Ahmad said, “We are surprised that even after passage of two and a half years, the state government has not been able to notify the elephant corridors under section 3 of the Environmental Protection Act. We grant the state respondents one month’s time and no more to notify the elephant corridors otherwise the concerned authorities shall be liable under section 26 of the National Green Tribunal Act.”

The tribunal posted the matter to May 9 for further consideration.