In a setback to the Orissa government’s attempt to secure final forest clearance for the 12 billion dollar Posco project in the state, the Union Environment and Forest minister, Jayaram Ramesh has rapped the state government for failing to dispose off the palli sabha resolutions held recently at the project affected villages of Dhinkia and Gobindpur.
Earlier, the state government had sent to Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) a compliance report on implementation of Forest Right Act (FRA) at the Posco site where it had categorically stated that there were no presence of tribals and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) at the designated site.
After getting the state government’s report, MoEF has now urged the state government to dispose off these two resolutions by an appropriate authority in accordance with the FRA-2006, especially keeping in mind the provisions of Section 4 (5) of the Act.
"No member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is completed", says the section.
In a note posted on the site of the ministry, Jairam Ramesh, the Union minister for environment & forests, has said that the communication received by his ministry from the state government on April 13, has not addressed the concerns raised at the two palli sabha resolutions.
This is despite the fact that the minister had forwarded the e-mail representation from the Posco Pratirodh Snagram Samiti (PPSS) to the state Chief Minister and Chief Secretary and had asked to take note of allegations raised by the anti-Posco brigade.
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Ramesh has now warned that ignoring these two palli sabha resolutions and not allowing them to be subject t a due process of law as enshrined in the FRA-2006 would tantamount to violating the very essence of this legislation passed unanimously and with acclaim by the Parliament.
"After receiving information from the state government that the appropriate authority has completed the process of recognition and verification procedure for all the villages from where forest land is to be transferred for non-forestry purpose, a final decision regarding forest clearance will be taken", he stated.