A single upcoming coal project in the Chhendipada area of Odisha’s Angul district proposed felling of as many as 3,31,818 trees.
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The forest cover of the district is likely to be denuded further, with 66 coal blocks identified in Angul. If all blocks are eventually developed, nearly 350 villages across more than 50 panchayats could be affected.
The Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) in its sixth meeting of 2026 deliberated on the diversion of 754.039 ha of forest land for non-forestry purposes with respect to the coal project ‘Alakananda Coal Mines’ in Chhendipada Tehsil in Angul district proposed by Rungta Sons Private Limited.
Subsequently, the Committee recommended the “Stage-1/In-principle approval” for diversion of forestland for non-forestry purpose under specific conditions of Van (Sanrakshan evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.
The 754.039 ha of land proposed for diversion include 436.4624 ha of reserved forest, 316.2156 ha of revenue forest and 1.361 ha of DLC forest (deemed forest). As many as 3,31,818 number of threes have been identified to be felled for the coal project.
“The State government has submitted that 3,34,408 trees have been enumerated within the lease area as per the Standard Sampling Method, whereas 3,31,818 trees are proposed to be felled as per the Tree Enumeration Report,” says the minutes of the Advisory Committee meeting.
The report says, “The user agency has undertaken that tree felling will be carried out in a phased manner in consultation with the State Forest Department and in accordance with the approved mining plan, mine closure plan and the guidelines of the Forest Department. It has also been stated that at least 50% of the trees shall be relocated to suitable nearby areas, in addition to undertaking compensatory afforestation.”
“Against the 754.039 ha of land proposed for diversion, the State Government has identified 760 ha of government non-forest land in 14 patches under Thuamul Rampur Tahasil of Kalahandi District, within Kalahandi South Forest Division, for compensatory afforestation,” the committee was informed.
Last year, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had issued notices to MoEF and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) over the felling of 1,05,092 number of trees to facilitate an opencast coal mine in same Chhendipada tahsil of Angul district.
Since Angul alone accounts for 48% of Odisha’s total coal reserve, the proposed coal mining, wildlife experts say, would adversely impact movement of elephants. Angul is already an acutely impacted district as far as man-elephant conflict is concerned.
For Alakananda Coal Mines of Rungta Sons Private Limited, the Odisha Government has submitted that the site-specific wildlife conservation plan, which is of an estimated cost of ₹10,30,56,000, is under scrutiny and will be forwarded to the Chief Wildlife Warden, Odisha for approval.
