Launching a massive damage control exercise, Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and environment minister Jairam Ramesh in New Delhi to explain the state government?s stand on Vedanta and Posco.

Both projects, Vedanta?s Lanjigarh 1-million tonne alumina project, and Posco?s 12-million tonne proposed steel plant at Jagatsinggpur district, have come under flak by a central committee for violating the Forest Act. While Posco had got the forest clearance in December 2009, Vedanta had got the stage one forest clearance in 2008. But the central team, acting on complaints by environmentalists against the projects, said the Act had been violated and rights of tribals and other dwellers had not been implemented.

The Naveen Patnaik government has come under cloud following the adverse remarks by the Saxena Committee which made a study of the implementation of the Forest Conservation Act and the Forest Right Act in the state. The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has directed the state government to stop work at the Posco project ? it had just begun the land acquisition process five years after the MoU ? for violation of the Forest Right Act. The MoEF has also got the the Saxena Committee report on Lanjigarh which has pointed out that Vedanta Resources has flouted all rules and norms of the Forest Conservation Act, Forest Right Act, Pollution Control Act and also the PESA Act.

The MoEF is soon going to take a decision based on the committee report on Vedanta?s Lanjigarh alumina project as the Forest Advisory Committee of the ministry has already examined the report.

Patnaik after the meeting with the Prime Minister said, ?The Prime Minister has said he will see that the Posco project is expedited.?

Also on the agenda was another issue ? the Polavaram project which Andhra Pradesh is launching. ?The Prime Minister has assured us that no tribal village in Orissa will be inundated,? the chief minister added.. The Polavaram irrigation project taken up by the Andhra Pradesh government is expected to inundated vast forest areas and villages in Orissa?s Malkangiri district.

Later, in a meeting with environment minister Jairam Ramesh, Patnaik said, ?The environment minister has assured us that he will hasten the projects.?

The chief minister said a Central team will visit the Posco site soon. Orissa principal secretary for forest and environment Upendra Behera will give a presentation to the MoEF on Tuesday on Vedanta and Posco.

Ramesh, however, refused to say whether the issue of Vedanta and Posco came up in the 20-minute meeting with the Orissa CM. Ramesh only said the issues relating to the Nayagar Brutanga Irrigation Project, Coastal Zone Management Plan and Similipal Tiger Projects were discussed at the meeting.