Forest department washes hands of road row

BHUBANESWAR: The forest department on Monday tried to come clean on the controversial three-km road leading to MLA Pranab Balabantray's 5.2-acre plot at Ghangapatna, on the outskirts of the city, saying it is not forest land, throwing up more questions than answers.
"No one knows as to who built the road. The land, on which it was constructed, belongs to the revenue department," forest and environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said, quoting an inquiry report of divisional forest officer (DFO), wildlife, Chandaka.
But, how construction of the road and a boundary wall, an ?over-a-month' exercise, close to Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary, skipped eyes of the forest department remains unanswered. "The boundary was not under purview of the probe," he clarified.
Arukh said the inquiry found a 1.3-km road existed on the land (plot no. 1098), of which a 300-metre stretch seemed to have been constructed recently. The revenue land does not come under the Orissa Forest Act, 1972, though it is covered under the Central Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Section 2 of the Act says those using such land for non-forest activities should get prior approval of the central government, he said. The forest department had ordered probe by the DFO on August 21 in the wake of uproar following media reports about possible land grab.
Revenue minister Bijayshree Routray, who on Friday had asked for a joint verification of the land in question by revenue and forest officers, said the probe is still on. "Complete inquiry is not over. It will take a couple of more days. There is nothing conclusive on who owns how much," he said.
Government sources said the panchayati raj department had in 2009-10 sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the road, but work was not taken up. Pranab's father and BJD heavyweight Kalpataru Das was the panchayati raj minister.