Centre grants final forest clearance for Odisha's Brutang irrigation project

Bhubaneswar, July 8: The proposed irrigation project over the Brutang River in Odisha’s Nayagarh district has received final forest clearance from the Centre.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change has approved the conversion of forest land for non-forest purposes to facilitate the project. This approval followed Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s recent discussion with the Union Environment Minister in New Delhi.

The project has been granted permission to use 1,524.17 hectares of forest land. In return, the state has committed to afforestation on an equivalent area, as stated in a press release from the Chief Minister's Office on Monday.

The Brutang project aims to irrigate approximately 23,000 hectares of cultivable land, benefiting farmers in Nayagarh and Daspalla.