Prafulla Das
BHUBANESWAR: Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh's order granting conditional clearance to POSCO's controversial steel plant project, along with a captive minor port project of the company, evoked a mixed response in Orissa on Monday.
While POSCO-India Private Limited and the Orissa Government welcomed the order, Opposition parties and the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organisation opposing land acquisition for the project, expressed shock over the development.
“We welcome and accept, with humility and gratitude, the decision of the Minister of Environment and Forests. We fully appreciate the concerns of different stakeholders on the sustainability of environment as well as the livelihood of affected people,” said G.W. Sung, Managing Director of POSCO-India Private Limited.
“We are committed to taking sustainable green initiatives and effective measures for conserving the land and marine environment of the area. We are also committed to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for the project-affected people through implementing the R&R [Relief and Rehabilitation] package sincerely.
“As a responsible corporate citizen of India, we will continue to work for the welfare of the local community and plough back a part of earnings for CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] after the operations commence,” Mr. Sung said in a statement issued here.
Reacting to the Ministry's order, Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said his government would study the conditions and see what could be done. “On the face of it, it seems to be good news,” he said.
Renewal of MoU
Steel and Mines Minister Raghunath Mohanty welcomed the order saying that the implementation of the POSCO steel project would open a new chapter in the history of industrialisation in Orissa.
He added that the State government would soon renew the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that it signed with POSCO in 2005. The MoU had expired in June last.
Mr. Mohanty also expressed hope that the Orissa government would soon resume land acquisition for the project in Jagatsinghpur district.
The work was stopped in August last following a Ministry order saying that the transferring of forest land had to be stopped till all the processes under the Forest Rights Act had been satisfactorily completed.
‘Shocking'
“The conditional clearance accorded to POSCO by the Central government is shocking,” said Jual Oram, president of the Orissa unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
PPSS president Abhay Sahu announced that the villagers who were not willing to part with their land for the steel project would intensify their agitation in the coming days.
An all-party meeting will be held on Tuesday to decide the PPSS' future course of action, he added.
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