The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has halted ecotourism at Deomali, the highest peak in Odisha in the Koraput district, and ordered the state to secure clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, for structures built for it within three months or demolish them and restore the land.
NGT’s eastern zonal bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar and Arun Kumar Verma said 10 cottages for tourists with dining halls and dormitories, and other constructions lacked permissions. “If the required approval is not obtained within the stipulated time, the…structures erected shall be removed, and the area shall be restored to its original form. In any case, no diversion of the land in question shall be made for non-forestry purposes, and the respondents [state and the Union governments] shall ensure strict compliance with the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, read with the Forest Rights Act, 2006,” the bench said. The bench directed maintenance of a 1.5-2 hectare pine plantation.
Deomali, a mountaintop tableland in the Eastern Ghats range, is 5,486 feet above sea level.
The Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), a non-profit organisation, moved the NGT against the constructions, arguing they flouted sustainable development principles.
Lawyer Sankar Prasad Pani, who represented WSO, said any non-forest activity in the area requires prior approval under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. “If the land is not a notified forest and is devoid of trees and vegetation, as is the stand taken, the DFO [divisional forest officer] would have no role in issuing a tender notice for civil works,” said Pani.
The Koraput DFO submitted that the ecotourism project site does not fall within any notified forest block or recorded forest land as per the government records, and it is not identified as deemed forest.
The NGT was unsatisfied with the submission and said the question arises as to why village level meetings were held for the formation of Van Surakhya Samiti if the state’s stand is to be accepted. “If the land in question was revenue land, the procedure as prescribed under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, would have had no application or necessity,” the bench said.
The Deomali project is part of the Union government’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme for infrastructure development to boost tourism. The tourism department has separately sanctioned ₹16 crore for the integrated development of the area. There is also a proposal for an ecotourism complex at an estimated cost of about ₹4.5 crore.