Orissa objects to MoEF missive on iron ore export by Posco

Final forest clearance to 12 MT Posco steel project

The Orissa government has raised objections over the recommendation of the Union ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) to discourage iron ore exports by Posco from the state.

Stating that the move to allow or disallow exports of the raw material was not the prerogative of the MoEF, the state government has said that it will take a final call on the matter.

"We are going to renew the MoU with Posco India very soon. But we are yet to decide on whether we will allow or disallow exports of the raw material. In any case, the decision will be taken by the state government and the Union environment ministry cannot impose any such condition”, said a top official of the state steel & mines department.

The ministry which granted Stage-II forest clearance for the Posco project today has suggested that the revised MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the state government and Posco India needs to be negotiated in a manner that the exports of the raw material are completely avoided.

"I am conscious of the fact that the MoU between the state government and Posco expired last year and has yet to be renewed. This MoU had provisions for the export of iron ore which made me deeply uncomfortable with the project. I would expect that the revised MoU between the state and Posco negotiated in a manner that the exports of the raw material are completely avoided”, Jairam Ramesh, Union minister for environment & forests said in the final order.

The final forest clearance is for 1253 hectares (3096.22 acres) of forest land to be diverted for the project. The project needed 4004 acres of land in all.

In his order, Ramesh has endorsed the Orissa government's claim that the palli sabhas that the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) claimed to have held on February 21 and 23 at Dhinkia and Govindpur were not legally valid.

The minister has also recommended immediate action against the sarpanch of Dhinkia under the Orissa Grama Panchayat Act-1964 for what it has categorically said are 'fraudulent' acts.

If no action is taken forthwith, I believe that the state government's arguments will be called into serious question, he said.

In addition to the conditions already imposed on compensatory afforestation and payment of Net Present Value (NPV), Posco would also bear the cost of regeneration of an equivalent amount of open, degraded forest land in a district to be determined and indicated by the state government.

Commenting on the grant of Stage-II forest clearance for the Posco project, the state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, “We are yet to receive the order. We have learnt from the media that such orders have been passed. When we receive the order, appropriate action will be taken”.

The state Chief Secretary said, “The committee which had enquired into the claim of palli sabha resolutions claimed to have been held by PPSS has stated that these palli sabhas were not in accordance with the Gram Panchayat Act. However, we are yet to decide whether any action has to be taken against the Dhinkia sarpanch”.

Hailing the order of MoEF, senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and the state agriculture minister Damodar Rout said, “The visit of the Union minister Jairam Ramesh has proved meaningful for the state. Actually, the minister was misguided on the issue of palli sabha resolutions due to fake reports of PPSS. The real strength of the PPSS will be known when work on the Posco project begins”.

In its order dated January 31 this year, the MoEF had imposed 60 conditions on the Posco project ad the ministry has stated that both Posco and the state government need to be 'extra-sensitive' on this count.