Abhijit Roy Choudhary
NEW DELHI: The four-member fact-finding committee will probe into allegations of violations of Forests Rights Act, FRA by steel major POSCO in Orissa.
The team is headed by former Union Environment and Forests Secretary Meena Gupta. The team is visiting the proposed project site of steel major POSCO at Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa today.
The team constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is visiting Dhinkia, Gobindpur and Patna village today and will go Gadakujanga, Noliasahi and Nuagaon on Saturday to ascertain if the South Korean steel major and Orissa Government have violated FRA for the project.
On the basis of committee’s recommendations, the government will take a final decision on giving environmental clearance to POSCO.
Earlier, the NC Saxena Committee had accused the Orissa Government of violating Forest Rights Act by declining to honour the claims of traditional forest dwellers depending on generation of beetle leaves on the land earmarked for the project.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had asked POSCO to stop work on the proposed site. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh earlier this week in New Delhi urging early clearance of the POSCO project.