The Union Environment Ministry has asked the Odisha government to take action against officials responsible for allowing construction of an Ekalavya Model Residential School (EMRS) in Keonjhar district without mandatory forest clearance.
The proposal for ex-post facto approval was considered by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) in its meeting held on September 26.
The committee observed that the "EMRS building has been constructed over 1.80 ha on the forest land proposed for diversion without obtaining prior approval of the environment ministry under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980".
It said that the construction of the school, a flagship initiative of the Tribal Affairs Ministry and the Odisha government, took place "without prior approval", constituting a violation of the Forest Conservation Act.
The project site at Erendei village in Patna tehsil of Keonjhar district includes 2.803 hectares of Sabik (recorded) forest land and 0.456 hectare of non-forest land.
