Gram sabha clearance necessary before allowing POSCO: MoEF
|
COMMENTS 
The POSCO iron and steel plant has hit another roadblock with the environment ministry requiring further proof that it will not flout the rights of forest-dwellers, under the Forest Rights Act
The controversial POSCO iron and steel plant to be set up in Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa must get clearance from the local people of Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages who passed resolutions against the plant in February 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) said last week.
Forest clearance cannot be granted for the plant under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) which recognises that forests belong to people living in and depending on them for their livelihood. Any development of such land for non-forest purposes must have the consent of the forest-dwellers.
The Rs 52,000 crore POSCO project requires around 4,000 acres of land, of which about 2,900 acres is forest land.
In January 2011, the environment ministry said that it would give forest clearance to the project provided the state government gave a categorical assurance that there were no forest-dwellers present in the project area, and therefore the provisions of FRA did not apply.
The state government did give such an assurance but this is now being disputed. Local people have exhibited revenue documents claiming that they have been residing in the locality for over 100 years. Moreover, the gram sabhas of the two villages have ruled against the project. Ignoring these two gram sabha resolutions and not allowing them to be subjected to the due process of law as enshrined in the Forest Rights Act, 2006 would be tantamount to violating the very essence of the legislation, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said.
Senior officials of the Orissa government contend that the people living in the two villages cannot be called tribals or Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (OTFD) who are covered under the Forest Rights Act. Non-tribals must meet three conditions to be classified as OTFD: they must have been living in the forest area for 75 years prior to 2005; they must be dependent on forest produce for their livelihood; and they must be in occupation of forest land before December 2005.
Two expert committees have certified a large number of OTFD in the area, but the state government says there are none.
Much will now depend on whether the Forest Rights Act is applicable in this case. A stop-work order has been in force at the project site since August 2010, pending clearance from the MoEF.
Source: DNA, April 17, 2011
www.indianexpress.com, April 16, 15, 2011