India: Odisha HC seeks status on villagers opposition to JSW’s steel plant

Betel vine plantations grown on government land, being acquired for JSW Steel’s proposed greenfield plant in Odisha, have been demolished and most affected villagers have accepted compensation for the same, according to government sources.

The project in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur where the ill-fated Posco project was to be built ran into some trouble when residents of one affected village, Dhinkia, clashed violently with the police in January this year. The High Court of Orissa is hearing petitioners from villagers who allege the project does not have their consent and that the state was being high handed – which had led to some of the villagers being unable to return home fearing arrests.

A court-directed visit of advocates of both sides had also turned acrimonious. The Court has now sought on how many locals still fear coming back to Dhinkia, and what are the charges, including serious criminal charges, they fact. Speaking to SteelMint, Jagatsinghpur SP, Shri Akhileshvar Singh said only four of the original 85, are yet to return to this village.

According to lawyers and the administration SteelMint spoke to, villagers who could not address their concerns to the visiting committee of lawyers were to submit affidavits through the state counsel to the collector, who is to forward them to the Ministry of Environment Forest and the court. Meanwhile, the state police are to inform the court on how many people fear returning home, and what are the charges they face.

According to Singh, barring 10-12 people, most of them related, most people have accepted JSW Utkal Steel’s financial package compensating them for their loss of livelihoods. The matter comes up for hearing again on 7 April 2022.

The company has maintained it has the support of most locals in the area, and the January incident was between the villagers and the state administration. An environmental Appraisal Committee of the MoEF has recommended an environmental clearance for this steel, cement and power plant complex with a private jetty; the clearance is conditional to the outcome of the HC case.