Having been tossed between the State and the Centre for the past few months, the question of a forest clearance for Posco project is in the Orissa government's court once again.
On Thursday, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh delayed a final decision on the clearance once again, telling the State that he could not accept its assurance on Forest Rights Act (FRA) implementation as long as it continued to ignore the resolutions passed by two local bodies alleging that the State had failed to recognise valid claims in the area.
South Korean giant Posco has been waiting for over five years for permission to begin its Rs.52,000-crore integrated steel project in Orissa, but it has been opposed by a section of residents unwilling to part with their forest land.
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In January, Mr. Ramesh granted a conditional forest clearance provided Orissa gave him a categorical assurance that the FRA had been implemented and all valid claims settled. The State sent such an assurance on Wednesday. However, the Dhinkia and Gobindapur palli sabhas — local bodies which have been given primary responsibility for vesting forest rights under the Act — dispute the State government's claim.
“Ignoring these two sabha resolutions and not allowing them to be subject to a due process of law as enshrined in the Forest Rights Act, 2006, would be tantamount, in my considered opinion, to violating the very essence of this legislation,” said the Minister's order.
Pointing out that Section 4 of the FRA forbade eviction of any forest-dwelling member of a Scheduled Tribe or any other traditional forest-dwellers “till the recognition and verification procedure is completed,” Mr. Ramesh insisted that “these two resolutions have to be disposed of by the appropriate authority in accordance with the FRA.”
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The Ministry says that “appropriate authority” refers to the Sub-Divisional Officer and Collector.
However, it is unclear how they are to “dispose of” the resolutions.
Indicating that he was not satisfied with the Orissa government's assurance, Mr. Ramesh said he would only take a final decision “after receiving information from the State government that the appropriate authority has completed the process of recognition and verification procedure for all the villages from where forest land is to be transferred for non-forestry purposes.”