In a new twist to the ongoing controversy over the Posco steel project in Orissa, chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday came out strongly in open against the environment and forest ministry ?s directive to the state to stop all work at the project site. In a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Patnaik said, ?It is unfortunate but the MoEF is acting in the report submitted by the people involved in NGOs. Patnaik said the ministry has already accorded for its clearance that the Supreme Court had endorsed it and under the circumstances it is unfortunate that the MoEF is now trying to stop work.
Earlier in the day, the 12 million-tonne steel project suffered another setback as the MoEF directed the state government to stop work on the site. Acting on a report submitted by the Ashish Kothari Committee ? a joint committee constituted by the ministry of tribal affairs (MoTA) and MoEF ? assistant inspector general of forest HC Chaudhary faxed a letter on Friday, directing the Orissa government to stop all work at the Posco project site.
?The government of Orissa shall take all necessary measures and ensure that work, if any, be undertaken on the said land, for the said project, including handing over of the forest and non-forest land to the said project, shall be stopped forthwith and report on the same along with details of work, if any, already executed for the said project along with the details of the forest and non-forest land handed over to the said project shall be submitted to this ministry through return fax,” the MoEF has said.
The communication came in the midst of the Orissa government’s drive to acquire land for the project near Paradip. ?We are studying the report,? Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters. Posco India declined to comment.
“We are waiting for a communication from the state government about our future course of action. The district administration has not handed over any land for the Posco project,” Jagatsinghpur district collector NC Jena said.
As part of the three-member committee, Ashish Kothari, Arupjyoti Saikia and Ravi Rebbapragadai, visited the Posco project site in Kujanga between July 23 and July 27. They discussed with locals and the district administration regarding the implementation of the Forest Right Act in the 1,253.225 hectares forest land that falls under Posco?s steel project and also the captive port project at Jatadhari.
The committee, in its report, has said that ?there are other traditional forest dwellers(OTFD) in the area, contrary to what the district administration is saying.” Pointing out that ?the FRA process has not been completed,? the committee has opined that ?it is, therefore, incorrect and misleading for the district administration to conclude that there are no OTFDs ?in cultivating possession of forest land for three generations in the area’.?
Even, the committee said, some Pallisabhas have handed over a resolution refusing consent to diversion of forest land on which they are dependent. Reacting to the on-going land acquisition at the Posco project site, the committee has said that ?such work is illegal?.
The committee, in fact, expressed its surprise over the land acquisition stating this had happened despite the fact that the district administration, the chief secretary and the secretaries of all the relevant departments were informed about the findings of the committee. The district administration has demolished about 50 betel vineyards and acquired 6-7 acres of land paying compensation to the tune of Rs 1 crore by now to the farmers. The land acquisition has been mostly in Noliasahi of Gada Kujanga gram panchyat.