Members of a Government-appointed panel reviewed the green clearances for Posco’s proposed steel project in Orissa and recommended that the forest and environment clearances be revoked immediately. The project includes a 12 million tns/yr steel plant and captive port with an investment of RS 54,000 crore. After reviewing the Forest Rights Act and the environmental and coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearances specified for the project, members of the panel felt that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) should not have granted environmental clearance. MoEF’s environmental impact assessment was based on one season of data and failed to effectively carry out the public hearing process, leaving many communities out of the equation. The Forest Advisory Committee will meet on October 25 to discuss the reports of the panel and offer recommendations. MoEf agreed that environmental clearance should not have been given for a portion of the project (4 million tns/yr) when the other components of the project including land, displacement of people, ecological destruction and port construction have focused on the full project (12 million tns/yr). The committee requested that the Orissa government stop all work, particularly land acquisition, for the Posco plant.
