JSPL project under cloud of Forest Act violation

Even as the controversy surrounding the alleged violations of forest laws in case of the projects of Posco India and Vedanta Aluminium Ltd is yet to settle, yet another major investor- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) is in the dock for carrying on construction work on its project even before granted Stage-I forest clearance.

"JSPL has started construction work on its integrated steel and power project at Badkerjang, Angul in the first half of 2009 though it was given the Stage-I clearance only in March this year. The company did not bother to stop construction work on non-forest land despite the showcause notice slapped by the Angul divisional forest officer on October 2009”, said Biswajit Mohanty, secretary, Wildlife Society of Orissa.

“We have already informed the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) on this issue and have sought withdrawal of Stage-I forest clearance given to JSPL”, he added.

However, the company has refuted the allegations, stating that there has been no violation of forest laws.

“JSPL has duly complied with the laws and procedures and we have not violated any law. We had only started construction work on the boundary wall for our integrated steel and power project and this construction work was stopped immediately after the company got the showcause notice of the Angul divisional forest officer”, said a senior company executive.

The company is setting up an integrated steel plant of 6 million tones per annum capacity and a captive power plant of 1,000 MW at Badkerjang, Angul. It claimed to have taken possession of around 2000 acres of land. The company needs 2160.385 hectares (5338.23 acres) out of which 168.232 hectares (415.69 acres) comprise forest land.