In a stirring judgement passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the green signal given to South Korea’s Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) to go-ahead with their mega steel project in Odisha has been suspended.
My article last fortnight about people’s fight against POSCO has brought me interesting responses. They call for clarifications and further discussion. The question is about the value of current livelihoods of the people of coastal Odisha. Is earning from betel nut farming being exaggerated to reinforce the romantic and misinformed view that people are fighting projects because they are better off today? The equally valid question, then, is: why are the people so apparently poor if they are earning Rs 10-17 lakh per hectare (ha) each year as I had said?
The sight on television was heartbreaking: children lying in rows in the searing sun to be human shields against the takeover of their land for Korean giant POSCO’s mega bucks project. Facing them were armed police sent by the state government to assist in the operation.
POSCO’s port halt By: Sugandh Juneja South Korean company’s steel plant and port may impact coast, says expert panel The POSCO steel plant and port planned in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district have run into fresh trouble. An expert appraisal committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests deferred its decision on clearing the port project, saying the South Korean steel giant did not furnish sufficient details.
CSE does a technical evaluation of the marine environmental impact assessment report of a proposed captive minor port, to be built by POSCO India Pvt Ltd to support the company’s steel plant
For establishment of an Integrated Steel Plant and Captive Port in Jagatsinghpur District, Orissa October 18, 2010
Read report... Read technical analysis...
A representative of National Centre for Advocacy Studies based in the state of Maharashtra, working towards strengthening rights based and people centred advocacy in India and South Asia.