An Expert Appraisal Committee of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has recommended an environment clearance for JSW Utkal Steel Ltd (JSW USL) proposed steel plant in Jagatsinghpur, Odisha.
The project has a forest clearance and will need this recommendation to be endorsed formally by the Ministry. The state government is in the process of handing over land for this 13 mntpa integrated steel plant to be built along with a with a 32 mntpa pellet plant linked to the company’s mines by a 30 mntpa slurry pipeline, a 10 mtpa cement plant, 900 MW power plant and 52 mtpa captive jetty. The project continues to see stiff resistance from some locals who have moved the High Court of Orissa against the state’s violent crackdown last month, as reported by SteelMint on Feb 16.
The EAC’s recommendation comes with a long list of conditions including the obvious, that the project proponent abide by all orders passed by the High Court against protesting villagers. Specific checks and balances have been made for various units such as coke oven, sinter plant, pellet plant, blast furnaces, basic oxygen furnace, lime calcination plant, rolling mills etc) and the jetty nearby.
Area on north-eastern end, close to the high tide line, is to be left alone. JSW USL has also been asked to preserve nearby sand dunes over an area of 11.53 ha. It is also to leave untouched, two patches of 209.34 acres (84.72 ha) of the ‘forest’ land between the proposed plant and jetty untouched, and ring them with a 15 m wide green belt. These patches must be conserved in consultation with the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and be provided with storm water drainage.
The plan is to raise the height of the land to protect it from storm surges by dumping sand dredged from the sea, which the company must do for its jetty. The EC, if and when granted by the Ministry, will be conditional to this raising of land restricted to 2950.10 acres (constituting 973.533 acres of a green belt). Two weeks before it begins dredging, the company is to initiate a monitoring program of marine water quality, sediment quality and ecology that must continue through the project’s life.
It must create a conservation cell hiring an ecologist and a marine biologist to monitor the coast line and its ecology throughout the project’s life. It has been asked to form an advisory committee with an expert from National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), a representative of the state pollution control board and other experts. Fluorine and phenol levels seem to be a concern at this site, which the EAC wants quarterly reports on.
The steelmaker, proposing to build a plant on land that saw a long struggle against similar plans by South Korean steelmaker POSCO, has been told it can’t use groundwater. Up to 223200 KLD water can be drawn from the 87 km upstream Jobra barrage on the Mahanadi river and must construct a 855000 cubic metres water reservoir within the site. A green belt of 372 ha with a tree density of 2500 trees per ha has also been advised, along with direction that JSW USL ensure fishermen have access to fishing for a sustainable livelihood even though the protest is from villagers claiming dependence on land for betel cultivation.
By Meera Mohanty
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