Proposed Brahmani Bridge land is non-forest: Naveen to Gadkari

ONI Bureau: CM Naveen Patnaik took strong exceptions to the letter written by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and hit back with another strong reply. Naveen rejected Gadkari’s claims, clarifying the Brahmani Bridge construction area does not fall in the forest zone.

“The issue of forest clearance raised in your letter 5.12.2017 is not related to the construction of the bridge. I understand that no forest clearance is necessary for construction of the said bridge as the proposed site is non-forest in nature. This has been confirmed in the letter of the State Forest authorities”, wrote Naveen.

“Further, the Project Director of NHAI at Rourkela has also stated that the above said land where second Brahmani bridge has to be constructed, is non-forest. In view of this, there is no impediment for the NHAI to start the construction work even tomorrow. I assure you to extend all support of the State Government in NHAI works,” the CM added.