Major jolt to Posco steel project

 The  national green tribunal on Friday suspended the environmental clearance given by the Union Ministry for Forests and Environment to the prestigious steel project proposed to be set up by South Korean major Posco in Odisha’s coastal Jagatisinghpur district.

The Odisha government on Friday said that it was waiting to get a copy of the judgment.
The tribunal delivered the judgment in New Delhi on Friday morning while responding to a complaint filed by Prafulla Samantaray, an activist from the state.

“I am informed that the green tribunal has passed its verdict on the Posco project. We have not yet received the copy of the verdict. The Odisha government would certainly look into the matter after getting a copy of the judgment,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.

The green tribunal’s verdict has turned out to be a major setback for the Rs 52,000-crore project which had already become a prestige issue for the BJD government in Odisha as well as the Congress-led government at the Centre.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had reportedly assured the South Korean President during his (Singh’s) recent visit to that country that the project will be through. Chief Minister Patnaik had also expressed similar views on the eve of the prime minister’s South Korea visit.

Though nearly half of the 4000-odd acres required for the mega project had already been acquired, the work on the plant was yet to take off in full speed mainly because of a section of the local people’s resistance to the project.

Last year, a clash between the pro- and anti-project local villagers had resulted in the death of a villager.

The green tribunal’s verdict is likely to give a major boost to Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, which has been spearheading the local people’s agitation against the mega project. It had recently vowed to resist the project at any cost while reacting to prime minister’s statement in South Korea.

The Union Ministry for Forests and Environment had given conditional clearance to the Posco project in January 2011.