Odisha Govt To Set Up ‘Compensatory Afforestation Land Bank’ In Each District

Bhubaneswar: In order to provide land for different projects requiring compensatory afforestation, the Odisha government has decided to create ‘Compensatory Afforestation Land Bank’ in each district.

As per a resolution of Revenue and Disaster Management department, released on Monday, ‘Compensatory Afforestation Land Bank’ will be created in each district of the state by including degraded revenue forest lands only. The lands to be included in the Land Bank should not have been notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 or any other law nor managed as forest by the Forest Department.

The lands included in the said Land Bank will be provided only for projects undertaken by Central Government and State Government requiring land for compensatory afforestation.

“While the lands included in the Land Bank will be provided to state government departments on free of all charges, the Central Government Ministries/Departments will be required to pay the cost of the land as would be fixed by the collector of the district concerned,” the resolution stated.

The government has laid down the guidelines for identification of degraded revenue forest land for Compensatory Afforestation Land Bank, creation of such Land Bank and handing over land from Land Bank to the Forest department.

As per the guidelines, identified land should be a compact patch of minimum extent of 25 hectares However, if the land is in continuity of a land declared or notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 or under any other law for time being in force, Protected Area, Tiger Reserve or within a designated or identified tiger or wildlife corridor, there will be no restriction on size of the land.

The resolution said the state government has taken the decision as compensatory afforestation is one of the most important conditions stipulated by the Centre while approving proposals for de-reservation or diversion of forest land for non-forest uses under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.