Pro-plant voices greet panel - Job, compensation cry at Posco site

posco transit camp,Badagabpur.

Paradip, Aug. 28: Fifty-five families of Patnagada village are living in a transit camp at Badagabapur village in the Ersama block for the last 18 months.

On the second day of their trip to Posco land, the four-member committee of the union environment and forest ministry interacted with the families, who have allegedly been driven out of their villages by anti-plant activists.

Speaking to one committee member, which is headed by former union environment secretary Meena Gupta, the representative for the 55 ‘displaced’ families, Chandan Mohanty, said: “We neither have betel vines nor do we have any claim on forestland. But we want the plant to come up. We should be duly compensated for the loss of our livelihood and land. The state government must ensure that jobs are provided to us.”

After the N.C. Saxena committee’s report stated that the district administration violated procedures laid down under the Act, the ministry of environment and forests had stopped the land acquisition process and had set up the committee.

The committee is studying whether the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (recognition of forest rights) Act, 2006, has been implemented in the three gram panchayats that fall within the proposed Rs 51,000-crore plant. “We are taking minute note of the arguments, recorded documents and related evidence in support of forest rights claims,” said Urmila Pingley, a committee member.

“Our emphasis is on the documentary evidences with regard to the Forest Rights Act,” she said.

Pro-plant United Action Committee leader Nirvay Samantaray told the panel that they “do not have forest right claims”.

Contrary to the assertions of the anti-Posco activists and the N.C. Saxena committee, Samantaray said: “The palli sabhas had passed resolutions in accordance with the Forest Rights Act and had submitted them to the authorities”.

Bhaskar Swain, sarpanch of Nuagaon, claimed that the villagers had passed a resolution stating that they had been cultivating and were in possession of the forestland for over 75 years. But the resolution was not accepted by the administration including the panchayat executive officer.

The panchayat executive officer admitted that he had not turned up at the palli sabha meeting “due to pressure from higher ups”.

“We have interacted with the stakeholders including the people, PRI representatives, members of various outfits and prospective landlosers. We are going to submit our report to the Centre based on factual findings of our two-day visit to these villages. Our emphasis will be on the FRA process but we are also taking into account versions of some villagers regarding compensation and rehabilitation,” Gupta said.

(sourced from Telegraph)