Posco-India claims no tribal population in its project area

BHUBANESWAR: Pledging to fulfil all the conditions set by the Environment Ministry before going ahead with its proposed greenfield steel mill near Paradip, Posco-India today claimed there was no tribal population in the company's project area.

"As far as we know, there is no tribal population in Kujang tehsil area where the South Korean steel major is going to set up its Rs 51,000 crore project," the company's general manager (external service) Simanta Mohanty said.

Among other conditions, the MoEF had told the steel major to set the rights of tribal people as per the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006.

"Since there is no tribal population and forest dwellers in the area, the company would like to await further advice from the ministry," he said adding though about 2,900 acre of the 4,004 acre land required for the project was identified as forest land, there was no such visible forest in the area.

The area, located in the Bay of Bengal coast, was once full of mangrove forests and therefore identified as forest area, a local revenue official said, adding that as mangrove plantation no more exists the locality remained as a forest area on papers only.