 "Betel vine workers lose livelihood as Posco scraps Odisha project")
As one drives into Nuagaon village - 15 km from Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district - an eerie silence that engulfs the village in the festive season is palpable and stands starkly in contrast to the cacophony of excitement and celebration in the surrounding areas on the way.
It was not always like this. In 2005, when South Korean steel major Posco announced a mega steel plant, the village was abuzz with politicians, government officials and corporate executives visiting the place regularly.
"No dignitary has visited our village in the past two years," says Tamil Pradhan, a resident.
But, the sombre mood of the villagers is not because of lack of high-profile visits in recent times; their sense of dejection is reflective of the economic hardship they are facing following the scrapping of the project, on which they had pinned their hopes of prosperity.
For decades, the economy of the area thrived on betel vine cultivation. Almost all the people in Nuagaon, a fairly large village with 1,000 families that earned it the tag of a panchayat, were engaged in betel vine cultivation, with some owning the vines and the others working in the fields. While betel vine owners on an average made Rs 15,000-20,000 a month, the workers' earned Rs 300 wages daily.
Of the three panchayats affected by the Posco plant, majority from Nuagaon, Gada Kujanga and a part of Dhinkia panchayat, comprising Gobindpur village, had lent their support to the project.
"To facilitate its establishment, we had given away our betel vines and other tangible assets," says Pradhan.
Posco had initially sought 4,004 acres of land for its project of 12 million tonnes (mt) steel capacity. But, due to a protracted agitation over land acquisition by the people of Dhinkia panchayat, it had split the project into two parts and put the land requirement for Phase-I of eight mt capacity at 2,700 acres.
While acquiring land for the reduced area, the government had demolished over 2,300 betel vines in the three panchayats and paid compensation to the vine owners at the rate of Rs 11.5 lakh an acre.
To make matters worse, many who got compensation have lost the money to unscrupulous chit fund companies whose agents have collected huge amounts from them on the promise of hefty returns. Most of these chit fund companies have since shut shop after the investigative agencies swooped in on them.
"I got Rs 6 lakh compensation for my betel vines. Out of it, I had deposited Rs 5 lakh in Arthatatwa, a chit fund company. Now the company is closed and its owner is behind bars. I have no hope of getting back the money," says Chitta Sahoo, 45, who is struggling to maintain his family of five in the absence of any steady income.
Lack of financial awareness has made the villagers easy preys to the chit fund companies despite attempts by officials of nearby banks to retain the compensation money as deposits in their banks, says Pradhan.
The worst-hit are the betel vine workers who have been driven to penury after losing their jobs. While some of them have left for neighbouring villages to work in betel vines, others have migrated to nearby Paradip and far-off places in search of work. Recently, 22 youths of Nuagaon were rescued from Bengaluru, after it was found they had been dispatched as bonded labourers.
In the Posco rehabilitation package, it was promised that the betel vine workers would receive an allowance of Rs 2,250 a month till the project was established. "Except for a few families in Nolia Sahi, a project-affected hamlet, who got it for about a year, no one else has been paid the allowance till date," says Ranjan Barik, a betel vine worker.
The villagers are worried about a possible ecological disaster due to felling of trees to clear the area for the Posco project. "We are on the coast of Bay of Bengal. The government agencies have hacked 290,000 casuarina trees, which rimmed the villages as a barrier against tidal waves. Over 100,000 fruit-bearing trees have been chopped on 1,250 acres in the project site," says Musha Beura, a villager.
Some villagers have attempted to rebuild their betel vines, which were pulled down during land acquisition. About 50 vines had reappeared in the vacant project site over the past couple of years. But, with the district administration filing 16 cases against the encroachers, the villagers, for the time being, are keeping off such an adventure. "We plan to secure the 2,700 acres acquired for Posco by building a boundary wall. The work on it will start soon," says an officer of IDCO, the land acquiring agency for the state government. But, the villagers are in a belligerent mood.
"We won't allow building of a boundary wall unless the livelihood and compensation issues of the villagers are sorted out," says Pradhan.
The troubles over land acquisition for Posco and other big-ticket projects in Odisha have been a lesson for the state government, which has announced a plan to create a land bank of 100,000 acres for industrial use.
"The objective of creating the land bank, which will mostly comprise government land in different districts, is to smoothen the process of land alienation in favour of industries and minimise the impact on local inhabitants," explains the IDCO official.
"We have already created a land bank of 38,650 acres in 22 districts. Of this, 5,000 acres are in category-A, making it available for allotment to industrial projects," he adds.
HOW IT PANNED OUT
June 22, 2005: Posco signs memorandum of understanding with Odisha government to set up a 12-million tonne greenfield steel plant near Paradip for $12 billion
July 11, 2005: Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti formed to oppose the plant
August 8, 2008: Supreme Court (SC) upholds in-principle clearance for use of forest land
December 29, 2009: Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) grants final clearance for diversion of forest land
July 14, 2010: Odisha High Court (HC) cancels grant of prospecting license (PL) to Posco for Khadadhar iron ore mines
October 29, 2010: Odisha government moves SC against HC order
January 31, 2011: MoEF gives conditional environment clearance to the Posco project
March 30, 2012: National Green Tribunal suspends environment clearance granted to Posco
May 10, 2013: SC strikes down Odisha HC order and asks Centre to take a decision on grant of PL for Khadadhar mines to Posco
July 4, 2013: Odisha government announces acquisition of 2,700-acre land to enable the company to start first phase of work
January 12, 2015: Centre promulgates Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015, which prescribes allotment of mining lease on auction basis, sealing the fate of the project
It was not always like this. In 2005, when South Korean steel major Posco announced a mega steel plant, the village was abuzz with politicians, government officials and corporate executives visiting the place regularly.
"No dignitary has visited our village in the past two years," says Tamil Pradhan, a resident.
But, the sombre mood of the villagers is not because of lack of high-profile visits in recent times; their sense of dejection is reflective of the economic hardship they are facing following the scrapping of the project, on which they had pinned their hopes of prosperity.
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For decades, the economy of the area thrived on betel vine cultivation. Almost all the people in Nuagaon, a fairly large village with 1,000 families that earned it the tag of a panchayat, were engaged in betel vine cultivation, with some owning the vines and the others working in the fields. While betel vine owners on an average made Rs 15,000-20,000 a month, the workers' earned Rs 300 wages daily.
Of the three panchayats affected by the Posco plant, majority from Nuagaon, Gada Kujanga and a part of Dhinkia panchayat, comprising Gobindpur village, had lent their support to the project.
"To facilitate its establishment, we had given away our betel vines and other tangible assets," says Pradhan.
Posco had initially sought 4,004 acres of land for its project of 12 million tonnes (mt) steel capacity. But, due to a protracted agitation over land acquisition by the people of Dhinkia panchayat, it had split the project into two parts and put the land requirement for Phase-I of eight mt capacity at 2,700 acres.
While acquiring land for the reduced area, the government had demolished over 2,300 betel vines in the three panchayats and paid compensation to the vine owners at the rate of Rs 11.5 lakh an acre.
To make matters worse, many who got compensation have lost the money to unscrupulous chit fund companies whose agents have collected huge amounts from them on the promise of hefty returns. Most of these chit fund companies have since shut shop after the investigative agencies swooped in on them.
"I got Rs 6 lakh compensation for my betel vines. Out of it, I had deposited Rs 5 lakh in Arthatatwa, a chit fund company. Now the company is closed and its owner is behind bars. I have no hope of getting back the money," says Chitta Sahoo, 45, who is struggling to maintain his family of five in the absence of any steady income.
Lack of financial awareness has made the villagers easy preys to the chit fund companies despite attempts by officials of nearby banks to retain the compensation money as deposits in their banks, says Pradhan.
The worst-hit are the betel vine workers who have been driven to penury after losing their jobs. While some of them have left for neighbouring villages to work in betel vines, others have migrated to nearby Paradip and far-off places in search of work. Recently, 22 youths of Nuagaon were rescued from Bengaluru, after it was found they had been dispatched as bonded labourers.
In the Posco rehabilitation package, it was promised that the betel vine workers would receive an allowance of Rs 2,250 a month till the project was established. "Except for a few families in Nolia Sahi, a project-affected hamlet, who got it for about a year, no one else has been paid the allowance till date," says Ranjan Barik, a betel vine worker.
The villagers are worried about a possible ecological disaster due to felling of trees to clear the area for the Posco project. "We are on the coast of Bay of Bengal. The government agencies have hacked 290,000 casuarina trees, which rimmed the villages as a barrier against tidal waves. Over 100,000 fruit-bearing trees have been chopped on 1,250 acres in the project site," says Musha Beura, a villager.
Some villagers have attempted to rebuild their betel vines, which were pulled down during land acquisition. About 50 vines had reappeared in the vacant project site over the past couple of years. But, with the district administration filing 16 cases against the encroachers, the villagers, for the time being, are keeping off such an adventure. "We plan to secure the 2,700 acres acquired for Posco by building a boundary wall. The work on it will start soon," says an officer of IDCO, the land acquiring agency for the state government. But, the villagers are in a belligerent mood.
"We won't allow building of a boundary wall unless the livelihood and compensation issues of the villagers are sorted out," says Pradhan.
The troubles over land acquisition for Posco and other big-ticket projects in Odisha have been a lesson for the state government, which has announced a plan to create a land bank of 100,000 acres for industrial use.
"The objective of creating the land bank, which will mostly comprise government land in different districts, is to smoothen the process of land alienation in favour of industries and minimise the impact on local inhabitants," explains the IDCO official.
"We have already created a land bank of 38,650 acres in 22 districts. Of this, 5,000 acres are in category-A, making it available for allotment to industrial projects," he adds.
HOW IT PANNED OUT
June 22, 2005: Posco signs memorandum of understanding with Odisha government to set up a 12-million tonne greenfield steel plant near Paradip for $12 billion
July 11, 2005: Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti formed to oppose the plant
August 8, 2008: Supreme Court (SC) upholds in-principle clearance for use of forest land
December 29, 2009: Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) grants final clearance for diversion of forest land
July 14, 2010: Odisha High Court (HC) cancels grant of prospecting license (PL) to Posco for Khadadhar iron ore mines
October 29, 2010: Odisha government moves SC against HC order
January 31, 2011: MoEF gives conditional environment clearance to the Posco project
March 30, 2012: National Green Tribunal suspends environment clearance granted to Posco
May 10, 2013: SC strikes down Odisha HC order and asks Centre to take a decision on grant of PL for Khadadhar mines to Posco
July 4, 2013: Odisha government announces acquisition of 2,700-acre land to enable the company to start first phase of work
January 12, 2015: Centre promulgates Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015, which prescribes allotment of mining lease on auction basis, sealing the fate of the project