Odisha drops tourism, infra plans in key wildlife zones; informs SC panel of ESZ, bridge review

BHUBANESWAR: The wildlife wing of Odisha government on Thursday submitted to the Supreme Court-monitored Central Empowered Committee (CEC) that it has dropped the contentious tourism and infrastructure plans in two key protected areas (PAs) of the state.

In its compliance report filed with the CEC, the wildlife wing assured that the draft eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) plan for Satkosia Tiger Reserve will be submitted in line with the guidelines of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).It also conveyed that the request for proposal (RFP) to select consultant to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) for development of Debridgarh Wildlife Sanctuary has been cancelled.

The report informed that the draft ESZ for Satkosia is still under consideration of the government. It was under scrutiny for leaving two segments of the tiger reserve with zero ESZ boundaries.

The compliance report by PCCF (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden (CWW) stated that only eco-tourism activities will be taken up as per the guidelines of MoEFCC, approved tiger conservation plan and observations of the SC in Satkosia TR.The government, meanwhile, already informed the CEC that is has withdrawn its decisions pertaining to governance model for tourism infrastructure in PAs. The proceedings of the meeting in this regard, held on May 30, were revised.

It also clarified that the NHAI authorities have not yet applied to the state government seeking forest and wildlife clearance for the proposed two-lane national highway project over Chilika lake.The NHAI has directly applied for environmental clearance from MoEFCC and the terms of reference (ToR) for the project has also been issued by the ministry in June 2025.

TNIE had extensively reportedly on these issues including the gaps in the draft ESZ notification prepared for Satkosia tiger reserve as well as the tourism plans.