Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra directed to expedite the preparation of a comprehensive wildlife (WL) management plan for newly allotted coal block areas. He gave this direction while reviewing the status of forest clearance and wildlife management in newly allotted coal block areas of Angul district in a high-level meeting held on hybrid mode from Lokseba Bhawan conference hall wherein Additional Chief Secretary Forest and Environment Satyabrata Sahu outlined the issues for discussion.
Discussions in the meeting showed that the newly allotted coal blocks included the major blocks like Utkal E coal, Radhikapur East Coal, Radhikapur West coal, and Naini coal blocks. Their probable impact areas included Chhendipada, Kaniha, Jarpada ranges of Angul division, and Reamal range of Deogarh division.
Chief Secretary Mahapatra directed to work out the comprehensive plan for protection and conservation of wild life, and mitigation of the adverse impact of coal mining on movement of elephants. It was decided to prepare the comprehensive plan through national level institutes like Wildlife Institute of India or Indian Institute of Science. Chief Secretary directed to prepare the plan as per national guidelines in a time-bound manner.
Additional Chief Secretary Satyabrata Sahu, Principal Secretary Steel and Mines Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh, Principal Chief Conservators of Forests (HoFF) Debidatta Biswal, PCCF Wild Life, Chief Conservator of Wild Life along with senior officers of concerned departments participated in the discussion. Collector and DFO Angul appraised the field situation over video conferencing.
