MoEF panel on Posco to submit report by mid-October

The Meena Gupta committee, set up by the Union ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), to look into forest and environment issues involving the Posco project will submit its report to MoEF by the second week of October.

The committee in its second trip to the state in less than one month had visited the Posco’s captive port site at Jatadhari river mouth near Paradip port in Jagatsinghpur district yesterday.

The committee today met the officials of Orissa State Pollution Control Board, Posco and Paradip Port Trust and discussed with them issues like mitigation measures being taken for protection of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), public hearing conducted for the project and impact of the captive port on the local environment.

In its meeting with the State Pollution Control Board officials, the committee members sought to know why a single public hearing was held for the company’s proposed steel plant and the captive port though these were two separate projects.

It also enquired about the environment impact assessment study done for the project.

From Posco officials, the committee wanted to know the mitigation measures being taken for the protection of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) at the port site.

The pollution control board officials are reported to have explained the team that they had held one public hearing for both the steel plant and the port project as the site of both the projects fell within one patch of land.