MoEF panel on Posco project to submit report by October

A four-member expert team of the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF), which visited the Posco project site near Paradip on Tuesday, will submit its report to the ministry on environmental implications of the $12 billion steel plant by October.

“We have collected information on the Posco project after our field visit. By October, we will be able to submit our report to the concerned ministry,”,K Ray Paul, leader of the expert panel told newsmen after emerging out of a meeting with state chief secretary B K Patnaik.

“We discussed on different aspects of the project. But we are only looking at the environment aspect,” he added.

He refused to share the findings of the panel from the field visit, stating it would be reflected in the report to be submitted to the ministry.

Asked why the team avoided interactions with the project affected persons, Paul said, “We are not here to conduct any public hearing. Our only concern is the environment impact of the project. The team cannot work beyond its assigned mandate.”

It may be noted that the team had skipped visit to Dhinkia, the epicentre of anti-Posco movement.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) which had suspended environment clearance for India’s biggest FDI (foreign direct investment) project in March this year, had insisted on visit by an expert team to the Posco site to assess the project impact on the environment. The order of NGT had come more than a year after the MoEF had accorded conditional environmental nod for the project in January 2011, imposing 28 additional conditions on the 12 million tonne steel plant and 32 conditions on the captive port proposed by the project proponent at Jatadhari Muhan in Jagatsinghpur district.

The mandate of the high-level expert committee is to study the impact of forest diversion and cutting of large number of trees for establishment of the Posco project on the coastal area and local environment.

The coastal villagers had earlier expressed concerns that nearly 100,000 casurina trees, which acted as natural barrier to tidal waves, were pulled down last year during land acquisition for the project. They pointed out that in the absence of any barrier their villages would be affected during rainy season.