Unique protest: Students up the ante against Bhubaneswar tree felling through paintings

School students came forward to protest the felling of trees on the stretch from Rabindra Mandap to Commissionerate Police headquarters in Bhubaneswar to pave the way for multi-storey building for MLAs.  

Social outfits like Mahanadi Banchao Andolan, Samrudha Odisha and Prerana have engaged students to come up with paintings on the environment as part of their protest against the State government’s move of tree felling. 

The Orissa High Court is likely to hear a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by social activist Jayanti Das , seeking a direction to stop cutting down of the trees.

According to sources, the forest department has given permission to cut down 870 trees against a deposit of Rs 68 lakh towards compensation. As of now, over 300 trees of different ages and species like peepal, banyan, mango, jack fruit, neem, ashoka and deodar have been axed and more are waiting to be felled to facilitate the construction of the building. 

It is learnt that the multi-storied building of MLAs with around 300 quarters, garden, gym, rest house, parking lot and other modern-day amenities is expected to come up by the end of 2024 with an expenditure of Rs 275 crore.