Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 22: A total of 1,083.69 hectares of forest land will be diverted and 2,90,087 trees are to be felled for the JSW Utkal Steel Limited project at Paradip in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district.
In a written reply to the Odisha Assembly, State Forest, Environment & Climate Change Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia said, “The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has approved the diversion of a total of 1,083.69 hectares of forest land for the JSW Utkal Steel Limited project at Paradip and its associated ancillary projects, and permission has been granted to fell a total of 2,90,087 trees.”
Compensatory afforestation has been carried out against the forest land diversion, with 6,90,223 saplings planted; the survival rate of these saplings stands at 86 percent, he said.
The Minister has also shared the approval letters issued to M/s JSW Utkal Steel Limited by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the State Pollution Control Board.
In another reply, the Forest Minister informed the House that the extent of forest land diverted for non-forest use is 12794.448 hectares during last five years i.e. from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
In lieu of this diversion, over an area of 23392.337 hectares is stipulated under Compensatory Afforestation (CA) and CA over an area 10,155.089 hectares has been achieved up to 2025-26.
