Odisha News: Odisha Forest Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia told the Assembly on Tuesday that seven tigers and 48 leopards have died in the state in the last 10 years. The minister said that these tigers died between the financial years 2014-2015 to 2023-24. In a written reply to the question of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Tankadhar Tripathi, the minister said that in the last 10 years, 48 leopards and seven tigers have died and the reasons for these deaths are hunting and accidents as well as natural causes. During this period, two Royal Bengal tigers died due to hunting while three died in various incidents like drowning, sliding from the mountains and mutual fights. One tiger died due to natural causes. He said that the cause of the tiger’s death is not known.
21 leopards died due to poaching
The minister said in his statement that during the last 10 exercises, 21 leopards died due to poaching, four due to electrocution, two in train accidents, three in road accidents, five due to diseases and four due to natural causes. In the last decade, the state government brought two Royal Bengal tigers (one male and one female) to Odisha from Madhya Pradesh. He said no tiger has been translocated to any other forest outside the state during this period. In another written statement to the House, the Forest Minister said that between 2013-14 and 2023-24, 760 elephant deaths were reported in Odisha, of which 41 elephants were killed by poachers. He said 1,145 people were killed in elephant attacks during the last 11 years.
26.75 lakh trees felled for 482 projects between 2000 and 2023: Minister
The Odisha government has cut down over 26.75 lakh trees between 2000 and 2023 for the implementation of 482 projects in various sectors including mining, roads, irrigation and railways. State Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia gave this information in the Assembly on Tuesday. The minister said that under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, the state government has utilised 42,190 hectares of forest land for the implementation of 482 projects approved by the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change and has planted 25,75,191 trees during the period from 2000 to 2023. According to the minister’s written statement, during this period, a maximum of 9.64 lakh trees were felled for 225 mining projects, while 5.99 lakh trees were felled for the construction of 43 road projects and 4.89 lakh trees for 45 irrigation projects. He said that similarly, three lakh trees were felled for the initiation of 18 industrial projects and 1.39 lakh trees for 58 power infrastructure projects. Besides, 29 railway lines and 64 other projects were constructed by cutting 82,076 and 99,741 trees respectively. He said that as per the Forest Survey of India (FSI)-1999 report, Odisha had a forest area of 47,033 sq km, which increased to 52,156 sq km in the FSI-2021 report.
Disclaimer: This is the automated news feed of Prabhat Khabar newspaper. This has not been edited by the Prabhat Khabar.com team.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.