Now Reading: NGT bars further school construction on forest land in Jajpur
-
01
NGT bars further school construction on forest land in Jajpur
The Story in Brief
The National Green Tribunal has restrained block development officers of Danagadi and Sukinda in Jajpur district from further construction of government schools on forest-category land until statutory approvals are obtained. The eastern zone bench, comprising judicial member Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Ishwar Singh, passed the order on 30 October on a petition by Nuadihi resident Kailash Chandra Nayak, who challenged construction of 84 schools in Danagadi and 94 in Sukinda without clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
The forest department told the tribunal it had received 170 regularisation proposals, of which 107 were approved by the district-level committee on 15 October 2025. The tribunal said the regularisation process could not be bypassed and directed authorities to seek prior or ex-post facto approval. It observed the construction was 'irregular but cannot be said to be absolutely illegal', noting that Section 3(2) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 allows diversion of forest land for government schools subject to conditions.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both sources report the same NGT order identically on the facts: 178 schools, 170 regularisation proposals, 107 approved. Times of India includes the petitioner's advocate names and the tribunal's procedural observation that the irregularity is not 'absolutely illegal', while Orissa Post provides the original application number and the July 2025 notice detail. The uniform coverage is straight reporting: neither outlet frames the government as negligent or defends the construction. The balanced reading is that the tribunal itself left the door open for ex-post facto approval, and the next concrete step is the consideration of the remaining 63 proposals forwarded after site inspections.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report), orissapost.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
