NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on July 23 agreed to hear next week a plea filed by a lawyer, seeking quashing of the provisional No Objection Certificates (NOC) issued by district collectors of Angul, Nayagarh, Boudh and Cuttack for development works inside and around the Satkosia Tiger Reserve.Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal mentioned the matter before a three-judge bench of the top court, headed by the CJI, B R Gavai, who agreed to list and hear the matter next week.Bansal — raising serious concerns over the alleged proposed constructions inside the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha — questioned the directions passed by the district collectors, as to how the officers had issued such permissions for the construction of an eco-tourism spot. The Bench also comprised Justices K Vinod Chandran and Joymalya Bagchi — besides the CJI — said that they would take it up for hearing next week.Bansal, in his plea, a copy accessed by TNIE, said that the series of actions undertaken by the State of Odisha poses an imminent and irreparable threat to the ecological integrity and statutory sanctity of the Satkosia Tiger Reserve, an ecologically fragile and legally protected area. “Critical safeguards under forest, wildlife, and environmental law are being actively undermined by state agencies through unauthorised constructions, ultra vires approvals, and a tourism-led development model that disregards established conservation mandates,” he highlighted.
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