By Our Correspondent
PARADIP/BHUBANESWAR: Land acquisition is underway for the JSW project to be set up in Dhinkia Nuagaon and Gadkujang panchayats under Ersama tehsil of Paradip-Jagatsinghpur district. On the one hand, measurement and demolition of betelvines has reached the final phase,in the village of Gobindpur, on the other hand, the process of identifying and counting of trees is underway. To date, more than 5,600 trees have been counted. In Gobindpur village, more than 10,000 trees have been identified by four teams.
During the POSCO time in 2007, the Horticulture Department’s assessment of the fruit bearing trees has changed . The Horticulture Department has announced an enhanced price list in May 2021.In this list,price of a year old cashew tree has been fixed at a minimum of ₹ 415 and a maximum of Rs 9,510. Similarly, the minimum price of a mango tree has been fixed at ₹ 967 and maximum of ₹ 12,790; the minimum price of a coconut tree is fixed at ₹1,405 and the maximum price is ₹ 8,110; the minimum price of a moringa tree is ₹ 264 and the maximum price is ₹ 1,104; the minimum price of a jackfruit tree is ₹ 1078 and the maximum price is ₹9,844.
Similarly, a black berry tree has been priced at a minimum of ₹ 175 and a maximum of ₹ 4,000. The increased prices of other fruit bearing trees have also been announced in a similar fashion. The trees of the four forest committees in Gobindpur village will be identified after the trees in the compound of the local people are identified. The local people are engaged in carrying out all these work.
Many locals, including Dhirendra Parida;Suresh Das and Tofan Das of Harijan Pada have expressed their pleasure with the hike in the prices of trees by the Horticulture Department. On the other hand, as many as 857 betelvines have been measured till 27th of this month, of which 671 have been demolished. A whopping sum of more than ₹ 11 crore has been paid to 485 people as compensation.
