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The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre and Odisha state government on a petition seeking intervention against large-scale permanent construction work on the Deomali Hill under Semiliguda forest range in Koraput.
The Deomali project is included under the Centre’s Swadesh Darshan Scheme for development of infrastructure to attract tourists. The project is in addition to Rs 16 crores sanctioned by the tourism department for integrated development of the hill.
A project for development of eco-tourism complex on the hill top, at an estimated cost about INR 4.5 crore is being executed by the Semiliguda forest range office. NGT’s East zone bench in Kolkata issued the notices on the petition filed by Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, Wildlife Society of Orissa.
The petition challenged the permanent construction works undertaken allegedly in the garb of eco-tourism project on the ground that they were against the principle of sustainable development. Advocate Sankar Prasad Pani argued the case for the petitioner.
The bench of Justice B Amit Sthalekar and Dr Arun Kumar Verma (expert member) said, “In our opinion, the matter requires consideration” and issued notices returnable within four weeks to secretary, Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change, additional chief secretary, forest and environment department and chairman, Odisha Biodiversity Board.
The bench posted the matter to August 23 for further consideration along with the responses from the respondents. According to the petition, the Deomali Hill is known for endemic species of flora and fauna. It is categorised as Deomali reserve forest.
The eco-tourism complex project is spread over 26 acres of forest land.
This grant offered by New Development Bank, is part of the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project (MEIDP), a transformative initiative with a total project cost of INR 731 crores. The project, involving creation of comprehensive ecotourism circuits will enhance the overall tourism experiences, bolstering Meghalaya’s reputation as a premier travel destination.
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