FELLING OF TREES FOR BEER FACTORY IN ODISHA HALTED

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday ordered immediate halt to felling of trees in a forest area of Dhenkanal district where a beer factory was to come up, following intense protests by local villagers.

Patnaik directed the district administration to immediately stop the felling of hundreds of luxuriant sal trees in Jhinkargadi forest near Balarampur village a day after hundreds of villagers clashed with the police. On Saturday, police personnel forcibly removed the protesters, mostly women, who started a Chipko-like movement by hugging the trees. Patnaik also directed the divisional commissioner to investigate the matter.

Incidentally, Patnaik himself laid the foundation stone for the project through video conferencing on November 3. The construction work of the ₹102 crore beer factory by Kolkata-based company with a bottling capacity of 2.5 lakh hectoliters per annum was scheduled to begin on November 8, but had to be stopped because of the protest by the villagers.

On Saturday, the villagers of Balarampur in Odapada block protested the felling of trees in the Jhinkargadi forests. Of the 12 acres of land leased out to the beer company, 5 acres have Sal trees on it. “We have been taking care of this forest for last the four decades. It's our fruit of labour. But we were thrashed and evacuated while protecting our trees. We will not be cowed down," said Sushanta Dhala, who is leading the protest. The forest has around 958 big trees of various species.

Social activist Prafulla Samantra condemned the government's forcible evacuation of protesting villagers.

BJP MLA Pradip Purohit asked whether the bureaucrats and ministers allowed the treefelling by keeping CM in dark? "What is the justification of a probe when already trees have been felled and cases registered against protesting women."