Mango yet to apply for forest land transfer : Saryu Roy

Mail News Service

Jamshedpur: Jamshedpur West MLA Saryu Roy on Thursday held discussions with the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the East Singhbhum Forest Division regarding the delay in key road and flyover projects in Mango.
According to Roy, the DFO informed him that the Forest Department is ready to facilitate the transfer of the required land for widening the road near Payal Cinema. However, the Mango Municipal Corporation has not yet submitted the mandatory application through the Parivesh portal, a prerequisite for processing the land transfer.
The DFO reportedly stated that the Forest Department has already reminded the civic body twice to complete the formalities, but no application has been filed so far. As a result, the process remains stalled. The officer further maintained that the delay and the inconvenience being faced by the public are attributable to the municipal corporation’s failure to initiate the required procedure.
The issue gained attention after Union Minister of State Satish Chandra Dubey remarked on Wednesday that the elevated corridor project would progress as soon as the forest land was transferred. However, during the discussion with Roy, the DFO clarified that forest clearance has already been granted and approval from the Wildlife Board has also been obtained. He suggested that the minister may not have been fully informed about the status of the clearances.
Roy said that since the necessary approvals from the Forest Department have already been secured, the concerned departments of both the Centre and the State Government should take immediate steps to formally commence the pending work. He also urged the Mango Municipal Corporation to upload the required application on the Parivesh portal without further delay.
For several months, it has been claimed that the non-availability of forest land was holding up two major infrastructure projects in the Mango area. One involves the completion of the flyover ramp towards Payal Cinema from Mango Chowk, where the absence of the required land has led to traffic bottlenecks and safety concerns. The other relates to the elevated corridor being constructed over NH-33 from Pardih Kali Mandir to Baliguma, which was also believed to be delayed due to pending forest land transfer issues.
The latest clarification from the Forest Department indicates that procedural delays at the municipal level, rather than pending forest clearances, are now the primary obstacle to moving the projects forward.