Cuttack: National Green Tribunal (NGT) has prohibited further construction of govt schools on forest-category land in Jajpur district until the required clearance is obtained.The NGT’s east zone bench, comprising judicial member Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Ishwar Singh, imposed the prohibition while considering a petition filed by Nuadihi resident Kailash Chandra Nayak. The order passed on Oct 30 and uploaded online on Nov 4.The petitioner had challenged the construction of 84 schools in Danagadi and 94 in Sukinda blocks on forest-category land without mandatory approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Advocates Sankar Prasad Pani and Ashutosh Padhy represented the petitioner, while additional govt advocate Partha Sarathi Nayak appeared for the state.During the proceedings, the forest department informed the tribunal that 170 proposals for regularisation of forest-category land already occupied by schools had been received. Of these, 107 proposals — 50 from Sukinda and 57 from Danagadi — were approved by the district-level committee on Oct 15 last year. Other proposals were forwarded for consideration following site inspections.However, restraining the block development officers of both the blocks from undertaking any further construction on the disputed land until the requisite approval is obtained, the tribunal made it clear that the process of regularisation cannot be bypassed.Accordingly, the bench directed the state authorities to take necessary steps to secure prior or ex-post facto approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, now known as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, in accordance with the prescribed procedure.At the same time, the tribunal distinguished procedural irregularity from outright illegality, observing that construction of govt schools without following the prescribed procedure could be termed “irregular but cannot be said to be absolutely illegal”.The bench noted that Section 3(2) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, provides for diversion of forest land for govt-managed schools involving felling of not more than 75 trees per hectare. The Union ministry of tribal affairs had prescribed the procedure for such diversion through a letter dated May 18, 2009.It also pointed out that “ex-post facto approval can be granted” for forest land already diverted for school construction. Such proposals, it said, must be considered keeping in view the statutory obligations under both the Forest Rights Act and the Right to Education Act, 2009.