Bhubaneswar: The Standing Committee of the State Wildlife Board held its 10th meeting on Friday at Kharavela Bhawan. The meeting, chaired by Forest, Environment, and Climate Change Minister Shri Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia, discussed various proposals related to development projects in wildlife areas. The minister emphasized that the Forest Department would not hinder initiatives that benefit people’s welfare and development.
Several key officials attended the meeting, including Bhatli MLA Shri Irashis Acharya, Additional Chief Secretary Shri Satyabrat Sahu, and experts from wildlife and environmental organizations. The members reviewed multiple proposals concerning mobile tower installations, optical fiber cable (OFC) laying, and other infrastructure projects.
The committee approved 14 proposals for forwarding to the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for clearance. These include:
Installation of mobile towers under the 4G Saturation Project in various wildlife sanctuaries, including Similipal, Hadgarh, and Sunabeda.
Laying of OFC in Karlapat and Satkosia Tiger Reserves.
Development of Ro-Pax Jetty at Talchua in Kendrapara district.
Construction of a vocational training center in Sunabeda Sanctuary.
Protection work on the Mahanadi riverbank near Badmulpatna.
These projects aim to improve connectivity and infrastructure in rural and wildlife-sensitive areas. In the previous meeting held in December 2023, four similar proposals were sent to NBWL, including BSNL’s mobile tower installations in Similipal and Keonjhar, which have already received approval.
The proposals cleared in this meeting will now be reviewed by the National Board for Wildlife for final approval.
