• The project: Executed by NACOF under a work order from Baripada Municipality. It covers infrastructure, landscaping, an island, boating facilities, electrical installations and children’s amenities.
• Prayers: A declaration that the felling and clearance without prior approval were illegal, restoration of the area, and a report from the Odisha Biodiversity Board on the status of the Biodiversity Management Committee and People’s Biodiversity Register in the municipality.
• State’s defence: The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Baripada, said “Jungle-1” in revenue records is not a formal notification under forest laws, and that a field inquiry found no tree felling.
• Tribunal’s finding: The applicant had made out a prima facie case, and failure to grant interim protection could cause irreparable loss. Invoking the precautionary principle under Section 20 of the NGT Act, 2010, it restrained non-forest activity without prior Central approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

• NGT: Established under the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 for speedy disposal of environmental cases, with benches at Delhi (principal), Bhopal, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata. The Kolkata bench covers Odisha, and appeals go to the Supreme Court.
• Section 20 of the NGT Act: The Tribunal applies the principles of sustainable development, the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle.
• Forest law: Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 bars use of forest land for non-forest purposes without prior Central approval. The Act was amended in 2023 and renamed the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam.
• Definition of forest: In T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India (1996), the Supreme Court held that “forest” covers areas by dictionary meaning irrespective of ownership or classification. This is relevant to the “Jungle” classification dispute here.
• Biodiversity Act, 2002: Provides for the National Biodiversity Authority, State Biodiversity Boards, and local Biodiversity Management Committees that prepare People’s Biodiversity Registers.
• Constitutional provisions: Article 21 (right to a healthy environment), Article 48A (DPSP, protect environment and forests) and Article 51A(g) (fundamental duty).

The NGT Act, 2010, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (now the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam), the Godavarman judgment, the Biodiversity Act, 2002 and Articles 21, 48A and 51A(g) are recurring themes for OPSC Prelims (Environment, Indian Polity, Odisha Current Events) and OPSC Mains GS Paper III (Environment, Forest Law and Conservation).

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