Orissa likely to submit its reply on Posco project next week

BHUBANESWAR: Maintaining its earlier stand that there was no tribal inhabitant or traditional forest dwellers in the villages demarcated for Posco's mega steel plant near Paradip, Orissa government today said it was likely to submit its assurance report to the Centre next week.

Chief secretary B K Patnaik said this while informing that chief minister Naveen Patnaik had already approved the documents to be sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) on proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Though Environment minister Jairam Ramesh accorded conditional environment clearance to Posco's Rs 52,000 crore project on January 31, he sought a pointed assurance report from the state government on the proper implementation of the provisions under FRA.

"We are ready to reply to the Centre's queries," the chief secretary told reporters here.

The state government, he said, continued to maintain its earlier stand that there was neither any tribal family nor any other traditional forest dwellers in the seven villages under Ersama block of Jagatsinhpur district.

Of the total 4000 acre of land required for the Posco project, about 2900 acre fell under forest category. The MoEF sought a pointed assurance from the state government after two central panels like Saxena Committee and Meena Gupta Committee reports suggested clear violation of FRA at the Posco's proposed plant site area.