The relocation of the Central Poultry Development Organisation (CPDO), Eastern Region, located at Nayapalli in Bhubaneswar, has come under the judicial scanner with the Orissa High Court issuing directions to the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying to expedite the matter. The High Court has passed the order in this regard on a petition filed by Laxman Kumar Behera, a resident of Cuttack city.

The CPDO was proposed to be shifted from Nayapalli to Baranga in Cuttack. After the Centre gave its nod to the state government’s proposal to relocate the poultry breeding farm, 25 acres of land have been identified at Talagada near Baranga and the land acquisition process for the same has been completed. A budget of Rs 12 crore has been estimated for the construction and relocation of the CPDO.

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“Apart from each Department telling the other that the Central Poultry Development Organization-Easter Region (CPDO) presently located in the heart of Bhubaneswar requires to be relocated to an already identified place, it is not clear from the affidavits filed whether any steps in fact have been taken in the last five years to shift the CPDO to any other location,” stated the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Dr S Muralidhar and Justice Dr SK Panigrahi.

 “The Secretary to Government of India, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, New Delhi is directed to convene a meeting in the next two weeks, which will be attended by the Chairman and Secretary of the State Pollution Control Board, Department of Forest and Environment, Government of Odisha as well as the Director, CPDO to chalk out a time-bound plan for shifting of the CPDO to a location that has already been identified. The affidavit placing on record the minutes of those proceedings be filed within three weeks from 12 September,” the bench ordered while posting the matter to November 17 for further hearing.