The fate of the Rs 54,000-crore Posco steel project in Orissa is still undecided. Three of the four members of the committee, set up by the ministry of environment & forests to investigate the matter, suggested scrapping environmental clearances given to the project. A lone member suggested granting the project a go-ahead.
The panel, comprising Urmila Pingle, Devendra Pandey, V Suresh and headed by former environment secretary Meena Gupta, said today that it could not reach a consensus on the future of the project. Posco India wants to establish an integrated steel plant and captive port in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa.
When contacted on the recommendations of the panel, a Posco official requesting anonymity said: “We have nothing to comment on it. It is a matter for the Union ministry of environment & forests. We are looking forward to the meeting of the forest advisory committee on the issue on October 25.”
The Gupta panel, set up on July 28, submitted two separate reports, both agreeing that provisions under the Forest Rights Act need to be revisited by the Orissa government. They also agreed on the need to complete the process of seeking consent from forest dwellers under FRA.
| COMMONALITIES |
| * Want Orissa govt to revisit the provisions of Forest Rights Act |
| * Say obtaining consent from forest dwellers is a condition |
| DIFFERENCES |
| * Gupta wants comprehensive EIA and additional conditions |
| * Others say ministry’s approval violates law, must be scrapped |
The main difference was on the issue of environmental and coastal regulation zone clearances. While conceding that she came across “several matters that cause concern”, Gupta did not reject the clearances given already.
Instead, she called for a comprehensive and integrated environmental impact assessment of the steel plant and port, as well as imposition of additional conditions on the project. A comprehensive EIA was supposed to have been undertaken earlier, but was substituted with a rapid EIA.
Of the 4,000 acres on which the project is to be set up, 3,000 acres is forest land. “There was broad agreement in the committee that the procedure to recognise forest rights should be redone in the project villages,” Gupta’s report stated.
The other members, however, sought total revocation of all clearances. Their report said the final forest clearance by the ministry overlooked serious violations of its own directions and procedures prescribed by law.
The ministry ought not to have granted environmental clearances on the basis of the rapid EIA and these should be immediately revoked, they said.
“Considering the scale of the project (12 million tonnes a year), which is almost equal to the combined production capacity of six steel plants of India (Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela, Burnpur and Salem), there was a critical necessity of having a comprehensive EIA for both the steel plant as well as the captive port,” the second report said.
“The Gupta report suggests that the existing environment and coastal regulation zone clearances be allowed to stay, but simultaneously additional conditions should be stipulated. The others say these clearances should be cancelled. It is an issue of interpretation,” said Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
Both reports noted, however, that clearance was given for a 4-million tonne steel plant, while the final Posco project is for 12 mt.
On rehabilitation & resettlement, while Gupta said the compensation package is “good”, the others said the package should take into account the loss of livelihoods, provide land as compensation, and budget for vulnerable sections.
“I have not taken any view on the matter. The Forest Advisory Committee will meet on October 25 to examine both reports and give its recommendations,” said Ramesh. On comparison with the Vedanta bauxite mining project in Orissa, the minister said there were strategic implications of the Posco project in terms of being the largest foreign direct investment, India’s ‘Look East’ policy and the country’s relations with South Korea.
(With inputs from Bhubaneshwar)
