Orissa may submit reply on Posco project next week

Maintaining its earlier stand that there was no tribal inhabitant or traditional forest dwellers in the villages demarcated for Posco's mega steel plant near Paradip, Orissa government today said it was likely to submit its assurance report to the Centre next week.

State Chief Secretary B K Patnaik said this while informing that chief minister Naveen Patnaik had already approved the documents to be sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) on proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.

Though Environment minister Jairam Ramesh accorded conditional environment clearance to Posco's Rs 52,000-crore project on January 31, he sought a pointed assurance report from the state government on the proper implementation of the provisions under FRA.

"We are ready to reply to the Centre's queries," the chief secretary told reporters here.

The state government, he said, continued to maintain its earlier stand that there was neither any tribal family nor any other traditional forest dwellers in the seven villages under Ersama block of Jagatsinhpur district.
    
Of the total 4,000 acres of land required for the Posco project, about 2,900 acre fell under forest category. The MoEF sought a pointed assurance from the state government after two central panels such as Saxena Committee and Meena Gupta Committee reports suggested clear violation of FRA at the Posco's proposed plant site area.
    
This apart, local residents had also claimed that they fell under the category of other traditional forest dwellers and were living in the demarcated villages, since over 75 years.
    
However, the state government claimed that the area was categoried as forest land barely 40 years ago and not 75 years ago.

"The sea-side villages near Paradip were not categorised as forest land 75 years ago. Therefore, provisions under FRA could not be applicable to villages at the Posco's proposed plant site," the chief secretary said.

Meanwhile, the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), spear heading campaign against the South Korean steel major, was preparing to take the matter relating to their claim of being other traditional forest dwellers to the court of law.

"How can the state government denounce us the status of other traditional forest dwellers even though villagers already possessed required revenue documents," asked Dhinkia Gram Panchayat sarpanch Sisir Mohapatra.

The state government cannot bend laws to favour a multinational, alleged PPSS president Abhay Sahu adding, the villagers were determined not to allow Posco project over their multi-crop and fertile land.