August 07,
The Environment Ministry has asked the Orissa Government to stop all work on the POSCO Steel project in Jagatsinghpur district.
The Ministry’s decision is based on the recommendation of a joint panel of the Environment and Tribal Affairs Ministries set up to study and assess the impact of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) at the proposed site.
Earlier, POSCO’s proposal to set up a Rs 52,000-crore integrated Steel project spread across 4,000 acres in Jagatsinghpur was cleared by the Ministry on the condition that it would ensure proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), settling the land rights of the people living there before acquiring forest land for the project.
The joint panel had said that the land acquisition work, which started on July 27, was in violation of the FRA and the conditions of the Ministry on forest clearance.
Source: The Business Line
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