TV
Mahanadi Banchao Andolan on Monday upped the ante over multi-storied buildings for Odisha MLAs coming up at the cost of hundreds of old and valuable trees from along the stretch from Rabindra Mandap to Commissionerate Police office in Bhubaneswar and lodged a complaint at Kharvelnagar police station.
Sudarshan Das, Convener of Mahanadi Banchao Abhiyan, lodged the complaint.
“We have filed a police complaint today, requesting a probe to find out who has given permission to axe the trees and whether it is legal or not,” added Das.
Earlier, Das along with members of the outfit and few residents of the State capital visited the spot and staged a sit-in, demanding the trees be spared. “We will continue our protest till the felling of trees is stopped,” Das said.
“Even if the city DFO has assured that trees amounting to 10 times of the number of felled trees will be planted by the compensation money, we demand withdrawal of the decision,” said the agitating members.
Notably, it is learnt that the forest department has given permission to cut down 870 trees against a deposit of Rs 68 lakh towards compensation.
So far, over 300 trees of different age and species like peepal, banyan, mango, jack fruit, neem, ashoka and deodar have already been axed and more of them are waiting for their turn.
Worth mentioning, the multi-storied building of MLAs with around 300 quarters is expected to come up by the end of 2024. A total of Rs 275 crore will be spent on the project and provision for allocation has already been made in the budget.
Reportedly, the Chief engineer of Odisha Bridge and Construction Corporation (OBCC) has also been paid an amount of Rs 50 crore for the project in the first phase. The remaining Rs 225 crore will be provided by the Finance Department.
