Ministry defers forest land nod for Puri airport, cites concerns over Olive Ridley turtles, migratory birds

“Keeping in view the concerns raised with regard to the migration routes, threats, and conservation requirements of Olive Ridley turtles, Irrawaddy dolphins along the Puri coast and migratory birds coming to Chilka Lake, the state shall seek the comments and recommendations of WII on the subject matter,” the FAC said, show the minutes of a June 24 meeting.

The Shree Jagannath International Airport airport, cleared by the Union Aviation Ministry on May 5, is proposed to come up on around 471 hectares of land in Puri district’s Sipasarubali. The state government has sought approval for the use of 27.88 hectares of forest land for the project, which will cost an estimated `5,631 crore.

The regional office raised concerns that cutting the 13,000 trees — mostly casuarina, cashew, acacia and noni — would remove a natural shield against cyclones in Puri. The FAC directed the Odisha government to justify the felling and submit a mitigation plan for “climate eventualities”. Odisha is a particularly cyclone-prone state.

In a detailed site inspection report, the regional office also raised potential risks to not only turtle nesting sites in Brahmagiri forest division, adjoining the project site, but also lakhs of migratory birds that visit the Chilika estuarine lake. It flagged the potential of bird hits on airplanes.

“The Chilika (satpada) lake boundary is at a distance of approximately 10-11 km from the proposed area. The Olive Ridley nesting site at Balukhand wildlife sanctuary is at a distance of 2.3 km from the proposed airport site, and it is also contiguous to the sea and beach adjacent to the site”, the inspection report stated.

The Odisha government told the FAC that as on March 20 this year, 345 Olive Ridley turtle nests were detected in the Brahmagiri range, 39,811 eggs were collected and 388 hatchlings were released into the sea.

In response to concerns raised by the ministry on turtles, the state said that a site-specific wildlife conservation plan could be formulated, which would include detailed mitigation measures. On concerns over dolphins, the state said that the Zoological Survey of India’s regional office in Gopalpur was conducting a study.

On concerns about the project’s impact on the flyway, or routes of migratory birds, the Odisha government said flights from eastern to southern cities already operate in the same airspace..

“All such flights usually passes over Chilika lake through the said Central Asian Flyway and no adverse impact on migration of birds have been noticed,” the state commerce and transport department said. The ZSI will also study the likely impact of the project on migratory birds.

The Central Asian Flyway is one among the world’s nine major flyways or migration routes. It is used by lakhs of birds, especially waterbirds. The flyway links the northernmost breeding grounds in Siberia, Russia to South Asia and West Asia. India is a critical stopover site for these birds.

The inspection report had also flagged that the state government ought to have declared that more forest land was required for the project, based on official records. Members of the regional office also found that a 1,400 metre-long boundary wall was also built on the forest land sought for the project, in violation of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, as well as Coastal Regulation Zone.

The state government said that the boundary wall was a temporary one to prevent encroachment of the proposed project site by locals and was dismantled.