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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Posco forest act onus falls on Orissa govt

Posco forest act onus falls on Orissa govt

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published Published on Feb 1, 2011   modified Modified on Feb 1, 2011

The Orissa government has to give an assurance that not a single person is entitled to benefits under the Forest Rights Act, according to one of the conditions set by the Union environment ministry while giving provisional clearance to the Posco project today.

The condition has been imposed following allegations that claims under the Forest Rights Act had not been settled. The act deals with dependants on forests for livelihood.

The project, in the works for six years, has been held up by criticism that it would ruin lives of thousands of poor people who have betel-leaf plantations and forest-based livelihoods.

The ministry said the final approval for diversion of 1,253 hectares of forest land would be accorded only after the Orissa government gave a categorical assurance that those claiming forest rights in the project area did not fulfil at least one of the three mandatory conditions for making such a claim.

The conditions require the persons concerned to have resided in the forest land in the project area for 75 years prior to December 13, 2005, have been in occupation of the land before that date and should currently be dependent on the forest land for livelihood.

Orissa chief minister, Naveen Patnaik and Posco-India managing director G.W. Sung welcomed the ministry’s decision. But the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), which has been demanding the shifting of the project site, vowed to intensify its agitation and called a protest meeting in the area tomorrow.

Another key condition on the steel-cum-captive power plant is a sustainability study by an institute of repute on water requirements. The ministry also said the company might have to sacrifice its water intake from the Jobra barrage on Mahanadi in the event of a shortfall for irrigation needs in the barrage.

On Posco’s minor captive port at Jatadhari, the ministry said that since the Institute of Ocean Management, Chennai, had detected erosion in the area no construction should be undertaken in the high-erosion zone and no industrial activity be allowed in the coastal regulatory zone.

But members of a government committee, who had last year complained about violations of laws and irregularities during an environmental impact assessment and at public hearings, said today’s decision had ignored such lapses.

“We’re shocked — this order appears to have completely ignored violations of laws,” said Urmila Pingle, an anthropologist who was a member of the panel that had observed that the state administration had not been fair or democratic in implementing the Forest Rights Act.

“It is very odd that the state government which itself appeared colluding in violations of laws has been asked to give an assurance about compliance,” Pingle said.

Minister Jairam Ramesh declined to comment on the panel member’s concerns.

“None of the 28 plus 32 conditions addresses the illegalities we had pointed out,” said V. Suresh, a human rights lawyer in Chennai who was also a member of a four-member panel that had examined the approvals process.

In its report submitted in October 2010, the panel had pointed out several irregularities. The environmental assessment, for instance, was based on single-season data, and had not taken into account issues relating to water, transport and impact on local communities.

While Pingle and two other members of the panel had called for revoking the existing approvals, another member of the panel — former environment secretary Meena Gupta — had called for a comprehensive and integrated environmental assessment.

The environment ministry had last year rejected a plan by Vedanta to mine bauxite in Orissa’s Niyamgiri hills. But environment officials had said there were significant differences between the Posco and the Vedanta projects.

The Vedanta project was located in a forest area inhabited by primitive tribal groups, almost entirely dependent on the forest for livelihood. But Posco’s plant is to be located in a coastal zone where affected communities are primarily fisherfolk and farmers.

The Telegraph, 1 February, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110201/jsp/nation/story_13519583.jsp


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