Environment

This would be the another drastic change in the scenerio of environment of India.Since 26 January this year the farmers have been carrying out their peaceful protest against fresh attempts by the Naveen Patnaik regime to acquire their land on behalf of the South Korean steel corporation (POSCO- India). Exactly five years back the two had entered into an agreement for setting up of a steel plant, captive port, mining and all related infrastructure facilities, and that had stirred up a huge controversy.

                          The state government had assured the company that it will keep the area free of all encumbrances, make sure the raw materials are provided, help procure necessary clearances including single window approvals at the state level. With an anticipated investment of Rs.51,000 crores (USD 12 billion), the Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) was ready to roll its blueprint into reality.
Over 30,000 farmers are expected to lose their lands and livelihood if the US$12 billion project, billed as India’s largest Foreign Direct Investment, is implemented. POSCO signed an MoU with the Orissa government in mid-2005, for the setting up of an integrated steel and power plant, a private port and mining of over 600 million tonnes of Orissa’s high grade iron ore.
                                      Ironically, even as the local communities continued their resistance; the process of seeking various approvals continued at the central government level. To set up the steel plant and port, 1253 hectares of forest land would need to be diverted for non-forest use. This is a mandatory procedure to be followed as per the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The grant of clearance would also mean felling of about 2.8. lakh trees. The proposal was considered by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) under the MoEF on 9th August 2007. Despite the large numbers involved, this committee recommended the grant of forest clearance for the projects.
Over the years, the forests too have disappeared—first the mangroves and then the casuarina plantations, destroyed by a super cyclone. Now, villagers grow betel vines and cashew on the high lands and have converted the low laying areas to paddy fields. “The paddy field gives us rice for the whole year and the betel vines the cash to buy other items,” says Ramesh Mohanty. “We will not allow the Posco project to come up on this site,” says POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samithi (PPSS) chief Abhaya Sahoo.
                                    For the local opposition to the POSCO project, all these are legalese that will iron themselves out along the way. What matters crucially is that the people resisting remain united in thought and action. Despite differences and tension on the ground, the fact remains that POSCO has not been able to start work on its project for five years. The kudos, almost entirely, go to the struggle on the ground; outside support and delay has strengthened their hands, certainly, but it is the locals themselves who have persevered the most in the face of intense efforts to displace them.