Bhubaneswar: To mitigate lightning-related casualties, the Odisha government Monday announced to carry out the plantation of at least 19 lakh palm trees in the Financial Year 2024-25.
Also, the Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department has restricted the felling of palm trees without permission of the concerned authority.
“Planting large-scale palm trees not only reduces lightning-related incidents but also addresses the food scarcity for elephants and reinforces the boundary markers of the forest department,” stated Principal Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Debidutta Biswal.
Biswal remarked, “Until now, no permission was needed to fell palm trees, leading to the disappearance of palm trees from the roadside. Consequently, we have removed this exemption.”
“This means that anyone wishing to cut down a palm tree, even if it is on their property, must obtain permission from the forest department… Unauthorised felling will result in legal action… The same legal requirements for cutting Sal (teak) trees now apply to palm trees,” PCCF Biswal elaborated.
According to the decision, the forest and agriculture departments will plant palm trees in various areas. In 52 divisions, four trees will be planted on each side of the boundary pillars of the forest blocks. The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) will spend Rs 7.5 crore for this initiative out of funds from the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA).
The initiative will take place in 4,479 designated forest blocks, which cover 39,671 sq km of boundary lines across all territorial and wildlife divisions.
