TNI Bureau: The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has reportedly deferred the clearance for forest land to set up the  Shree Jagannath International Airport airport in Puri.

The Forest Advisory Committee of the the Environment Ministry, which scrutinises proposals seeking forest land for large projects, deferred its approval for the Puri Airport citing concerns over Olive Ridley turtles, migratory birds and Irrawaddy Dolphins.

While deferring the approval, the FAC asked the Odisha government to take a precautionary approach and refer the matter to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

It is to be noted here that the Union Aviation Ministry had given its nod to Odisha government’s proposal on May 5 to set up the airport on around 471 hectares of land at  Sipasarubali of the district.

Of the total 471 hectares, the Odisha government has sought approval to use 27.88 hectares of forest land for the project, which has approximately 13,000 trees — mostly casuarina, cashew, acacia and noni.

However, th Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has reportedly deferred to give its approval.