BALANGIR: The hue and cry over “trees” felled for helipad construction at Balangir for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit has turned out to be a case of much ado about nothing. Only a few dry saplings were cleared for preparing the helipad near the Balangir railway station, inquiry has revealed.

Contrary to the claim of Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Balangir that hundreds of trees were felled for the purpose, East Coast Railway (ECoR) authorities have clarified that there were only 30 to 40 saplings on the one acre land that was converted into three helipads prior to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public meeting on January 15.  Most saplings - one to three-ft high - were of Chakunda, Sisu, Gambhai, Radhachuda and Arjun varieties.

ECoR set up the helipads and PWD provided technical support for the work. While major chunk of the land belonged to ECoR, a portion of it is under private ownership. Apparently, district officials had visited the spot before work on the helipads began. A week back, DFO Sameer Satpathy had claimed that 1,000 to 1,200 saplings were cleared and the land levelled for construction of helipads. 

According to reports, plantation in Balangir town was initiated by Forest Department in 2016-17 under the Urban Plantation scheme. At least 3,750 saplings were planted in 2.5 hectare land under Balangir Municipal limits and 1,000 to 1,200 of them were planted at the helipad site. However, a majority of the saplings near the site had died in the last two years due to lack of maintenance. 

While the DFO alleged that no one had sought permission from him for clearing the plantation, an ECoR official said since there were only a few saplings that had dried up, no permission was sought from Forest Department for clearing them.

Collector Arindam Dakua said no trees were felled for construction of helipads. “There were a handful of saplings on the site which were cleared for the purpose,” he added.