Orissa to Posco?s rescue: No green violation took place

The Orissa government on Thursday has urged the Union environment ministry not to stop the work of the Posco India?s 12- million tonne steel project asserting that there has been no violation of laws and norms in the implementation of the project.

Stating that the $12-billion project is the country?s largest FDI and its is a prestige issue for both the state government as well as the Central government, the state government has said that the ministry should cooperate in implementing the project in the state.

The state government, in a 8-page reply faxed to the union environment minister Jayram Ramesh in response to the Meena Gupta Committee report, has said there has been no violation of Forest Right Act (FRA) . It has said that 21 tribal families are having voters identity cards have never claimed for their rights in the Gram Sabha. The Polanga village, which has five tribals families, falls outside the Posco?s proposed project area. Moreover, there were no dwellers in the proposed site for three generations, the state government has clarified in its reply.

Asserting that the CRZ clearance has been obtained following proper procedures, the state government has said that the proposed Posco port would have no adverse impact on the coastal environment. Referring to the apprehension that it would have adverse impact on Paradip port, the government has said that the proposed port at Jatadhari mouth would be about 12 km away from the existing port at Paradip and studies conducted by expert groups have opined that it would have no adverse impact on the nearby port.

The environmental clearances for the project have also been obtained after proper EIA (environment impact assessement), the government has said.

On the implementation of Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R & R) package, the government has said that the R & R Policy 2006 of the Orissa government is the best in the country. The government has said that R & R package has been offered following the RPDAC (rehabilitation and peripheral development advisory committee) meeting. The package has offered even compensation to the labourers working in the betel vines, the state government has pointed out.

While replying to the issues raised by the Meena Gupta Committee, the state government has submitted that it is ready to implement if there is an specific suggestions from the ministry of environment relating to the FRA, CRZ, environment protection and R & R package.

The state chief secretary, BK Patnaik, soon after the Meena Gupta Committee report was received on Wednesday, consulted with the principal secretary forest, Aurobind Behera, scheduled caste and scheduled tribe welfare department secretary, Santosh Sarangi, secretary Orissa state pollution control board (OSPCB), Sidhanta Das, and Jagatsinghpur district collector, Narayan Chandra Jena, on the report.

Meanwhile, the opposition has mounted a scathing attack on the state government pointing out the failure in implementing the laws of the land. BJP senior leader Bijaya Mohaptra has demanded that the project should be shifted to an another site as the Central panel has viewed that it would have adverse impact on the coastal environment of Orissa.

The CPI has demanded that the MoU with the Posco be cancelled immediately in view of the Committee report. ?The state government has no other option but to scrap the Posco?s steel project in Jagatsinghpur,? said the CPI general secretary, Dibakar Nayak.