BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha recorded notable conservation gains in 2025 — from tiger reintroductions to record turtle nesting — a parallel narrative of arrests, asset seizures and vigilance probes revealed how corruption within the forest department repeatedly undercut those achievements.
A Year of Contradictions in Odisha’s Forest Administration
Throughout 2025, Odisha’s Forest, Environment and Climate Change department found itself navigating two sharply diverging realities. On one hand were measurable conservation successes: sustained gharial breeding in the Mahanadi, the return of a wandering tigress to Similipal, and a historic nesting season for Olive Ridley turtles. On the other was a steady stream of corruption cases involving forest officials across ranks, from divisional forest officers to guards, exposing alleged abuse of power and accumulation of assets far beyond known incomes.
Vigilance cases surfaced at regular intervals through the year, with officials arrested for bribery, misappropriation of funds and possession of disproportionate assets. Some cases involved serving officers, others retired employees, reinforcing the perception that the problem extended beyond isolated incidents.
By the end of the year, the department’s administrative record appeared overshadowed by investigations that revealed how deeply embedded corruption had become within its field and supervisory structures.
Procurement Scrutiny and the Scale of Alleged Misuse
Late in the year, the state government ordered an investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the procurement and customisation of vehicles for forest field officers. The probe followed disclosures that 51 Mahindra Thar vehicles had been purchased during the 2024–25 financial year at a cost of approximately ₹7.14 crore. An additional ₹5.25 crore, officials confirmed, was spent on modifying the vehicles.
The inquiry added to a growing list of vigilance actions tied not only to personal enrichment but also to systemic procurement decisions. Earlier in May, five forest officials, including a deputy ranger, were arrested in Kalahandi south division for allegedly misappropriating ₹80 lakh under the compensatory afforestation scheme. Investigators alleged that plantation funds were diverted into bank accounts opened in the names of non-existent labourers, from which the money was later withdrawn.
These cases, spread across divisions and schemes, highlighted vulnerabilities in financial oversight within conservation programmes designed to restore degraded forests.
High-Profile Arrests and Expanding Asset Trails
Midway through the year, the arrest of divisional forest officer Nityananda Nayak emerged as one of the most closely watched cases. Vigilance officials alleged that Nayak had amassed 115 plots and other assets valued at several crores of rupees. Searches reportedly uncovered a farmhouse spread over 1.5 acres, a multi-storey building covering about 9,000 square feet, two cars, 200 grams of gold, ₹10 lakh in cash and bank deposits exceeding ₹50 lakh. According to investigators, the total value of assets exceeded 300 per cent of his known sources of income.
In July, another arrest drew similar attention. Rama Chandra Nepak, a deputy ranger posted in Jeypore, was accused of amassing disproportionate assets exceeding 500 per cent of his known income. Vigilance officials reported recovering around 1.5 kilograms of gold and ₹1.43 crore in cash hidden in a secret chamber at his residence, along with other properties.
The year closed with yet another case in Bhubaneswar. Five months before his retirement, forester Niranjan Satpathy, who had begun his career in 1988 on a modest salary, was arrested on December 27. Officials said searches revealed one kilogram of gold, two three-storey buildings in Bhubaneswar, another house in Semiliguda and seven high-value plots across multiple districts. Cash of about ₹9 lakh, deposits and insurance investments worth ₹67 lakh, and ₹1.6 lakh invested in cryptocurrency and foreign currencies were also seized.
Conservation Gains Amid Persistent Allegations
Even as vigilance cases multiplied, conservation work continued. Odisha recorded its fifth consecutive year of gharial breeding in the Mahanadi, reflecting sustained protection efforts despite an upsurge in forest fires and rising human–wildlife conflict.
One of the year’s most visible conservation operations unfolded after Tigress Zeenat, released into the Similipal landscape in November 2024 as part of a big-cat supplementation project, strayed beyond the reserve. Following a two-week, multi-state tracking exercise, the tigress was captured in West Bengal and returned to Similipal, where she resumed her monitored movement from January 1.
Two months later, conservation teams documented a record mass nesting of over 15 lakh Olive Ridley turtles at the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary and Rushikulya rookery, the state’s most prominent arribada sites.
Yet these milestones unfolded alongside continued arrests and probes, reinforcing a persistent contradiction. While forest protection and wildlife conservation initiatives showed tangible results on the ground, repeated vigilance actions involving dozens of officials underscored the extent to which corruption remained intertwined
